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Re:Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s ... by roenxi on Wednesday June 01, 2022 @06:46AM (#31580096)
Nobody likes homelessness. How is democracy going at putting an end to it? The list of similar examples is endless; democracies are forced to put up with a lot of stuff that nobody likes when everything that is tried turns out not to work.

Democracy is a very powerful technology, no argument there. But it can't overcome technical realities. It is better at adjusting to them and giving up when the cost gets too high.

Re:Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s ... by RandomLensman on Wednesday June 01, 2022 @06:58AM (#31580174)
Nobody likes homelessness, but do people care about it enough to vote for people with an agenda for it or pay for it to change?

And no, technologies do not freely diffuse through societies, some stuff remains pretty firmly in highly policed boxes when the cost of letting it run free is deemed to high (can you just go buy nuclear weapons, for example?). Who is to say that the cost of banning crypto would be too high - I have not seen the evidence for that (also not really for a ban, either)? That is a political decision, not a technical one. And, yes, there can be bad decisions with really high costs, no doubt.

Re:Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s ... by roenxi on Thursday June 02, 2022 @07:55AM (#31593753)
> ...do people care about it enough to vote for people with an agenda for it...

Yep. Happens regularly.

> ...or pay for it to change?

And nope, certainly not. But crypto will fall into the same category - stamping out the ability to do the - rather simple - necessary maths would require horrific compromises that are simply not supportable. This technology has radically altered the power balance of moving funds around. Sure that isn't sunshine and roses, but at least we don't have to worry about so much about asset freezes.

Re:Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s ... by RandomLensman on Thursday June 02, 2022 @10:47AM (#31595554)
I don't think asset freezes are high on most people's agenda in first world countries. And the developing world does not have the GDP to move how things are done in the large economies for now.
Re:Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s ... by roenxi on Friday June 03, 2022 @07:06AM (#31606755)
Sure it is. Every so often the government rolls in and reallocates wealth to the wealthy - eg, as happened in '08 and is famously memorialised in the Bitcoin genesis block. Dealing with asset shenanigans like freezes is exactly why the crypto project started. If you've got no assets then sure, ignore that. Otherwise it makes sense to start tallying the risks against government seizures.

Plus asset freezes are on the cards for shutting down protesting truckers. If we're living in a world where the Canadian government can attack truckers (of all people) with asset freezes why can't it happen to you or me? I don't see the much difference between myself and a Canadian trucker. I suppose I couldn't handle working hard for more than about 6 hours at a time.

Re:Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s ... by RandomLensman on Friday June 03, 2022 @07:24AM (#31606880)
Do you have any data backing up that asset freezes are high on most people's agenda? Where I live certainly it is not, doesn't even show up in any surveys etc. and the asset freezes at Canadian truckers are/were not really much of a news item (living in large European country). I can see that trust in banks has eroded a bit (still surprisingly high) but asset freezes or seizures are not a thing in the public eye where I live.

I can believe that for some people the topic is high on the agenda, but really "most"?

Re:Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s ... by pjc50 on Wednesday June 01, 2022 @09:08AM (#31581283)
I think every time the subject comes up we find that people (not themselves homeless) do like homelessness, and regard it as a suitable punishment for failing to contribute to society, being mentally ill, or using hard drugs.