Monetary monopolies centralizes power and wealth.

Intellectual Property legislation blocks the decentralizing effect of ideas.

Both policies corrupt society at high speed.

The freerider problem demotivates people to play for freedom.

Result:

Easy play for people who seek power.

How do you solve this enigma?

Gm, miners in a pool should earn rewards paid out in ecash instead of a fully traceable entry in a postgres database. The mining pool doesn't need to know which miner produced how much hash rate and how much they withdrew, when, and to which wallet.

A note on taxation.

Historically, how much were slaves allowed to keep of the fruits of their labour?

News came yesterday of an analysis of the average tax burden in Norway, including tax on income, wealth, VAT and more.

Excluding a few other taxes that we must pay, the answer was 67%.

I figure, if you include all of the special taxes and the 19 months of military conscription (which effectively is almost 100% tax), the result should be closer to 80%.

I'll link to it in a comment (it's in Norwegian).

To get a feeling of how that compares to traditional slavery I asked Grok a question and the answer was illuminating:

My question:

Approximately how big a share of the fruits of their labour have masters let slaves keep throughout history. Give 10 examples, beginning with ancient egypt and ending with something from the united states in the 19th century

Grok's answer

"Determining the exact share of the fruits of labor that slaves retained throughout history is challenging due to the variability in slave systems, the nature of records, and the differences in what was considered "fruits of labor" across different cultures and eras. However, based on historical practices and the information available up to 2024, here are approximate insights into how much slaves might have retained from their labor, focusing on examples from Ancient Egypt through to the 19th century United States:

Ancient Egypt: While slaves existed in Ancient Egypt, the concept of "wages" or retained labor fruits was not as straightforward as in later societies. Slaves could be given land, food, or other forms of compensation, but this was more about sustenance than profit-sharing. Some slaves, especially those with skills or in high demand, might have been allowed to keep a small portion of their earnings or goods, but this was likely minimal, perhaps around 5-10% in modern terms if we were to quantify it.

Classical Greece (Athens): Skilled slaves, like those in the Laurion silver mines or domestic slaves, could earn money through their skills. Some were allowed to keep a portion of their earnings, which might have been around 10-20% of their labor's value, especially if they were involved in commerce or skilled crafts.

Roman Empire: Roman slaves could buy their freedom or were sometimes granted freedom with a portion of their earnings retained. This might equate to around 15-25% of their labor's value, especially for those in urban settings or skilled trades.

Medieval Europe: Serfs, while not slaves in the classical sense, were bound to the land. They might retain around 30-40% of their produce or labor value, but this was more about survival than profit.

Islamic Golden Age (Abbasid Caliphate): Slaves, particularly those with skills or administrative roles, could sometimes retain a portion of their earnings, possibly around 20-30%, especially if they were involved in trade or crafts.

Medieval Islamic World (Mamluks in Egypt): Mamluk slaves, who were military slaves, were not typical in that they could rise to significant power. While not directly applicable to economic fruits, their eventual control over resources might be seen as retaining a significant share, though not in the initial stages of their service.

Renaissance Italy (Venice): Slaves in Venice, often domestic or involved in maritime activities, might retain very little, perhaps 5-10% of their labor's value, as their primary function was service rather than production for profit.

Colonial Latin America: In places like Brazil or the Caribbean, slaves might have been allowed to cultivate their plots or engage in petty trade. This could mean retaining around 10-20% of their labor's value, though this was often more about survival than wealth accumulation.

British Caribbean: Slaves in sugar plantations had harsh conditions with little to no share in the fruits of their labor. However, some could engage in small-scale farming or trade on Sundays, potentially retaining around 5-10% of their labor's value.

19th Century United States: In the U.S., slaves might have been allowed to keep small gardens or engage in minor trade, but their share of the actual labor fruits was minimal, often less than 5%. However, some slaves, especially in urban areas or those with skills like blacksmithing, could earn money on the side, which might be considered as retaining up to 10-15% of their labor's value if we include such earnings.

These percentages are highly speculative and based on general historical practices rather than precise data. The concept of "retaining fruits of labor" varies widely by the type of slavery, the economic system of the time, and the specific roles slaves performed. Moreover, these figures do not account for the inherent exploitation and the fact that slaves were not legally entitled to their labor's value in most systems."

End note from me:

It's not much that separates an average Norwegian tax payer and a slave in terms of how much we are allowed to keep.

Arguing about the difference is IMO largely arguing about semantics.

You may counter that it's more precise to call us serfs.

Whatever floats your boat, I say.

But it still begs the question?

When do the riots start?

Dear psychopats, sCiencE blew us

#Bitcoin

Have multiple "expert" algorithms that curate feeds for specific topics and flavor.

Then let the user customize a scoring function that mixes the expert feeds based on user-defined weights. Maybe add some WoT spices on top.

Voila, the recipe for your favorite dish today. 😊

Most problems are easy to articulate but hard to solve.

the algorithms are getting to the point where they are sending the same content to everyone. almost every platform. copy of a copy of a copy only to maximize ad impressions.

straight programming, just like the programming of radio, tv, and cable.

i want to be able to create, choose, and share my own algorithms. only way out of the bubbles being created. 🫧

The advancements in the ag sector are butting up against physical limitations of productivity per unit of sunlight. Monoculture grain production has been essentially maxed out for decades planting "fence row to fence row" since the Earl Butz days of the USDA. Most improvements have actually been in the realm of labor efficiency, which further kills rural communities already destroyed by big ag policies. These costs have transitioned from being labor costs to technological and machinery expenses.

What people don't seem to understand is how long inflation takes to ripple through the agricultural industry.

Conventional food production is energy intensive. Fuel prices contribute to fertilizer prices which contribute to grain prices which impact conventional meat prices. Add in the fact many producers try to secure input prices a year ahead of time, further kicking inflation down the road.

High quality grass fed producers have greater resilience to these pressures as the price of hay is likely the biggest impact, which is readily planned for during "good hay making years." (Another example of delaying inflation in agriculture.)

Inflation hits the lowest quality food production the hardest because they're already in competition to be the cheapest producer. As a result, fast food is a great gauge on real inflation rates.

I haven't even touched on the impacts that the drought can and is having on agricultural prices. Cattle markets are at all time highs. As parts of the country come out of drought demand is increasing for female livestock to start recovering from selling off during the drought years (national cattle numbers are fairly low). Coupled with stronger demand for beef the cattle market is expected to experience a super cycle.

It isn't unreasonable to be securing beef for your family now for the next 1-2 years from your LOCAL Bitcoin farmer/rancher. And if you don't have one, orange pill one. Regenerative ag and Bitcoin were made for each other.

Rehypothecation isn't just a gold and bank vault issue. It's happening in cattle markets too. Get eyes on your beef while it's on the hoof.

Are you interested in investing in bitcoin mining? Here is the opportunity to start earning large in crypto mining using my platform and strategy. Just a Dm away from your financial freedom

The community is going to face the Trump test. Are they going to boo the president when he inevitably says something centralizing or will they fall in line like sheep?

Note that the tip of the bullet has an orange color.

Step 5 is wrong

It’s Bitcoin, not bullets

The collapse (or fading away) of dollar hegemony is inevitable but doesn’t mean chaos

Ending the fiat currency caste system will usher in a new age of global peace and collaboration ✌️

No idea what Ghandi’s stance was, but luckily it doesn’t matter. I have a take on the principle of non violence and individual rights. To support gun control is to support the state monopoly over guns and support of their explicit use of them against innocent people.

So whatever Ghandi said should be easy to compare against that.

You are a bitcoiner if you have zero sats and still want #Bitcoin to succeed.

People who are “anti-gun” are not anti gun. They are activists for direct gun violence through the state against innocent people. Explicitly.

They are the most pro gun violence demographic in society.