They're free to choose their tribe.

Leftist - top down authoritarian control. GDPR/ MiCA or else...

Libertarian - here are the tools, join a tribe if you want. You can choose one of many, or start your own.

I don't see a problem. You can't force people into independent thinking. People are social creatures (at least most of them) and they will join tribes. Bitcoin provides the tribes, but people are free to do whatever they want.

I don't see a problem here. There are many people who think differently, even people going to dvadsatjeden meetups. Providing an option is not a problem.

Toxic maximalism is just annoying. Way different than authoritarian.

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You're right that you can't force independent thinking. But you can build cultures that encourage it versus cultures that punish it. Bitcoin culture chose the latter, then acts surprised when it stays small and tribal.

Toxicity is just the first stage of authoritarianism. Right now everyone says "we don't block anyone, it's voluntary". But i'm sure when the masses arrive (if they ever do), most bitcoiners will want to vote out the "wrong" people.

You think smart bitcoiners won't allow capture, but it will come naturally through sheer numbers and social dynamics. The infrastructure might be neutral, but when the culture demands conformity, people will find ways to enforce it. First through social pressure, then through technical gatekeeping, eventually through explicit exclusion.

I would worry about this honestly more in Ethereum ecosystem. Bitcoin is super conservative and any blocking or exclusion is laughed out of the room. That's the positive part about Bitcoin culture. Ossification is bad in many aspects, but good in the fact that it's basically impossible to technically mandate censorship.

Bitcoin is also technically better in this than Ethereum (at least until the privacy upgrades, which I'm looking forward to). Zcash and Monero make it hard even now.