The fact we have PSPs endanger Democracy, because we could technically exchange eCash P2P, there is exactly ZERO reasons to keep up the banking systems, and banksters knows that well, https://web.archive.org/web/20240213185758/https://www.cimb.... unfortunately people seems to be unaware of that...
How is this a danger to "democracy?" The centralization of payment processing under a surveillance-friendly network that can debank people for socially unacceptable behavior was never on any ballot. Instead, surveillance capability is a regulatory requirement promulgated by governments that despise privacy, regardless of which party holds office. The mistake here is in thinking that there's "democracy" left to save.
> The mistake here is in thinking that there's "democracy" left to save.
There is no democracy, never has been, it is an illusion of choice maintained by the oligarchs to keep people motivated just to get exploited more by whoever wins their next ballot.
People seem to forget that most countries aren’t down with “adult content.” Japan famously has censorship; while it’s outright illegal and censored online in India, Russia, China, and no shortage of other countries. It’s illegal on both sides of conflicts - like Russia and Ukraine (possession in Ukraine by itself is grounds for up to 3 years in prison). Some countries like Australia permit it, but “extreme” content (aka anything not “vanilla”) is technically illegal regardless of the age of the viewer. This is also not necessarily based on religion: China is officially atheist, Vietnam is as well, but both will put you in prison for importing it. Ironically, it is post-Christian countries that are most tolerant.
From the global stage, America is not some overly puritanical country while everyone else goes along without religious purity concerns. The big view is that the majority of countries censor it or ban it, even democratic ones, with no religious motive required. The Western world is the exception, but that’s changing in the UK, Australia, and now the US with age gating, payment processor refusal, or other restrictions.
You will have better luck getting people to adopt Monero than to get legislatures to pass payment neutrality. Same with enforcement. The trend in Western democracies is less freedom, more control, more surveillance etc.
The same payment companies are very happy to take payments on porn sites. This manufactured outrage makes no sense. It's scary what a rather small activist group can accomplish.
A handful of US companies take a cut from nearly every payment on the planet, and now they’re caving to pressure from Twitter mobs and puritan lobbies, censoring global content just to avoid upsetting shareholders.
Visa and Mastercard haven’t brought anything new in years. Their infrastructure still dominates out of habit, not merit. Meanwhile, alternatives like stablecoins and European systems like EPI or the digital euro are gaining ground.
Their boldness is honestly surprising, especially now that real competition is finally emerging.
Let's remember that there is no real "democracy" out there, activism and strikes are declared illegal/terrorism/threat in Europe and North America when it crosses the boundaries of the elite oligarchs.
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[ 6.4 ms ] story [ 61.7 ms ] threadThere is no democracy, never has been, it is an illusion of choice maintained by the oligarchs to keep people motivated just to get exploited more by whoever wins their next ballot.
I don't care about DVs
There's an existing cure for that particular disease: Bitcoin.
From the global stage, America is not some overly puritanical country while everyone else goes along without religious purity concerns. The big view is that the majority of countries censor it or ban it, even democratic ones, with no religious motive required. The Western world is the exception, but that’s changing in the UK, Australia, and now the US with age gating, payment processor refusal, or other restrictions.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44606184
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44621081
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44629685
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44629982
https://old.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/1caxsmc/japan...
What's urgently needed is payment neutrality, like net neutrality. It's absurd that the net was discussed more heavily and way earlier than cash.
Democracy is endangered by the fact that the government likes to use payment processors to stomp on stuff near the edges.
The dogs on the right rallies around when the government tries to pressure gunmakers, the cats on the left don't rally around such threats very well.
Mind you, both odds are negligible.
Visa and Mastercard haven’t brought anything new in years. Their infrastructure still dominates out of habit, not merit. Meanwhile, alternatives like stablecoins and European systems like EPI or the digital euro are gaining ground.
Their boldness is honestly surprising, especially now that real competition is finally emerging.
US rail strikes, Canada truckers strikes, anti-genocide protests, anti-deportation protests, etc..
Online crackdown on journalism under the pretext of "graphic" content is an everyday occurrence.
So talking about ban on adult content in that context is naive at best.