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The sane answer to monopolists abusing the system is not "we should just throw out all regulations and standards". It's "we should insist the government enforce

The sane answer to monopolists abusing the system is not "we should just throw out all regulations and standards". It's "we should insist the government enforce the antitrust laws already on the books against these behemoths, rather than giving them deference".

phil21 1y ago
One of things actually works on the scale of a useful human lifetime. The other does not, and currently is headed in the opposite direction. If things ever get fixed it will be my great great grandchildren that see the results. I don’t know if crypto is the solution, but watching even supposedly technologically literate places like HN largely cheer for cashless societies where every transaction is monitored and gatekept, while limits continue to be dialed downwards is all anyone needs to see to realize working within the system is a plan for failure. Transacting money is not a crime, it’s simply a lazy way to fight it. It enables enforcement of trivial policies and more or less removes a key pillar of human freedom.
- danaris 1y ago
  > One of things actually works on the scale of a useful human lifetime. One of those things actually works, period. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater is not going to lead to a better system overall. It may fix a few of the specific problems with the current system, but it introduces enough other problems that it becomes, at best, a wash. And in practice, it's abundantly clear that cryptocurrency does not work. People don't want it. The only reason it is experiencing a resurgence in popularity now is because Trump, under the influence of various cryptocurrency scammers (note: this is not me saying "all cryptocurrency is a scam"; this is me saying "the specific people influencing Trump on this are scammers"), has been promoting it in order to feed their scams.
bix6 1y ago
O yeah because that’s been working so well lol. Antitrust enforcement is a joke.
- danaris 1y ago
  Some of us can recognize that the fascist takeover of our specific government doesn't change the fundamental truths about how governments function. Yes, antitrust enforcement in the US is a joke right now. It was actually ramping up to be pretty darn good under Biden. Now it's not, and we have several other problems to solve before we're going to be able to get to it. None of that makes cryptocurrency a better overall answer to the problems described than fiat currency with proper antitrust controls. Frankly, it's not even a better overall answer to the problems described than fiat currency without proper antitrust controls.

phil21 1y ago

One of things actually works on the scale of a useful human lifetime. The other does not, and currently is headed in the opposite direction. If things ever get fixed it will be my great great grandchildren that see the results. I don’t know if crypto is the solution, but watching even supposedly technologically literate places like HN largely cheer for cashless societies where every transaction is monitored and gatekept, while limits continue to be dialed downwards is all anyone needs to see to realize working within the system is a plan for failure. Transacting money is not a crime, it’s simply a lazy way to fight it. It enables enforcement of trivial policies and more or less removes a key pillar of human freedom.

danaris 1y ago
> One of things actually works on the scale of a useful human lifetime. One of those things actually works, period. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater is not going to lead to a better system overall. It may fix a few of the specific problems with the current system, but it introduces enough other problems that it becomes, at best, a wash. And in practice, it's abundantly clear that cryptocurrency does not work. People don't want it. The only reason it is experiencing a resurgence in popularity now is because Trump, under the influence of various cryptocurrency scammers (note: this is not me saying "all cryptocurrency is a scam"; this is me saying "the specific people influencing Trump on this are scammers"), has been promoting it in order to feed their scams.

bix6 1y ago

O yeah because that’s been working so well lol. Antitrust enforcement is a joke.

danaris 1y ago
Some of us can recognize that the fascist takeover of our specific government doesn't change the fundamental truths about how governments function. Yes, antitrust enforcement in the US is a joke right now. It was actually ramping up to be pretty darn good under Biden. Now it's not, and we have several other problems to solve before we're going to be able to get to it. None of that makes cryptocurrency a better overall answer to the problems described than fiat currency with proper antitrust controls. Frankly, it's not even a better overall answer to the problems described than fiat currency without proper antitrust controls.