I have a huge concern over anyone who is stating that the CCs are to partly to be blamed. Yes, they were used for firearms. Firearms are expensive and plastic (for the most part) is the currency in the US.

For me that's flipping the bozo bit for that individual. It's not "fascism" or "trump" that we should be afraid of. It's the mob rule.

> It's not "fascism" or "trump" that we should be afraid of.

Oh, people should really be concerned about fascism. It's just not coming from the groups outed trying to bring it (what should be obvious, outed groups do not succeed).

But there are people pushing hard for individual-erasing collectivism, explicitly labeling people in ethnics belief and sex, and suppressing every unaligned idea to the point where it's not viable for the people that have them to even speak.

(A late edit: I don't think Pathernon is on this group. They did nothing wrong, they just happen to be in a place where no move was a good one.)

> It's not "fascism" or "trump" that we should be afraid of.

If you don't have anything to fear from Trump, that's nice for you, but given that he's openly calling for me and people dear to me to have our civil rights revoked, it's pretty shitty of you to tell me that I shouldn't be afraid of him.

In America, we have 3 branches of government with checks and balances additionally we have very difficult to modify rights given in the constitution. Things are not likely to change.

And yet attacks on gays, blacks and other minorities have risen sharply since Trump came to power, perpetrated by people emboldened by his (quasi-)fascist rhetoric and bluster.

Gay people weren't given the federal right to marry until three years ago. Trans people still don't have equal protection under the law. And none of the rights that do exist are enshrined in the Constitution at all.

Thanks, I heard about this gun case & forgot. So this points out that it's not only about new kinds business, but about a changing mood in general, even in old businesses.

By new kinds business I mean that lots of internet companies seem to be awkwardly half-way between neutral infrastructure (like Windows, and your water company) and being publications (which of course have an editorial line).

I was reading some tangential article the other day which suggested that porn services had difficulty with Visa not doing business with them.

That's less for ideological grounds and entirely to do with the chargebacks that ensue when the wife finds the bill and the husband denies everything, insisting the card was stolen, and the shitty business models of shady outfits opting you into recurring subscriptions that require your using a credit card as "age verification." All of it gets contested and it's more trouble than it's worth.

American Express explicitly bans porn outright. It's not for some prudish reasons though, it's because porn has a very high fraud/chargeback rate.

The takeaway from that article I got was that companies are handing out credit to anybody who wants it- and some people take advantage of that when they want to go out with a bang.

Hellfire would rain down on any Network (Visa, MC, Amex, Discover) who thought about refusing to process firearm purchases. The NRA, any republican, and liberals like myself who support fundamental rights would be rightly pissed that a hard-to-avoid service such as the Visa network was making a decision on what I can or cannot do with my money. Because the minute you start making those decisions, it's a slippery sloap.

Their business prints them money, so why would they want to kick the hornets net? This is why I'm extremely weary of anyone who declares that Cash is Dead, or the future is Credit/Debit cards

This is already starting to happen. Where's the hellfire?

https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/card-payment-gu...

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/business/banks-gun-sales....

https://nypost.com/2018/06/11/gun-businesses-scrambling-afte...

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/could-credit-card-companie...

> "Where's the hellfire?"

I'm not sure, but I can offer two hypothesizes that aren't mutually exclusive.

1) Gun owners have been marginalized on social media and their hellfire is going unnoticed on alternative platforms, or simply isn't promoted by algorithmic timelines.

2) Gun owners are already predisposed to purchasing guns with cash, for privacy reasons, so many don't feel particularly inconvenienced by this development.

Those look like two isolated cases at the payment processors. But if that keeps up, it'll be a quick road to legislation

> myself who support fundamental rights would be rightly pissed that a hard-to-avoid service such as the Visa network was making a decision on what I can or cannot do with my money.

But that is exactly what is happening. Visa is saying to Patreon - don't let people give money to XYZ persons via your platform.