4 ms·

This is perfectly legal, and OK with me, but many will perceive it as "democracy for those who can pay."

by cs702 4y ago

thefurdrake 4y ago
They'll perceive it that way because that's how it is. There's no need to muddy the waters with "many will perceive it[...]" when the reality is that in order to participate in the vote you have to pay money.
- finspeech 4y ago
  But is that actually bad? Don’t we want the people making decisions to have skin in the game? People use money everyday to express their preferences, why shouldn’t we use it here?
  - Volundr 4y ago
    So should we bring back a poll tax then?
    - finspeech 4y ago
      I think a case could be made for it. Or something like only taxpayers get to vote since they are effectively deciding how to spend their collective dollars. This is how companies operate with shareholders and that seems to work and people don’t bat an eye at it.
  - thefurdrake 4y ago
    "Is it bad to force people to pay for a service the owner calls a 'public square' in order to be allowed to have one's voice heard about how the public square is run?" That's your question, correct? We're still talking about Elon's Public Square Bastion of Free Speech Twitter, correct? Would you like to rephrase your question, or will, "Yes, that's actually bad" suffice?
    - finspeech 4y ago
      No need to rephrase. That was indeed my question. Fact of the matter is, you need money to participate in society at large. I don’t see why it’s bad that Twitter’s not any different. I’m not here to defend Elon’s principles, but if charging people money for a service is bad, then that’s quite the indictment on society.
hdlothia 4y ago
Why would an 8 dollar fee discourage nation states with massive bot army budgets? He owns the site and can do whatever he wants, but why is there all of this performative behaviour.
carlivar 4y ago
In other words, a poll tax.
mcphage 4y ago
> but many will perceive it as "democracy for those who can pay." I don't know if I'd call it that, but it's certainly not "the world's town square".
ryandvm 4y ago
Many will perceive having to pay $8 to vote as "democracy for those who can pay"? You don't say.

This is perfectly legal, and OK with me, but many will perceive it as "democracy for those who can pay."

by cs702 4y ago

This is perfectly legal, and OK with me, but many will perceive it as "democracy for those who can pay."

They'll perceive it that way because that's how it is. There's no need to muddy the waters with "many will perceive it[...]" when the reality is that in order to participate in the vote you have to pay money.

finspeech 4y ago
But is that actually bad? Don’t we want the people making decisions to have skin in the game? People use money everyday to express their preferences, why shouldn’t we use it here?
- Volundr 4y ago
  So should we bring back a poll tax then?
  - finspeech 4y ago
    I think a case could be made for it. Or something like only taxpayers get to vote since they are effectively deciding how to spend their collective dollars. This is how companies operate with shareholders and that seems to work and people don’t bat an eye at it.
- thefurdrake 4y ago
  "Is it bad to force people to pay for a service the owner calls a 'public square' in order to be allowed to have one's voice heard about how the public square is run?" That's your question, correct? We're still talking about Elon's Public Square Bastion of Free Speech Twitter, correct? Would you like to rephrase your question, or will, "Yes, that's actually bad" suffice?
  - finspeech 4y ago
    No need to rephrase. That was indeed my question. Fact of the matter is, you need money to participate in society at large. I don’t see why it’s bad that Twitter’s not any different. I’m not here to defend Elon’s principles, but if charging people money for a service is bad, then that’s quite the indictment on society.

hdlothia 4y ago

Why would an 8 dollar fee discourage nation states with massive bot army budgets? He owns the site and can do whatever he wants, but why is there all of this performative behaviour.

carlivar 4y ago

In other words, a poll tax.

mcphage 4y ago

> but many will perceive it as "democracy for those who can pay." I don't know if I'd call it that, but it's certainly not "the world's town square".

ryandvm 4y ago

Many will perceive having to pay $8 to vote as "democracy for those who can pay"? You don't say.