The crypto billionaires building a world where money buys you a vote
bbc.co.ukKey takeaways:
1, Billionaire tech bros know what's best for us.
2. Laissez-faire capitalism is the highest ideal to strive for. None of that Star Trek style "individuals work to better the human condition as a whole" woke nonsense.
I'll take a run-of-the-mill democracy over that, thank you very much.
It's always surprising how inconsistent, and disconnected from reality such ventures are. Examples:
No defense of any kind. That's great! Until it isn't, a neighbour invades & just takes the land you're on. Of course, arming a piece of no-mansland between Serbia and Croatia would be a bad idea too.
Let's have no countries anymore! Maximum freedom for all citizens! Great! Except the freedom for people from elsewhere to move around - including to your area. Oh, you don't want that? Then you have country borders again.
Don't feed the poor! They're just parasites. Except ehm... what about when you become poor? Or disabled? Or chronically ill? Or elderly? Just let those unlucky saps rot in the street? (that's not how mom & dad raised me)
No taxes. Great! So, how to fund roads, telecom infrastructure, healthcare etc? Private enterprise? History has shown over & over again how 'well' that works at scale.
Look, I'm all for improving democracies. Shorten the lines between citizens & leadership. Explore alternate governance systems, etc. But cryptocurrency-powered micronation with a $B tech bro as king is NOT it.
>I'll take a run-of-the-mill democracy over that, thank you very much.
It's cute you think you have a choice at the moment. America's democracy seems to be as virulent as cocacola.
> I'll take a run-of-the-mill democracy over that, thank you very much
I for one am completely sick and tired of 45% of my income getting stolen through taxes to support programs that the majority votes for. When someone who pays no taxes at all, or receives welfare has the same voting power as you, the system is broken.
> No defense of any kind. What do you need to defend from? If there are no taxes and no tax base to take over, why would a country have any interest at all. And if they do, an anarcho capitalist society treats the threat like it should honestly be treated: Target the leaders of the country that initated the threat, not the cannon fodder soliders from the middle class that are sent to fight the wars.
> Let's have no countries anymore! Maximum freedom for all citizens! Great! Except the freedom for people from elsewhere to move around - including to your area.
Why would people move in if there is no government welfare and the community doesn't offer them jobs or services or even want to do business with them?
> what about when you become poor Well, you obviously do the same thing as society currently does for unplanned future issues, you buy an insurance policy that covers you in events of unplanned economic hardships.
> No taxes. Great! So, how to fund roads, telecom infrastructure, healthcare etc? Private enterprise?
You go around and find investors to invest in the construction project? Or you just go into the community and gather the money to build the roads/infrastructure? None of this stuff is build by the government, it's all done by private companies, the money is just forcefully taken from everyone through taxes and then half of it is eaten up by beuracratic nonsense.