Former Valve economist speaks on Techno-Feudalism | Hacker News Reader

Former Valve economist speaks on Techno-Feudalism

the-crypto-syllabus.com

39 pointsstrgrd16 comments

Interesting that you refer to him as the "Former Valve economist" rather than the Finance Minister of Greece (or the guy who stood up to the EU)

His book "Adults in the Room" is a great read, he basically shows how the politicians were playing politics (e.g. the Spanish finance minister admitting to him in private that what Greece wanted was reasonable, but if the (conservative) Spanish government agreed to what the Greek government wanted, the socialists in Spain would've seized that and went with it in the upcoming Spanish elections. There's even an appendix about why he/his government wasn't bluffing with a Game Theory explanation.

> Interesting that you refer to him as the "Former Valve economist" rather than the Finance Minister of Greece

He was the Finance Minister of Greece for barely 5 months.

> or the guy who stood up to the EU

What exactly he did acomplish, again?

Tank man stood up to China, he may not have accomplished anything, but we remember him and what he did had value.

So standing up to the EU in and of itself it plenty.

If "tank man" was Iraqi, he'd be a pancake under a US tank. In reality, what the tank driver did had value.

Watching US police line up to execute unarmed people on a regular/daily basis in broad daylight helps me appreciate the restraint and respect for human life the tank drivers showed.

well, among other things, he had absurd yet awesome videos made about him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afl9WFGJE0M

It's crazy to me that hats in Team Fortress 2 will probably be regarded as a turning point in the history of the metaverse.

Guy loves keeping people in power in power.

No one thinks crypto will magically rid us of corrupt governments but if they got us by the balls with banks and trade, then we can't make a step in the right direction.

I mean honestly though, I'd rather the banks have me by the balls than some random unaccountable crypto whale I've never met have me by the balls. At least with the banks I know who to be mad at if my money gets crushed.

Is cryptocurrency free from those banks and trade? It seems like its liquidity is what gives it value in the first place, and those institutions are in firm control of where it can be liquidated. Not to mention that the old financing world has been investing in cryptocurrency too.

Just to clarify, your first sentence couldn't be more wrong. Varoufakis is a Marxist-style activist who has dedicated his life to advocating for placing power in the hands of regular citizens and taking it away from those who currently have it.

The utter misunderstanding is something I imagine comes from the fact that in this particular article, he's critical of the particular ways that cryptocurrency movements are shifting power. He doesn't think they are shifting it in a useful enough way and is skeptical that they really will end up shifting it much at all.

Nothing about the money laundering

This is what economist's don't tell you about.

What money laundering?

The hat economy in TF2 was a popular method to launder money.

I'm sure if you mentioned it, Varoufakis would have some things to say about that (and nothing defending it). It's too bad that wasn't mentioned in this article though.

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