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Authored by Jesse Colzani via BitcoinMagazine.com,
Law, markets, architecture and social norms are forces that constrain individuals’ behavior. Can governments take advantage of these to regulate Bitcoin? When asked whether the Bitcoin network can be regulated or not, people tend to answer in a binary way. On one side, there are those who say that everything can be regulated.
On the other, there are those who believe that Bitcoin has already irreversibly separated money from the state.
This article is an attempt to better understand what Bitcoin regulation depends on and what are the tools that regulators can reasonably use to limit its adoption.
For the purpose of this article, regulation is considered as state-mandated legal restrictions. But laws are not the only forces shaping society. In what is often referred to as the “ pathetic dot theory ,” Professor Lawrence Lessig identifies three other forces that constrain the action of an individual. Markets regulate through the device of price and cost-opportunity.
Social norms represent an intricate set of standards of behavior that are widely accepted within a community (like tipping a server in a restaurant).
Architecture includes geographical, technological and biological barriers to human behavior (like laws of physics preventing us from levitating or a web app preventing us from accessing an online service).
Each force can — intentionally or not — influence other ones. Laws can limit deforestation (architecture), social norms can shape markets, and weather (architecture) can affect agricultural production and food prices. Forces can have an influence on other forces When a law cannot directly target individuals, lawmakers look to regulate other forces. This happens when the government causes the price of cigarettes to increase (market), when it prohibits the use of specific words on TV to influence citizens’ behavior […]
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker