4 ms·

VISA is the government

by functionmouse 5mo ago

advisedwang 5mo ago
What does this even mean? VISA is literally a publicly traded company. Compared to banks it barely even regulated.
- tavavex 5mo ago
  Really? I thought the subtext is as obvious as it could've been. The point they're making is that a duopoly that controls the flow of money itself deciding to ban a whole market segment for ideological or profit reasons is no different from a government making that thing actually illegal, in terms of the effect it has on businesses and people.
Frieren 5mo ago
When inequality is high capital is the government.
micromacrofoot 5mo ago
actually if they were it would be easier to argue it's a violation of free speech, but since they're not they can censor with much less restriction tbh there's a case to be made that the government should run a payment processor as critical infrastructure
- coldacid 5mo ago
  The way governments these days use corporations and NGOs to work around constitutional restrictions, I'm sure they're pretty happy leaving the payment processors as-is.
  - iamnothere 5mo ago
    They actually just got slapped for doing this. This was in the area of speech but hopefully it’s the start of a larger trend. https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/us-government-concedes-first-amendment-violation-in-berenson-settlement/ https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/us-government-concede...
    - bcrosby95 5mo ago
      Lol, let me know when a federal administration admits wrongdoing against speech it dislikes. In the meantime this is no different than one side saying "we tax the rich too much" and the other side saying "we don't tax the rich enough."
- marcosdumay 5mo ago
  If they can make laws and people are subject to those laws, then they are government. I only disagree with the "the" on the GP, they are para-governamental.
  - micromacrofoot 5mo ago
    it's not a law though, it's a choice of who to do business with
    - marcosdumay 5mo ago
      Eh... Go read the article again, or just the title.
      - micromacrofoot 5mo ago
        no need, these are two businesses making business decisions... specifically not being government allows them to do this

VISA is the government

advisedwang 5mo ago

What does this even mean? VISA is literally a publicly traded company. Compared to banks it barely even regulated.

tavavex 5mo ago
Really? I thought the subtext is as obvious as it could've been. The point they're making is that a duopoly that controls the flow of money itself deciding to ban a whole market segment for ideological or profit reasons is no different from a government making that thing actually illegal, in terms of the effect it has on businesses and people.

Frieren 5mo ago

When inequality is high capital is the government.

micromacrofoot 5mo ago

actually if they were it would be easier to argue it's a violation of free speech, but since they're not they can censor with much less restriction tbh there's a case to be made that the government should run a payment processor as critical infrastructure

coldacid 5mo ago
The way governments these days use corporations and NGOs to work around constitutional restrictions, I'm sure they're pretty happy leaving the payment processors as-is.
- iamnothere 5mo ago
  They actually just got slapped for doing this. This was in the area of speech but hopefully it’s the start of a larger trend. https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/us-government-concedes-first-amendment-violation-in-berenson-settlement/ https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/us-government-concede...
  - bcrosby95 5mo ago
    Lol, let me know when a federal administration admits wrongdoing against speech it dislikes. In the meantime this is no different than one side saying "we tax the rich too much" and the other side saying "we don't tax the rich enough."
marcosdumay 5mo ago
If they can make laws and people are subject to those laws, then they are government. I only disagree with the "the" on the GP, they are para-governamental.
- micromacrofoot 5mo ago
  it's not a law though, it's a choice of who to do business with
  - marcosdumay 5mo ago
    Eh... Go read the article again, or just the title.
    - micromacrofoot 5mo ago
      no need, these are two businesses making business decisions... specifically not being government allows them to do this