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Until you say something the government doesn't like and they decide that part of your punishment should be lack of access to payment services. I'd prefer a con

Until you say something the government doesn't like and they decide that part of your punishment should be lack of access to payment services. I'd prefer a constitutional mandate or guarantee that this can't happen. Without it this is a noose. A convenient noose with lots of nice properties but a noose none the less.

onlyrealcuzzo 1y ago
> Until you say something the government doesn't like and they decide that part of your punishment should be lack of access to payment services. How much worse is that than the same thing happening when you do something a private company doesn't like? And how much different is that than what the Federal government could already do? If the government says you're a terrorist, you're not accessing any banking.
- timewizard 1y ago
  > when you do something a private company doesn't like? Well, it's completely different, because ostensibly I can switch to another private company. Is there an option, ever, for me to just change which government I subscribe to? > If the government says you're a terrorist, you're not accessing any banking. In the US this can only be true for foreign citizens. Broad classes of assets and liquidity are well protected for US citizens unless you end up in the unusual situation where they sue the money itself. If you have cash in your hand nothing can stop you from spending it. Thank you for introducing political relativism into this conversation, although, I'm not sure it's advanced anything in particular.
  - StackRanker3000 1y ago
    > In the US this can only be true for foreign citizens. Broad classes of assets and liquidity are well protected for US citizens unless you end up in the unusual situation where they sue the money itself. If you have cash in your hand nothing can stop you from spending it. Why would this be any different if it was the government running payment services rather than private entities? You haven’t explained why having those middlemen protects you from the same authority that makes up and enforces the rules anyway.
charlie90 1y ago
As opposed to Visa/MC deciding that? At least I can vote for the government...
- Aspos 1y ago
  And its not a far-fetched example as both VISA/MC actually have a history of effectively banning legitimate businesses for no particular reason.

onlyrealcuzzo 1y ago

> Until you say something the government doesn't like and they decide that part of your punishment should be lack of access to payment services. How much worse is that than the same thing happening when you do something a private company doesn't like? And how much different is that than what the Federal government could already do? If the government says you're a terrorist, you're not accessing any banking.

timewizard 1y ago
> when you do something a private company doesn't like? Well, it's completely different, because ostensibly I can switch to another private company. Is there an option, ever, for me to just change which government I subscribe to? > If the government says you're a terrorist, you're not accessing any banking. In the US this can only be true for foreign citizens. Broad classes of assets and liquidity are well protected for US citizens unless you end up in the unusual situation where they sue the money itself. If you have cash in your hand nothing can stop you from spending it. Thank you for introducing political relativism into this conversation, although, I'm not sure it's advanced anything in particular.
- StackRanker3000 1y ago
  > In the US this can only be true for foreign citizens. Broad classes of assets and liquidity are well protected for US citizens unless you end up in the unusual situation where they sue the money itself. If you have cash in your hand nothing can stop you from spending it. Why would this be any different if it was the government running payment services rather than private entities? You haven’t explained why having those middlemen protects you from the same authority that makes up and enforces the rules anyway.

charlie90 1y ago

As opposed to Visa/MC deciding that? At least I can vote for the government...

Aspos 1y ago
And its not a far-fetched example as both VISA/MC actually have a history of effectively banning legitimate businesses for no particular reason.