From: jxnshi Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2025 15:26:01 +0000 (+0100) Subject: Add new essay X-Git-Url: https://jxnshi.xyz/repos?a=commitdiff_plain;h=0daaeedc8aff44afeffd2b2b33b13ddf32f731f7;p=jxnshi.xyz.git Add new essay --- diff --git a/public/essays/a-socialist-love-letter-to-cryptocurrency.md b/public/essays/a-socialist-love-letter-to-cryptocurrency.md index 5548f50..471d905 100644 --- a/public/essays/a-socialist-love-letter-to-cryptocurrency.md +++ b/public/essays/a-socialist-love-letter-to-cryptocurrency.md @@ -1,49 +1,57 @@ # A socialist love letter to cryptocurrency. -Time of publishing: N/A +Time of publishing: 2025-01-15 ## Introduction. At the time of writing, I'm still very much a newbie when it comes to politics, but I know for a fact I'm a socialist. You might also have seen I accept Monero -donations, showing my liking towards this cryptocurrency. So why? Why do I like +donations, showing my liking toward this cryptocurrency. So why? Why do I like Monero? How do I think it fits into our current society. That's what I will try -to answer in this short writing. +to answer in this short essay. One thing I would like to emphasize first is that cryptocurrency doesn't necessarily fit into my representation of the best economic system. First of because this is not something I have thought about very deeply, like I said I am still a newbie when it comes to politics. And secondly, because internet or even -currency in itself might not even be a part of it. All that to say, I will be -talking about cryptocurreny in our current economic system, which is, a +currency by itself might not even be a part of it. All that to say, I will be +talking about cryptocurreny in our current economic system, which is a capitalist one. -## Problems with banks. +## The problem with banks. Let's get into the meat of it. For the average person, their way of storing -money is through banks. I have several problems with banks. +money is through banks. I have one big problem with banks. -If you can withdraw money from your bank, it's because your bank has allowed it. -If you can deposit money in your bank, it's because your bank has allowed it. -Your bank is the one controlling the ins and outs of your bank account. You are -giving them your money, in exchange of protection for it. But in the end, they -have your money, and you can access it because they allow it. - -Banks also have a viewing eye on what you do with that money. If you buy a brand -new watch, they know. Buying groceries, they know. They also know where you buy -too: Amazon, eBay, paying for you Netflix subscription, your Disney+ +Banks have a viewing eye on what you do with that money. If you buy a brand new +watch, or groceries, or anything, they know. They also know where you do your +purchases: Amazon, eBay, paying for you Netflix subscription, your Disney+ subscription. They know what you subscribe for, what you eat, what you drink. Anything you do with your money, they know. And maybe you don't care about it. Maybe you think those data are not secrets. -"Waw, my bank knows I eat corndog and watch Netflix.". But it bridges a gap of -intimacy I don't feel comfortable briding. I don't care if my friend knows that. -But banks, their not your friends, they're strangers, you don't know them. I -personally like to have some control over what people know about me. +But it bridges the gap of intimacy that I don't feel comfortable briding. I +don't care if my friend knows that. But banks, their not your friends, they're +corporations and what a corporation want is to make profit. It's not even that +they want it, it's that they need it if they don't want to go bankrupt. + +But they have more than a viewing eye. When you withdraw money from your +account, it's because your bank allows it, same goes for depositing money in +your account. Your bank is the one controlling the ins and outs of your bank +account. You are giving them your money, in exchange of protection for it. But +in the end, they have your money, and you can access it because they allow it. + +## Cash. + +Before talking about cryptocurrencies, I would like to dedicate a chapter about +cash. Cash is the best solution for face to face transactions, but it becomes +inconvenient for remote transactions. Cash by mail is an option but it's risky, +takes time to get received, requires the receiver to give their coordinates and +requires a third party. -With that, I've shown the power banks have over our money. Before talking about -how cryptocurrency solves that, I will talk about what I think a good -cryptocurrency is. +That said, cash needs to exist, it should be the default way of transacting and +digital means should only be used for specific cases like remote transactions. +Technology should not bleed into places it doesn't need to. ## Good cryptocurrencies. @@ -53,37 +61,65 @@ Cryptocurrency is a very broad term and it includes cryptoccurencies that I don't consider good. This is why I felt the need to clarify what I consider a good cryptocurrency. -A good cryptocurrency should have the followings: +A good cryptocurrency should have the followings: - Respect for your privacy. Your transactions should not be tracable on the blockchain. Knowledge about your transactions is one of the problems I talked -about with banks, so its obviously a problem too for an alternative to banks, -especially when transactions would not only be viewable by a single party but by -anyone. +about with banks, so it's obviously a problem I don't want to have for an +alternative to banks, especially when transactions on a blockchain would not +only be viewable by a single party but by anyone. - Low transaction fees. This one is a no brainer, I think it speaks for itself. -When exchanging value, you don't want to pay extra fees for it, so lower they -are, the better. -- Stable price. Okay, Monero is not stable, but I think it is more stable than -most other cryptocurrencies, ignoring the ones that are maintained stable -artificially. I also think stability comes over time, so I think in a future -world where Monero still makes sense, it will eventually be stable. -- No second layer. I think a good cryptocurrency should work by itself and not -require a other layers of any kind. -- No smart contract. The goal of a good cryptocurrency is to exchange value on -the internet, extra features like smart contract are bloat and do not interest -me at all. +When exchanging value, you don't want to pay extra fees for it, so the lower +they are, the better. This is by the way why tail emission is a good thing. That +and making up for coins that are lost. +- Stable price. Okay, Monero is not stable, but it is more stable than most +other cryptocurrencies, ignoring the ones that are maintained stable +artificially. I also think stability comes over time, so in a future world where +Monero still makes sense, it would eventually be stable. +- No second layer. A good cryptocurrency should work by itself and not require +other layers of any kind. +- No smart contract. The goal of cryptocurrency is to exchange value on the +internet, extra features like smart contract are bloat and do not interest me at +all. +- ASIC resistance. ASIC miners are machines dedicated for mining, they cannot be +repurposed, increasing e-waste when those become out of oder. They are also very +expensive, people who can afford them often buy serveral of them at a time, +giving the mining power to a small group of people. The people with the mining +power are the ones in control over the network, that's why the power should be +spread among the people, making it fair for everyone. Looking at the current ecosystem, you might realize that not a lot of -cryptocurrencies meet those criteria. In fact, to my knowledge, the only good -cryptocurrency is Monero. Even Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, is not a -good cryptocurrency. Bitcoin, even though it was founded on a good midset, it -does not serve the purpose of cryptocurrency nowadays. Bitcoin is not a currency -but an asset. The vast mojority of other cryptocurrencies just being scams or -tech-centered projects that go beyond the original purpose of cryptocurrencies. +cryptocurrencies meet those criteria. In fact, to my knowledge, the only that +does is Monero. Even Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, does not. Bitcoin, +even though it was founded with good intensions, does not serve the purpose of a +cryptocurrency nowadays. Bitcoin is not a currency but an asset. The vast +mojority of other cryptocurrencies just being scams or tech-centered projects +that go beyond the original purpose of cryptocurrencies. From now on, when I will talk about cryptocurrencies, asume that I'm talking -about the good ones. The bad ones having no value to me at all, I won't be -defending them. +about the good ones. The bad ones having no value to me, I won't be defending +them. + +## Cryptocurrency and the environment. + +When people complain about cryptocurrency and the environment, what they really +complain about is energy consumption by mining, which is a real problem for non +ASIC resistant cryptocurrencies. ASIC resistant mining on the other hand, like I +said in the previous chapter, is decentralized, thanks to the fact that anyone +with a CPU can mine. CPUs being the best thing and even GPUs are less efficient +with this kind of mining. + +You might wonder how decentralized mining helps with energy consumption. Well, +in most western countries, mining is not profitable when using energy that you +pay overtime, and most of the time, energies that you don't pay overtime are +renewable ones, like solar panels, wind turbines or hydroelectric power. All +things that can be implemented at small scale for you or a community, making it +way less polluting. -## Problems with cryptocurrencies. +## Conclusion. +In conclusion, cryptocurrency should be viewed as the cash of the internet, +nothing more. But nowaday, cryptocurrency is viewed as a way of making quick +money, which is sad. +Attention should only be given to cryptocurrencies that deserve it, like Monero, +money that truly own. diff --git a/public/essays/index.html b/public/essays/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a972e4d --- /dev/null +++ b/public/essays/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,6 @@ +
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diff --git a/public/style.css b/public/style.css index d781399..3a1cce9 100644 --- a/public/style.css +++ b/public/style.css @@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ a:hover { display: flex; flex-direction: column; width: 1000px; - gap: 40px; + gap: 30px; } #donation-div {