"Foundations" are a waste of time.
Not to the ones collecting the money and spending it, of course. My problem with these try-hards are multiple in origin:
1.) They blew our "cover" early, causing a slow and bureaucratic monster to notice Bitcoin much sooner than they would've on their own.
2.) They think that by cozying up to the government, they're doing us all this big favor - when in reality they're just accelerating the process of being co-opted themselves, which brings with it the attendant problems of the government trying to "control" Bitcoin.
3.) They've also presented themselves as a large target for persecution when the government monster finally understands that Bitcoin doesn't give two shits about regulations or sovereign desires. Perhaps one could say this is karma for their ignorance, but it still is a problem they'll have to deal with.
4.) By offering to be the central "voice" of Bitcoin, their ill-advised ideas of how to suck up to government controls will diminish the ability of Bitcoin users in those countries to use Bitcoin as freely as they could otherwise. And no, being able to use Bitcoin to get takeout pizza or buy e-books isn't what I'm fucking talking about.
In short, its a bumbling short-sighted ego trip that is trying to be a centralized representative of a system that doesn't need it. Its about as absurd as claiming to speak for all of the internet -- which is completely ridiculous.
Not to the ones collecting the money and spending it, of course. My problem with these try-hards are multiple in origin:
1.) They blew our "cover" early, causing a slow and bureaucratic monster to notice Bitcoin much sooner than they would've on their own.
2.) They think that by cozying up to the government, they're doing us all this big favor - when in reality they're just accelerating the process of being co-opted themselves, which brings with it the attendant problems of the government trying to "control" Bitcoin.
3.) They've also presented themselves as a large target for persecution when the government monster finally understands that Bitcoin doesn't give two shits about regulations or sovereign desires. Perhaps one could say this is karma for their ignorance, but it still is a problem they'll have to deal with.
4.) By offering to be the central "voice" of Bitcoin, their ill-advised ideas of how to suck up to government controls will diminish the ability of Bitcoin users in those countries to use Bitcoin as freely as they could otherwise. And no, being able to use Bitcoin to get takeout pizza or buy e-books isn't what I'm fucking talking about.
In short, its a bumbling short-sighted ego trip that is trying to be a centralized representative of a system that doesn't need it. Its about as absurd as claiming to speak for all of the internet -- which is completely ridiculous.
Couldn't agree more. There is just no need for it, starts to sound like we would need a "bitcoin tax" - the very idea makes me shudder.
