Slashdot Mirror
Venezuelan Developers Are Using Bitcoin, Rare Pepe Trading Cards To Fight Against a Dismal Economy (cryptoinsider.com)
According to Crypto Insider, Venezuelan developers have been selling "rare pepes" -- trading cards that contain unique illustrations and photoshops of the character Pepe the Frog. While the trading cards started out as nothing more than a joke, many of them have been traded for thousands of dollars on the Counterparty platform, which is built on top of Bitcoin, and have provided a way for many developers to sustain themselves in Venezuela's poor economy. From the report: The basic idea behind the issuance of rare pepes on top of the Counterparty platform is that it enables scarcity in a digital world. Each rare pepe card is linked to a little bit of bitcoin through a practice known as coin coloring. Whoever owns the private keys associated with the address where the bitcoins that represent a specific rare pepe card is located is the one who owns that particular trading card. Now, a group of developers in Venezuela are building games similar to Hearthstone and Pokemon where the rare pepe trading cards will play an integral role. If you go to rarepepe.party right now, you're mainly presented with a video of what the first game based on the Rare Pepe digital trading cards will look like. The concept is similar to Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering where players essentially do battle with their opponents via characters on trading cards, which have specific stats and features. In this case, the characters are various rare pepes. With many rare pepes already released (you can view them in the official rare pepe directory), the developers behind Rare Pepe Party are attempting to provide a use case for these new trading cards. While some rare pepe cards already have stats on them, the developer who chatted with Crypto Insider says those stats may not mean much when it's time to play the game. While rare pepes are nothing more than fun and games for much of the developed world, they're a matter of survival in Venezuela. "We're based in Venezuela, and our business has been saved by bitcoin many times," said the developer. The developer claims roughly 80 percent of the offices around the area where Rare Pepe Party is being developed have shut down over the past year. The biggest businesses on their street have also dropped as much as 90 percent of their employees.
because communism is generally incapable of feeding itself
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
You did miss the last 100 years of history. In fact you just missed history in general.
Communism does not make the people the owners of the fruits of their labors, it makes the bureaucrats the owners of the fruits of people's labor. Straight from the manifesto you find 'from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs' People are incentivized to be lazy and complacent, and just yell about how much stuff they need. Working harder than your neighbor does not get you more stuff and inventing new technology does not get you new stuff. Those two things can make you an enemy of your neighbors and get you jailed or killed.
Both Russia and China moved to a controlled form of a market economy. Stealing technology was not enough to keep them afloat, so they had to do something to incentivize people. The partial market is still the suck for people that live there, because if you do too well you are killed and the Government just takes your stuff anyway.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
You did miss the last 100 years of history. In fact you just missed history in general.
Nope. I also attended philosophy class, and even read Marx, unlike some people, who just rant and rave as they have been indoctrinated to do.
Communism does not make the people the owners of the fruits of their labors, it makes the bureaucrats the owners of the fruits of people's labor.
You're thinking of a command economy, not communism.
Straight from the manifesto you find 'from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs' ,
Nope. You won't find it there at all. Try as you might, you can't.
You would have to look elsewhere in Marx's writings. Why do you make things up s.petry?
Besides, he didn't originate it, the sentiment came from elsewhere, and to be honest, it is just as applicable in any philosophy. Why would you not labor to your abilities? Why would you not act upon your needs?
There is a reason you can find this sentiment within the Bible as well as Confuscius. It is well known.
People are incentivized to be lazy and complacent, and just yell about how much stuff they need. Working harder than your neighbor does not get you more stuff and inventing new technology does not get you new stuff.
Actually, it is quite the opposite. By laboring, you can produce value, and own it yourself, not have it confiscated by a rent-seeker. There is no need to yell, there is no need to take, you own what you make. And you get what you need, without stealing from others.
Those two things can make you an enemy of your neighbors and get you jailed or killed.
Making enemies of your neighbors is easy. Sometimes earned, sometimes not. Sadly, this too has been known since biblical times.
Both Russia and China moved to a controlled form of a market economy. Stealing technology was not enough to keep them afloat, so they had to do something to incentivize people. The partial market is still the suck for people that live there, because if you do too well you are killed and the Government just takes your stuff anyway.
Both China and Russia remain corrupt, autocracies, with no tolerance for dissension or embracing of freedom. Yet they claimed to be Democratic Republics, and still do. Yet oppose their commands, and they will oppression you with violent force.
The exact opposite of communism. Anybody who studied history would know that.
Wow.
Communism/socialism demand a "command economy" as a basic tenant of their ideologies. They cannot function even as poorly as they do without control of the economy and the means of production and distribution.
Actually, it is quite the opposite. By laboring, you can produce value, and own it yourself, not have it confiscated by a rent-seeker. There is no need to yell, there is no need to take, you own what you make. And you get what you need, without stealing from others.
This is anathema to communism and socialism. The State determines all that. The State tells you what you will work at, where, how long, etc. It tells you where you'll live. It tells you how much compensation you'll receive and what you're allowed to buy/own.
OP was right. You missed 100+ years of history. If you actually did take a class, either the teacher/professor was incompetent or a good communist/socialist spreading false propaganda.
Or...*you* are the good communist/socialist spreading false propaganda.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.