Always good to hear from a "believer" who sees at least one thing wrong with crypto ;-)
I would like to hear any argument you have that suggests that there really is something like "decentralization". I see only a key belief of the believers.
I read you post “Who will control Bitcoin”.
I have to be honest with you. It strikes me as just another version of conspiracy theories that seem so ascendant since Trump and were so already among crypto-believers before him. Yes, a lot of these have been around for a while. Even the originators/progenitors of the idea of BTC, the Cypherpunks, fit this description. But they did have (at least at the beginning) a more reasonable complaint and focus, the exclusivity of access/use of cryptography by the government. But, of course, this became moot with the open-sourcing of most of it and then the cause went in search of some other object and, oddly, it was “money”. Perhaps you read this already https://jsadove.medium.com/the-economic-ideology-of-crypto-and-ddlts-e8f5b476996d.
I traveled in circles with some of these Cypherpunk folks. Most if not all of them were way more intelligent and accomplished from a math and comp-sci perspective than me (me being a journeyman software engineer). But they were also oddly hodge-podge in their knowledge of history and most of all political history and economics. And when it came to discussing these subjects, it always took me aback that they had giant gaps in their knowledge and odd unfounded “facts”. Most importantly, they saw their own government system (western liberal democracy) as something equivalently evil as authoritarian or totalitarian governments. And ascribed all kinds of cabals and conspiracies that were happening to yadayadayadayada….
Western Liberal Democracy is the only project on earth that –however imperfectly— has at its core the intent to devolve power to the people. It has been a long run up and down since the first true/self-conscious incarnation of it was founded in 6th century BC Athens. And it falls short and then corrects itself. Everywhere else outside of this model IS THE POWER OF THE FEW (formal oligarchy) if not outright DICTATORSHIP.
This is the important thing. Not money. And, as crypto believers like to believe, money and only money is power. There is no discussion of human rights or freedom of conscience and free and fair elections. There is no discussion of the hard work it takes to build and sustain a free and fair society. It is just money.
And this utterly floors me.
That example of everything that's wrong, Peter Thiel, for example, knows this and alluded to it. But for him money is more important, because he (mistakenly) believes that if he has lots of it and control over it, he will be free. Until he falls afoul of the favor of …. Whoever.
This is the foundation of my views on crypto or money in general. Money is a means and it is transient. Human rights, real freedom and human dignity are what matter. Take these away and your money really isn’t worth thinking about.
