The inevitable chatter goes on about cryptocurrencies and speculation that somehow "they" or "the government" or "tax authorities" are going to try to step in and ban/restrict/regulate things.
A solitary Daisy
At the moment, there's lots of FUD in the air over the situation in South Korea, where mostly rumors suggest that cryptocurrency exchanges might be banned.
I'm in a bit of a strange mood these days, and I got to thinking about the whole issue of "protection" and who exactly thinks they are protecting who else from what.
In most cases, such moves by "authorities" tend to be officially dressed up as "consumer protection."
Whenever I see the term "consumer protection," I am always rather skeptical. And I'm not just talking about cryptos here... I'm talking about anything from banking laws to pharmaceuticals to toasters. When I poke around in this stuff, it always ends up sounding like measures are being taken to protect the stupid and gullible from themselves.
A stack of rocks
Maybe I would have less of an issue with that if the legislation or action didn't typically happen at the expense of those who already know better.
It reminds me a bit of when I was in school, and the primary "benefit" of having been singled out as "gifted and talented" was NOT being given an advanced curriculum to make the most of my talents, but instead being "strongly encouraged" to be a tutor for the remedial students. In the end, I found that even more boring than being part of regular classes.
Ultimately, everything ended up operating at the lowest common denominator.
Who exactly benefits from that? Usually nobody at all.
Well, I can't get past the suspicion that if/when the day comes... any legislation will masquerade as "protection" in the form of protecting greedy idiots from using their disability benefits to "gamble" in the crypto markets.
We will be told a "story" that it's not "safe" to be involved with digital money, because it's not "backed" by anything, and you certainly "can't trust" the people creating these currencies.
Of course, I am sure there will be some underlying intent designed to try to make cryptos as "toothless" as possible. I'm also sure it will be effectively near impossible to functionally implement very many controls, just like you can't really prevent people from choosing to lose their lunch money playing around with ridiculously volatile penny stocks.
Lavender in bloom
Controlling cryptos is a bit like trying to walk around in a room where the floor is covered with ball-bearings... as soon as you push some out of the way, others will roll in to take their place.
Now don't get me wrong-- I'm not suggesting life should just be a giant free-for-all. Most humans just aren't smart enough to handle that level of personal accountability.
Things like "seat belts" and "red lights" are definitely a pretty good thing. And taking some kind of measures to keep restaurants from having too many rats and roaches running around their kitchens is probably a good idea, too.
But there's a big difference between warning someone that something could be hazardous, and forcibly trying to prevent then from being stupid. And maybe the whole "survival of the fittest" might do well to include allowing idiots who think they can balance a skateboard on the railing at the edge of the Grand Canyon to actually fall and break their necks, thereby strengthening the gene pool.
OK... I can see this derailing already. So before anyone gets their knickers in a twist, the above was a mixture of Satire and Sarcasm. Google them, if you're not sure what they mean!
Well, I'd better end this. As I wrote a couple of days ago, my creativity is in a strange place at the moment.
Pay no mind to the man behind the curtain!
What do YOU Think? Does "Consumer Protection" actually protect anyone, or is it just a thinly veiled control mechanism? Do most laws only steer us towards the LOWEST common denominator? What do you think is really going on in South Korea? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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Created at 180111 22:18 PST
