Re: Josh Hall: Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead (Guardian)
After witnessing assorted Bitcoin, blockchain, Ethereum and related meetings, lectures, conferences and such, audiences ranging from people from the street to Ivy League PhDs: - Most informal meetings have pure religious feeling; people smile and listen. The content is irrelevant. Idiocy rules. Most come for the cult value - tech scene lost the ideological steam, and anything, anything that projects into rosy (dys)(u)topia can get lots of attention. Every industry needs a church. 1 in 100 attendees understands issues; - Professional/academic gatherings are fueled by the VC money, hoping to take a piece of the action from the finance folks. Large number of otherwise sane postdocs are churning out irrelevant papers with word 'blockchain' in them. 1 in 10 attendees understands issues. Lots of lurkers from the finance industry. Some shake their heads in disbelief; The confluence of the religious component for the masses, and a fuzzy possibility of grabbing control of money flows from the traditional players, appears to be the winning combination. One feeds the other. Since anything a blockchain can be put to use to can be done more easily, more efficiently, more securely, and usually also at a lower _final_ cost by humans, I have come to suspect, nay be convinced, that blockchain and other pieces of tech solutionism are mainly intended, and deliberately so, to take human beings out of as many loops as possible, possibly with the perspective of getting rid of them altogether when transitioning into the bliss of post-human algocratic singularity for the sole benefit of an ueberfintech elite, indubitably gifted with eternal (because machinistic) life to boot. # distributed via : no commercial use without permission #is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nett...@kein.org # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject:
Re: Josh Hall: Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead (Guardian)
I did a linguistic experiment - replaced word 'Blockchain' with 'mayonnaise' throughout the article, and the amount of sense remained constant (that particular word was sense-neutral.) It's very hard to find actual use for blockchain. This thought experiment provides some help: imagine a large (200m ?) vertical rock face just outside the city, that everyone can see. You can hire crews with scaffolds and chisels to write something on it, and it stays there forever. It cannot be forged, as they use Times Roman Light font, so any alteration becomes obvious. WTF would you use this for? To write down exactly what for the posterity? Decisions from the City Hall? Property tax records? Population count? How are you going to deal with clerical errors? Why are you doing this? Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead Crypto technology is coming to a crossroads. Those who want to use it to radically redistribute wealth must take urgent action # distributed via : no commercial use without permission #is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nett...@kein.org # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject:
Re: Josh Hall: Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead (Guardian)
Yes, I completely agree with Carsten. And as I cannot repeat often enough that I am a mere 'text filterer', which is the primary purpose of nettime (see at bottom) I will repeat again that I do not necessarily agree with other people's text I post, but do so only because I find them interesting, usually reflecting a (slightly?) more mainstream take on issues being discussed on this list (pro memoria: social media critique and the 'told you so' faktap). Worse still I am part of the minority (of more than one, fortunately, but less so of hackers, unfortunately) who thought from day one that the blockchain was a 'gas plant', as the French say (une usine a gaz). Since anything a blockchain can be put to use to can be done more easily, more efficiently, more securely, and usually also at a lower _final_ cost by humans, I have come to suspect, nay be convinced, that blockchain and other pieces of tech solutionism are mainly intended, and deliberately so, to take human beings out of as many loops as possible, possibly with the perspective of getting rid of them altogether when transitioning into the bliss of post-human algocratic singularity for the sole benefit of an ueberfintech elite, indubitably gifted with eternal (because machinistic) life to boot. The blockchain definitely belongs to the long list of things that better had not been invented and represent in the end a huge waste of time, talent, and resources. Cheers from snowy Tuscany, where we still shift stamped paper p+2D! On 2018-02-23 13:38, Carsten Agger wrote: On 23-02-2018 13:11, Patrice Riemens wrote: Original to: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/23/blockchain-reshape-world-far-right-ahead-crypto-technology Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead Crypto technology is coming to a crossroads. Those who want to use it to radically redistribute wealth must take urgent action [...] Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain reads the title of a 2017 book. From currency speculation through to verifying the provenance of food, blockchain technology is eking out space in a vast range of fields. It's ironic, amusing more likely, that the conclusion of the book "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain" is that the "Blockchain revolution" will likely not amount to much of anything. The main reason is this: Who needs a global, public and distributed ledger? What's it good for? As a matter of fact, all proposed use cases I've seen founder on the problem of reliability: Yes, if your crate of organic bananas has a bar code, and that bar code was entered on the block chain along with a statement that the crate was shipped from a fair trade/fair pay organic cooperative in Costa Rica, nobody can know if that means that the physical crate was actually there only that someone says that it was. You might improve on that situation with tamperproof, sealed cryptographic tokens, but you still don't know if the bananas were in the crate at the time. An ordinary inspections regime would probably work better. I.e., all use cases for blockchains which require real-world interaction requires some sort of verification that the data entered is correct, which the blockchain itself can't certify - anything beyond the simple fact that the information was entered. And that sort of tracking could ordinarily best be achieved by that high-end bleeding edge innovation called a "database"; along with an external verification process, the advantages of using a blockchain over a database are exactly zip. Now, if the data had to do with the blockchain itself and were entirely digital ... then it's another matter. That's why blockchains make sense for cryptocurrencies. But cryptocurrencies are not really useful, and in their current incarnation are riddled by scams to an extent where the best advice anyone could give is to stay the f... away. Distributed ledger systems do exist, though - one is called "Git". And it's very useful for tracking source code changes. And as opposed to blockchain, transactions can be reversed and history can be rewritten, which is actually a necessary feature (e.g., with the GDPR coming up here in the EU). So, fortunately or unfortunately, it's not likely that Blockchain is going to reshape anything, except for possibly the wallets of some quick movers and scam artists. Best Carsten # distributed via : no commercial use without permission #is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nett...@kein.org # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject: # distributed via : no commercial use without permission #is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive:
Re: Josh Hall: Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead (Guardian)
On 23-02-2018 13:11, Patrice Riemens wrote: Original to: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/23/blockchain-reshape-world-far-right-ahead-crypto-technology Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead Crypto technology is coming to a crossroads. Those who want to use it to radically redistribute wealth must take urgent action [...] Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain reads the title of a 2017 book. From currency speculation through to verifying the provenance of food, blockchain technology is eking out space in a vast range of fields. It's ironic, amusing more likely, that the conclusion of the book "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain" is that the "Blockchain revolution" will likely not amount to much of anything. The main reason is this: Who needs a global, public and distributed ledger? What's it good for? As a matter of fact, all proposed use cases I've seen founder on the problem of reliability: Yes, if your crate of organic bananas has a bar code, and that bar code was entered on the block chain along with a statement that the crate was shipped from a fair trade/fair pay organic cooperative in Costa Rica, nobody can know if that means that the physical crate was actually there only that someone says that it was. You might improve on that situation with tamperproof, sealed cryptographic tokens, but you still don't know if the bananas were in the crate at the time. An ordinary inspections regime would probably work better. I.e., all use cases for blockchains which require real-world interaction requires some sort of verification that the data entered is correct, which the blockchain itself can't certify - anything beyond the simple fact that the information was entered. And that sort of tracking could ordinarily best be achieved by that high-end bleeding edge innovation called a "database"; along with an external verification process, the advantages of using a blockchain over a database are exactly zip. Now, if the data had to do with the blockchain itself and were entirely digital ... then it's another matter. That's why blockchains make sense for cryptocurrencies. But cryptocurrencies are not really useful, and in their current incarnation are riddled by scams to an extent where the best advice anyone could give is to stay the f... away. Distributed ledger systems do exist, though - one is called "Git". And it's very useful for tracking source code changes. And as opposed to blockchain, transactions can be reversed and history can be rewritten, which is actually a necessary feature (e.g., with the GDPR coming up here in the EU). So, fortunately or unfortunately, it's not likely that Blockchain is going to reshape anything, except for possibly the wallets of some quick movers and scam artists. Best Carsten # distributed via : no commercial use without permission #is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nett...@kein.org # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject:
Re: Josh Hall: Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead (Guardian)
Unfortunately Alice Weidel is not on the list of speakers on the website of this conference, as the text claims... -- Diese Nachricht wurde von meinem Android Mobiltelefon mit 1&1 Mail gesendet.Am 23/02/2018, 13:11, Patrice Riemens schrieb: Some connex pbs have caused my post to be send unedited. Here's the correct version (fingers X-ed) --- Original to: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/23/blockchain-reshape-world-far-right-ahead-crypto-technology Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead Crypto technology is coming to a crossroads. Those who want to use it to radically redistribute wealth must take urgent action By Josh Hall Fri 23 Feb 2018 Alice Weidel is the co-leader of Alternative für Deutschland.’ Photograph: Axel Schmidt/Reuters Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain reads the title of a 2017 book. From currency speculation through to verifying the provenance of food, blockchain technology is eking out space in a vast range of fields. For most people, blockchain technologies are inseparable from bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that has been particularly visible in the news recently thanks to its hyper-volatility. Crypto-entrepreneurs have made and lost millions, and many people have parlayed their trading into a full-time job. But blockchain technology, which allows for immutable records of activities, stored on a ledger that is held not just in one place but massively distributed, has applications in every conceivable area in commerce and beyond. Soon, there will be blockchains everywhere that transactions happen. While the focus has so far been on currencies such as bitcoin, what’s less well known is the large and growing community of blockchain developers and evangelists, many of whom believe that the technology could herald radical changes in the ways our economies and societies are structured. But there’s a big question at the heart of that community: what might a world built with the help of blockchain technology look like? Unchain, a large bitcoin and blockchain convention based in Hamburg, seems to have a potential answer. Along with speakers from blockchain startups, cryptocurrency exchanges and a company that purports to offer “privately managed cities as a business”, the conference programme also features Alice Weidel, listed on the site as an “economist and bitcoin entrepreneur”. In fact, Weidel is the co-leader of Alternative für Deutschland, which recently became the third largest party in Germany’s Bundestag. Weidel’s election campaign in 2017 was the party’s breakthrough moment, and what many have seen as a watershed in German politics – the return of far-right, populist ethno-nationalism to the federal parliament. Since 2015 the AfD leadership has adopted increasingly hard lines on borders, migration, Islam and Europe. The party has also attempted to recuperate language associated with historic Nazism; in 2016, the AfD’s then chair, Frauke Petry, called for the rehabilitation of the word “völkisch”, which is seen to be inextricably linked with National Socialism. Weidel is thought to represent the more “moderate” wing of the AfD, in comparison with her colleague in the Bundestag Alexander Gauland, who has pushed for Angela Merkel to close Germany’s borders and to deliver ways by which immigrants can be repatriated. But the tension between the “moderate” and extreme wings of the AfD has been seen as a conscious tactic, in which Gauland pushes taboo subjects which Weidel then makes more palatable. Weidel herself, though, has also previously appeared to describe German Arabs as “culturally foreign” and to encourage a return to the paranoiac xenophobia of the Third Reich by describing Merkel’s government as “pigs” who are “puppets of the victorious powers” from the second world war. The rise of the AfD has caused deep soul-searching in Germany. But outside of the country’s borders, Weidel’s invitation to the Unchain summit also poses questions for the nascent blockchain community. On one side are those who believe that crypto technologies should be used to divert power away from states (particularly social democratic states) and into the hands of a righteous vanguard of rightwing libertarian hackers. Some of these people are now in positions of significant power: Mick Mulvaney, the director of the US Office of Management and Budget, is a staunch bitcoin advocate and his appointment was warmly received by some crypto news publications. Mulvaney has previously addressed the John Birch Society, an extreme rightwing pressure group that was formed to root out communists during the cold war but that now specialises in part in Federal Reserve conspiracy theories – a popular theme on some bitcoin forums. In June, the John Birch Society demanded that the Russia investigation be dropped; their “speakers bureau” offers talking heads on subjects including why the US must
Josh Hall: Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead (Guardian)
Some connex pbs have caused my post to be send unedited. Here's the correct version (fingers X-ed) --- Original to: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/23/blockchain-reshape-world-far-right-ahead-crypto-technology Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead Crypto technology is coming to a crossroads. Those who want to use it to radically redistribute wealth must take urgent action By Josh Hall Fri 23 Feb 2018 Alice Weidel is the co-leader of Alternative für Deutschland.’ Photograph: Axel Schmidt/Reuters Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain reads the title of a 2017 book. From currency speculation through to verifying the provenance of food, blockchain technology is eking out space in a vast range of fields. For most people, blockchain technologies are inseparable from bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that has been particularly visible in the news recently thanks to its hyper-volatility. Crypto-entrepreneurs have made and lost millions, and many people have parlayed their trading into a full-time job. But blockchain technology, which allows for immutable records of activities, stored on a ledger that is held not just in one place but massively distributed, has applications in every conceivable area in commerce and beyond. Soon, there will be blockchains everywhere that transactions happen. While the focus has so far been on currencies such as bitcoin, what’s less well known is the large and growing community of blockchain developers and evangelists, many of whom believe that the technology could herald radical changes in the ways our economies and societies are structured. But there’s a big question at the heart of that community: what might a world built with the help of blockchain technology look like? Unchain, a large bitcoin and blockchain convention based in Hamburg, seems to have a potential answer. Along with speakers from blockchain startups, cryptocurrency exchanges and a company that purports to offer “privately managed cities as a business”, the conference programme also features Alice Weidel, listed on the site as an “economist and bitcoin entrepreneur”. In fact, Weidel is the co-leader of Alternative für Deutschland, which recently became the third largest party in Germany’s Bundestag. Weidel’s election campaign in 2017 was the party’s breakthrough moment, and what many have seen as a watershed in German politics – the return of far-right, populist ethno-nationalism to the federal parliament. Since 2015 the AfD leadership has adopted increasingly hard lines on borders, migration, Islam and Europe. The party has also attempted to recuperate language associated with historic Nazism; in 2016, the AfD’s then chair, Frauke Petry, called for the rehabilitation of the word “völkisch”, which is seen to be inextricably linked with National Socialism. Weidel is thought to represent the more “moderate” wing of the AfD, in comparison with her colleague in the Bundestag Alexander Gauland, who has pushed for Angela Merkel to close Germany’s borders and to deliver ways by which immigrants can be repatriated. But the tension between the “moderate” and extreme wings of the AfD has been seen as a conscious tactic, in which Gauland pushes taboo subjects which Weidel then makes more palatable. Weidel herself, though, has also previously appeared to describe German Arabs as “culturally foreign” and to encourage a return to the paranoiac xenophobia of the Third Reich by describing Merkel’s government as “pigs” who are “puppets of the victorious powers” from the second world war. The rise of the AfD has caused deep soul-searching in Germany. But outside of the country’s borders, Weidel’s invitation to the Unchain summit also poses questions for the nascent blockchain community. On one side are those who believe that crypto technologies should be used to divert power away from states (particularly social democratic states) and into the hands of a righteous vanguard of rightwing libertarian hackers. Some of these people are now in positions of significant power: Mick Mulvaney, the director of the US Office of Management and Budget, is a staunch bitcoin advocate and his appointment was warmly received by some crypto news publications. Mulvaney has previously addressed the John Birch Society, an extreme rightwing pressure group that was formed to root out communists during the cold war but that now specialises in part in Federal Reserve conspiracy theories – a popular theme on some bitcoin forums. In June, the John Birch Society demanded that the Russia investigation be dropped; their “speakers bureau” offers talking heads on subjects including why the US must leave the UN, “the Trojan horse called immigration”, and “the global warming hoax”. But there is another tendency: one that believes blockchain tech should be used as part of a liberatory political project, one that can redist
Josh Hall: (Guardian)
Original to: Blockchain could reshape our world – and the far right is one step ahead Josh Hall Crypto technology is coming to a crossroads. Those who want to use it to radically redistribute wealth must take urgent action @JoshAJHall Fri 23 Feb 2018 11.04 GMT Last modified on Fri 23 Feb 2018 11.06 GMT Shares 5 Comments 32 Alice Weidel ‘Alice Weidel is the co-leader of Alternative für Deutschland.’ Photograph: Axel Schmidt/Reuters Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain reads the title of a 2017 book. From currency speculation through to verifying the provenance of food, blockchain technology is eking out space in a vast range of fields. For most people, blockchain technologies are inseparable from bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that has been particularly visible in the news recently thanks to its hyper-volatility. Crypto-entrepreneurs have made and lost millions, and many people have parlayed their trading into a full-time job. But blockchain technology, which allows for immutable records of activities, stored on a ledger that is held not just in one place but massively distributed, has applications in every conceivable area in commerce and beyond. Soon, there will be blockchains everywhere that transactions happen. Blockchain: what is it and what does it mean for development? Read more While the focus has so far been on currencies such as bitcoin, what’s less well known is the large and growing community of blockchain developers and evangelists, many of whom believe that the technology could herald radical changes in the ways our economies and societies are structured. But there’s a big question at the heart of that community: what might a world built with the help of blockchain technology look like? Unchain, a large bitcoin and blockchain convention based in Hamburg, seems to have a potential answer. Along with speakers from blockchain startups, cryptocurrency exchanges and a company that purports to offer “privately managed cities as a business”, the conference programme also features Alice Weidel, listed on the site as an “economist and bitcoin entrepreneur”. In fact, Weidel is the co-leader of Alternative für Deutschland, which recently became the third largest party in Germany’s Bundestag. Weidel’s election campaign in 2017 was the party’s breakthrough moment, and what many have seen as a watershed in German politics – the return of far-right, populist ethno-nationalism to the federal parliament. Since 2015 the AfD leadership has adopted increasingly hard lines on borders, migration, Islam and Europe. The party has also attempted to recuperate language associated with historic Nazism; in 2016, the AfD’s then chair, Frauke Petry, called for the rehabilitation of the word “völkisch”, which is seen to be inextricably linked with National Socialism. Despite the wild fluctuations in cryptocurrency valuations, it seems clear now that blockchain tech is here to stay Weidel is thought to represent the more “moderate” wing of the AfD, in comparison with her colleague in the Bundestag Alexander Gauland, who has pushed for Angela Merkel to close Germany’s borders and to deliver ways by which immigrants can be repatriated. But the tension between the “moderate” and extreme wings of the AfD has been seen as a conscious tactic, in which Gauland pushes taboo subjects which Weidel then makes more palatable. Weidel herself, though, has also previously appeared to describe German Arabs as “culturally foreign” and to encourage a return to the paranoiac xenophobia of the Third Reich by describing Merkel’s government as “pigs” who are “puppets of the victorious powers” from the second world war. The rise of the AfD has caused deep soul-searching in Germany. But outside of the country’s borders, Weidel’s invitation to the Unchain summit also poses questions for the nascent blockchain community. On one side are those who believe that crypto technologies should be used to divert power away from states (particularly social democratic states) and into the hands of a righteous vanguard of rightwing libertarian hackers. Some of these people are now in positions of significant power: Mick Mulvaney, the director of the US Office of Management and Budget, is a staunch bitcoin advocate and his appointment was warmly received by some crypto news publications. Mulvaney has previously addressed the John Birch Society, an extreme rightwing pressure group that was formed to root out communists during the cold war but that now specialises in part in Federal Reserve conspiracy theories – a popular theme on some bitcoin forums. In June, the John Birch Society demanded that the Russia investigation be dropped; their “speakers bureau” offers talking heads on subjects including why the US must leave the UN, “the Trojan horse called immigration”, and “the global warming hoax”. Bitcoin-blocking shows that banks can help tackle debt – if they really want to Poll
