OhScee

And what exactly do you consider as “sinful impact”? Everything that you personally consider “bad” for some reason?

you have to be delusional to not objectively assess the state of gpu prices and the environmental impacts as "bad"

https://priceonomics.com/how-has-cryptocurrency-mining-influenced-gpu-prices/ here's an interesting bit on the prices

environmental impacts are largely: Carbon dioxide output, resources required to accommodate expanding blockchain, increase in proof-of-work requiring even greater resources and even higher carbon output, greater strain on gpu demands etc. then take those reasons and consider ever single crypto with these issues

all in all, you could say that those things are all bad

For ponzi-schemes, you have to look at the crypto industry's lesser known feature: Tokens

Long before NFT's, companies have been manufacturing systems to create "tokens" (usually utility tokens) and trying to sell them to other people. This usually happens through crypto conferences, crypto meetups etc. Typically, the plan is to convince people of their impending value growth by going on a long complicated sounded explanation of how tokens are earned and how many people are buying into them, and then get that person to by a bunch of cheap tokens. The promise is that they can then sell them to others to make more money, or (in quite a few cases), sell tokens to someone who will sell tokens and give the initial seller a small percent... and so on.

Bitcoin did not start with fiat-investment opportunities, but with the way the entire crypto market is operating, that's the goal now: creating investment opportunities. It's proven to be a very effective means of making fast-money, so there's no incentive for the market to move away from pushing crypto as an investment hole rather than focusing on value control and stability to make it a more accessible form of currency. It also makes me wonder about how functional a lot of these coins even are in terms of utility. How many stores will accept every single kind of crypto?

And nobody wants to talk environment... but it's a really huge point to bring up, especially now that the environment is worse than ever. I've really dug into the impacts on other posts, but I try to at least mention it because this is the one big aspect outside of the "currency" itself that actually impacts people who choose not to participate. The GPU shortages, the giant mining farms, growth-driven-proof-of-concept-difficulty-increases, etc. I get it, they're working on something better than proof of work in terms of energy consumption. But look at how many of the damn things exist! And since all crypto currencies work alongside fiat, it's not like we're replacing traditional banking.

Sure, the energy consumption and carbon dioxide output is roughly ~50% of traditional banks, but unless everyone suddenly decides that they don't care about their fiat investments, that output is just going to grow alongside traditional banks

I have no desire to start any new crypto currency. I've worked development in that business for long enough to have completely lost the taste for it. Most coins are poorly planned and run by con men. It's no surprise that things are slowing down

I thought this forum is about technology, and not religion.

Just noticed this. Didn't think exaggeration or metaphor was beyond the scope of people's comprehension?

Absolutely agree with you.

If people value sex as something sacred and precious, that's their own business. Assuming everyone holds those same beliefs is idiotic, and shaming people for how they need to survive is even more so

different, yes, but it doesn't make the person doing the work any lesser or greater than a person doing some other kind of work.

a sex worker may not even run the risk of bodily harm depending on their situation, whereas it's almost guaranteed that a roofer will.

I'm mostly making the comparison because saying things like "dirty money" and implying that sex work is more bodily abuse than any other type of hard labour is a bit naive. Each job takes something away from you. Sex work isn't any lesser or greater than other types of work because it involves sex. The real shame is when a person is being forced or endangered to do their job in any situation.

A lot of comments that are against sex workers are based on their own personal feelings about sex and why it makes the person doing that work lesser than others. I'm making the roofer comparison because sex work is a very real thing that some people do.

It's a service that other people pay for, and not exclusively "evil" or bad people. The vilification of the work itself, instead of those who endanger the workers, is ridiculous. That's all I'm saying

A roofer destroys his body every day he works in order to get money, or to receive a "bribe" as you put it. Does the fact that he needs money to live make this situation less consensual?

Do you imagine that he loves roofing, and that the fact he's getting paid for it makes him abuse this right that he's "earned?"

The crux for all of those points is that the value is affected by fiat investments. It may not be able to be manipulated by a central bank, but it is influenced by the amount of investment put into it, which gives it the dangerous edge of being a very convenient ponzi-scheme, not to mention an incredibly unstable form of currency that most of the proletariat can't afford to risk using for their day to day expenses. That alone turns it from "currency" to "high risk investment."

Being able to send it instantly without fees is a great dream, but the above points kind of spoil the intent.

We don't need to get into the environmental aspects, or the sinful impact it's had on the price of GPU's (further pushing the proletariat from being able to fully participate in the blockchain), and the equally terrible chip shortage combined with the continued purchase and use of GPUs by crypto miners.

But blockchain cryptocurrencies have several serious problems beyond any technical oversights with the actual implentation.

arguably, your biggest stake holders now are the incredibly wealthy -> those who can afford to mine (therefore, those who can actually participate in the blockchain), and/or those who have invested the most fiat into the currency. I know what the original goals of crypto were, but the unfortunate reality is that as soon as fiat got into the mix, the dream died. Capitalism strikes again, and no one with real money being made is going to change the way it works now.

If there's a crypto out there that isn't available for fiat investment, that's the best hope to actually having a decentralized currency for all people

If you're not keen on seeing posts from "right" leaning extremist, I'm not sure where to point you. "Centrist" communities are going to let that stuff slide, and obviously "right" focused communities are just going to be the most insane things you've ever seen

If you aren't a "Trump's America" apologist, you're best bet is to just find a "left" community of people that largely aren't extremists. Lemmy is fine, HexBear is okay... not sure what else though

Literally described as being a community of "leftists"

Absolutely. Quite honestly, adopting from another country had never crossed my mind, since I grew up with so many orphans. I was surprised that some people immediately jumped to that conclusion

Your pessimism and ignorance is truly astounding. There need not be wars for children to be abandoned, and it should be common knowledge at this point that foster parents have a high chance of being nothing but another loveless cage for orphans to suffer in. Full fledged adoption is hardly done right, but that's all the more reason why good and caring people should step in and try.

I grew up around orphans, and I know how hard and lonely it is to be foisted from foster family to foster family, surrounded by siblings and adults who resent and use you until you're once again abandoned to some other equally cruel house. Maybe you don't think adoption does any good (god knows why), but I know for certain that there are a lot of children who grow up alone without any support that would be so much better off if they had someone in their life who truly cared for them. Is it really better to just not care at all than to try and help even one person? If you think so, you're a terribly sad person.

No plans to create my own children. I've always felt that it's far more important to adopt a child that's been abandoned by an uncaring society then to make another. I don't have any genes important enough to try to reproduce (and few people do). If you can't find it in your heart to love a child that doesn't contain the same genetic material as you, I think you should reconsider being a parent