In her current post on Crooks and Liars, Karoli, whose pieces I’ve been reading for some time and normally locate effectively accomplished and intelligent, however chose to choose up on and excerpt some foolishness from Alex Payne’s recent – and rather unimportant – screed against Bitcoin. Payne’s piece is specifically vapid and 1 I didn’t believe worthy of response, but Karoli’s is much more interesting as it goes to concerns of moral superiority, fantasy, and narrow-mindedness. Plus, as I say, I think Karoli is each a excellent writer and worth reading.
Karoli frames her piece with the headline “Is Bitcoin a Libertarian Utopian Dream?”
Quick answer yes, it probably is that for some. But men and women have utopian dreams about all manner of things.
What Payne’s post (I study it fully when it initial came out) doesn’t do is refute any of Bitcoin’s technological innovations, innovations that are undeniable by any individual who actually appears at what the protocol does, or has any true experience with it. What Payne’s write-up does do is make unsubstantiated opinion statements couched in simple linguistic tricks like “Bitcoin is “generally viewed”” and “Bitcoin is viewed by numerous technologists” without saying who these specialists are, or backing up these statements in any way. I specifically enjoyed the “Bitcoin is regarded as a flawed but nonetheless worthwhile experiment” bit. What precisely is a ‘flawed but nonetheless worthwhile experiment’? A worthwhile experiment that has some flaw in its experimental method? The Bitcoin protocol has been place to the test, worldwide, for five years. It’s nevertheless functioning today. Any experiment with that sort of actual-world field test is hardly ‘flawed’. Or how about Payne’s assertion that “The only factor “profound” about Bitcoin is its community’s near-total obliviousness to reality.” The bold emphasis is Karoli’s, indicating that that is the principal point about Payne’s position, that only these who agree with him have any grip on reality.
Are there Libertarians amongst Bitcoin advocates? Yes, and some Anarchists also. And some merchants attempting to make income. There could be some speculators wanting to get rich. There could be some social activists and human rights advocates like me amongst them as well. But also among them there is Richard Brown, a higher level technical analyst for IBM’s Banking and Monetary Markets Division. He described the fundamental achievement of the Bitcoin protocol as ‘unimaginable’ just a handful of years ago. Watch his remarks oneself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDO7TDMlxsY
The issue is, Alex Payne, former Chief Technologies Officer at Straightforward Bank (an on the web bank), writes his blog called “Alex Payne Writes Here”. So that indicates he has to create anything, or so he thinks. His writing reveals that he doesn’t like people who have utopian ideals or who think about a much more just future. That’s his real difficulty, not Bitcoin. And Karoli’s dislike of Bitcoin is not since of any real experience or analysis as she states at the quite leading, “All of the buzz about Bitcoin has disturbed me given that Dan Backer filed with the FEC to let his tea celebration groups to accept Bitcoin for contributions and expenditures.” She does not like Dan Backer, consequently Bitcoin is some sort of Tea Party threat to humanity. Not specifically a sound evaluation.
Is Bitcoin a Libertarian Utopian Dream? Maybe. Is socialism a utopian dream? Is democracy a utopian dream? Did Dr. King have a utopian dream? Possibly humanity counteracts its own evil and narrow-mindedness with utopian dreams. The lions may someday lie down with the lambs.
Do you harbor any utopian dreams? That’s not necessarily a undesirable thing, you know.
Happy holidays.
The post Utopians and Magical Thinkers – A Response to Alex Payne by way of Karoli appeared very first on Bitcoin Magazine.
Utopians and Magical Thinkers – A Response to Alex Payne through Karoli
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