All of bejaq's Comments + Replies

Here is documentary that might give you an impression how creating new local currencies can successfully solve real-world problems, blockchain technology fits very well into that because of it's decentralized and digital nature, making it a lot easier to create, distribute and convert currencies (although the documentary doesn't focus on that aspect, but is explained more in depth on the website).

And here some research:
https://www.grassrootseconomics.org/research
 

Ah, OK, so I think your point is more along the lines of "it's relatively irrelevant" which I really didn't even take into consideration given the already significant effects of crypto (for example in terms of CO2 emissions which are already about 0.1% of total emissions) and the extreme growth the market has seen and is seeing.  
I would say the percentage of transactions is not really the main factor here, more the wealth held in it, and crypto already is well on it's way of holding 1% of the world's wealth.

Maybe you don't believe it solves any genui... (read more)

Thanks a lot for you take.

One thing I would note is that cryptocurrency as a cause area is independent of cryptocurrency having have a net benefit or a net harmful effect; potentially cryptocurrency could destabilize global financial systems, so if one has a less positive view on cryptocurrency, regulating cryptocurrency (whether by governments, or by self-regulation within the ecosystem) and making sure at least some cryptocurrencies have a positive impact (thus reducing the overall net harm) could still be a potential cause area.

To address a few other po... (read more)

Unfortunately you seem to miss the point.

I am not here to say how great cryptocurrency is, although it can undoubtedly be extremely profitable (for better or worse), but to point out shaping it positively is important.

I guess your argument boils down to suppressing cryptocurrency being more viable than shaping its development positively, but history shows that many goods cannot be effectively suppressed and if people derive a benefit from it they will continue to use them, with all the disadvantage a black market brings (I am talking about the drug market)... (read more)

I agree that aggregating suffering of different people is problematic. By necessity, it happens on a rather abstract level, divorced from the experiential. I would say that can lead to a certain impersonal approach which ignores the immediate reality of the human condition. Certainly we should be aware of how we truly experience the world.

However I think here we transcend ethics. We can't hope to resolve deep issues of of suffering within ethics, because we are somewhat egocentric beings by nature. We see only through our eyes and feel our body. I don't se... (read more)