Erik Torenberg on Warpcast

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Erik Torenberg pfp

Why are there so many leftists within crypto? As Solana says in his bankless episode, crypto disintermediates and reduces the power of the state. I get why libertarians and rightists like crypto, but why leftists? Leftists should want state power to enact leftist policy goals if they care about leftist outcomes.

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Erik Torenberg pfp

The answer for many is similar to what Solana implies in the podcast: it makes people feel like they’re being a good person / on the right side of history, while also getting rich

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mike rainbow (rainbow mike) ↑ pfp

mike rainbow (rainbow mike) ↑

@mikedemarais.eth

privacy for the individual, transparency for the state

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kripcat.eth 🎩 pfp

kripcat.eth 🎩

Is this a genuine question or are you really just saying “leftists get out of my bubble, you don’t belong here” in a rhetorical question? Implying that left leaning crypto tribe are self serving hypocrites seems to suggest the latter.

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David pfp

The people literally own the tool of production (tokens of blockchains, protocols etc)

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Varun Srinivasan pfp

Varun Srinivasan

> crypto disintermediates and reduces the power of the state an aside, but i don't think this is really true today, at least in the usa. most serious crime is easily prevented, payments happen in us dollar stablecoins which gives the government even more leverage to print money.

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tldr (tim reilly)

Much of the Left rejects of hierarchy — both that exists in nature and that it should be allowed in political arrangement. Crypto is based on a concept of decentralization that is idealistically non-hierarchical. You can see something like this in action in many early DAOs, including Nouns.

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schorn.eth 🎩

DAOs are literally communal socialism.

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Erik pfp

some leftists simply want equal access for all, crypto plays a big role in that

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Tayyab - d/acc pfp

Left does not inherently mean statist. It can also be collectivism. Ownership of networked businesses being distributed more broadly to include users and suppliers (e.g. Uber drivers) is a more leftist thing. I, also, think it’s very important to non make crypto an ideology of left v right. Was the internet left or right?

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mmu pfp

Some who claim “left” are still referring to the progressivism we seen during the hippie era, thats why. A lot of people refer to themselves as “left” but are actually libertarians. They just don’t update their politics because they don’t care to. Being “left” or “progressive” is a whole different meaning in 2024

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Trigs pfp

Probably need to reexamine your understanding of "leftists" if you're finding their behavior incongruent with your expectations. Perhaps the actual individuals (not the personified avatar of them created by mass media) aren't actually trying to accomplish what you've been led to believe (big government). Maybe everyone is sick of the current system and we're all uniting under the banner of sovereignty and choice. Maybe there is no left and right, but actually just people who want to live free from the oppression of this bipartisan trap we've been lured into.

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Yes crypto reduces the power of the state in favor of protocols. But power of the state isn't the goal of leftists. It's just a means to achieve leftists policy goals. These same goals could also be achieved with code, smart contracts, crypto incentives, etc.

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Alok Vasudev pfp

Communism in the streets; capitalism in the sheets

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kenny 🎩 pfp

the leftists are generally within Ethereum eco, so if you spend a lot of time there (here), you'll get that impression they tend to have a rosy outlook of a future where crypto will work seamlessly alongside the state and crypto fails to undermine the power of the US dollar because stablecoins will be dominant for value transfer granted there are also much further left wing ppl that want radical changes and they align with fundamental crypto values as well but from my experience the "crypto will be integrated with the existing system" viewpoint seems to be more popular

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i think there's a common enemy element (big banks, big tech, etc.) and a "communal organizing" element, but yea it feels incongruent with the increasingly influential authoritarian flank

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Jeff Excell 🎩

Not all “leftists” are the same, just like not all black people vote the same just like not all college educated women vote the same. I’m left leaning. I’m happy for government to have EPA regulations but I’m not happy to have heavy handed housing regulation. Like everything there is nuance

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Do you believe all “leftists” are for more state control?

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Hatsune Temu pfp

You seem to be under the impression that leftism is when the government does stuff. It's not, it's about giving labor more power. Giving people control over their money instead of finance ghouls aligns with many strains of leftism.

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Nate Maddrey pfp

You're starting from a false premise. It's true that in the early Bitcoin days most people were drawn to crypto because it "reduces the power of the state," but that's not the case today. People are drawn to crypto for a variety of reasons. A lot of builders become interested in crypto because of its inherently open source nature. Others just think its fun and/or like to gamble. Not everyone views everything through a polarized political lens.

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