http://themindunleashed.org/2015/12/new-social-media-platform-to-unite-the-worlds-alternative-communities.html

Just learned of this project... haven't looked under the hood yet, but ambitious and definitely aligned with the crypto-space.

New friends?

It's almost as if Peter Kropotkin were peering into the future and describing the potential of societies empowered by blockchain technology.

ANARCHISM (from the Gr. ἅν, and άρχη, contrary to authority), the name given to a principle or theory of life and conduct under which society is conceived without government — harmony in such a society being obtained, not by submission to law, or by obedience to any authority, but by free agreements concluded between the various groups, territorial and professional, freely constituted for the sake of production and consumption, as also for the satisfaction of the infinite variety of needs and aspirations of a civilized being. In a society developed on these lines, the voluntary associations which already now begin to cover all the fields of human activity would take a still greater extension so as to substitute themselves for the state in all its functions. They would represent an interwoven network, composed of an infinite variety of groups and federations of all sizes and degrees, local, regional, national and international temporary or more or less permanent — for all possible purposes: production, consumption and exchange, communications, sanitary arrangements, education, mutual protection, defence of the territory, and so on; and, on the other side, for the satisfaction of an ever-increasing number of scientific, artistic, literary and sociable needs. Moreover, such a society would represent nothing immutable. On the contrary — as is seen in organic life at large — harmony would (it is contended) result from an ever-changing adjustment and readjustment of equilibrium between the multitudes of forces and influences, and this adjustment would be the easier to obtain as none of the forces would enjoy a special protection from the state.
Kropotkin's entry on "Anarchism" in the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910)

The exchange is maturing nicely and will continue to improve. 

This idea is unique and has no competition.   It could drive a lot to bts.

^ This.

The bottom line is (presumably) we're all in this together.

I hear cries of "conflict of interest".
I see generous amounts of room for the alignment of interests.

Time is precious, and there's not much room for infighting.

Bearing grudges, and standing divided against each other is one of the surest poisons we could swallow.

To define the elusive forms of self aware, self interested, mutually beneficial, and organized lines of development, on a common platform.  This is our task.

We've made it really far with just the barebones structure necessary to fire up a Graphene class smartchain and hit crypto-space, however the human element has not been fully accounted for, with all its mysterious slings and arrows.

Capital is not what binds us together, it's just one of the markers by which that bond is visible.  Remember, invest in people?
This project would be in the Dark Ages were it not for people like Dan, and Fuzzy, and the many other courageous and generous souls who have really put themselves out there to explore, articulate, and weave the ties which bind this community together.

Oh you thought this was the Dark Ages?

We're 63 days from the launch of 2.0
Things are just getting interesting.

Don't forget to breathe.

Yep, @roadscape has been killing it with new features on cryptofresh!
We appreciate the love!  There's another thread going here as well:
Cryptofresh Block Explorer + MUSE now available

Who knows what 2016 will bring.

Tuck, I'm predominately unconcerned with the fate of CRAPCOIN, and as it seems impossible to destroy it for all time, there it is.  I consulted with the technical department, and it seems you have irreversably tainted the pristine bts blockchain with this crap. Don't worry though I still think fistbump has a bright future. The offer is and is not valid, because it is not feasible... as I don't desire to have anything to do with that asset personally.  The offer was only intended for YOU doing the dirty work of destroying CRAPCOIN, but alas.

To be honest, my motivation for walking into the crossfire here is that I sometimes get in a mood to condense a gathering distaste, and focus it on the nearest offending target.  This just so happened to be CRAPCOIN.  So in a way I would like to thank you for helping me to further crystallize my feelings on something that has so far remained unarticulated. 

In a thread where accusations of this and that fascist censorship, discussions of this or that person's discomfort with incendiary or hurtful language, the ban itself, how it was carried out...(sigh) Forgive my post-traumatic stress for being unable to turn away from the train wreck of human spectacle, and my loathing for the process and it's unfolding, even while perversely appreciating the value it must have for the participants, and the community, in some way.  It's just that I have endured seemingly endless anarcho righteous intellectual ego validating rituals and have grown weary of the culture.  From among the privileged, righteous chip on the shoulder predominately male crusty-punk protesters trying to organize and do battle with the state, to years later among this decentralized, airy, fiery, exceedingly male technorati in one of the geekiest anarcho libertarian smartchain scenes, with extremely promising innovations hewn from cutting edge information technology, visionary in nature...and, unfortunately, a pre-pubescent fascination with crap, orgasms, sperm, "circle jerks" and so on.  Now that anyone can have their own UIA, all the kids want to have their junk on display like obscene clown trophies.

There is a notable habit among some of defending any kind of potentially offensive, threatening, slanderous, behavior in the name of free speech.  But I ask you all, what good is your free speech when the only ones left to talk with you are telling poop jokes?

Thinking back, at least the teen and twenty something crusty punk anarchists realized that they really ought to consider being inclusive enough to create an environment where other people felt, at a minimum, relatively safe to join and share, if not actually ATTRACTED to partake and collaborate.  I mean, don't get me wrong, it was still a shit show, and endless face to face consensus decision making processes even under the best circumstance reveals a terrible truth about the desire for people to display their insignificant egos above all else.

What this all boils down to is the kind of environment we want to create here in our community.  I value the qualities of inclusion and non aggression above an anything goes, lowest common denominator attitude.  By and large I hope to encourage more constructive and collaborative conversations here through my own participation, but if someone is on a tirade of abuse and won't be dissuaded, honestly, fuck em.  They can go somewhere else and spew their vitriol.  I'm all for having standards, and there's nothing fascist about doing so.  If you think a community can't agree upon standards of behavior and enforce them without becoming fascist thugs, then you're lost in the woods.  If by excluding one unreasonable and abusive person we make the forum more attractive to ten others, then it's well worth it, in my opinion.

How we treat this forum is how it will be.  How we behave, collectively, reflects on the community here.  I for one want to see BitShares succeed.  I for one wish to create a positive and welcoming environment to help open up participation in this grand experiment to a much wider audience, whereas others feel it is acceptable to treat the forums like their college dorm room floor, hangin out being stoopid and making poop jokes with porn scattered around.  That's not the kind of environment I'm personally looking to create here, or anywhere I choose to spend time.  So, one who persists in maintaining this narrow cultural bandwidth here will inevitably run into some form of pushback from me. I CAN direct my attention elsewhere, but it's really like watching a culturally backwards trainwreck crushing the hopes of future generations for a laugh, when they could be rolling out the red carpet, or the yellow brick road.  My usual MO is to remain silent and carry on as best I can, as many others do. It's not so simple as just leaving the thread and going on with my day, because for better or worse, i actually care about this community and want to see it thrive.

It's also still one of the hugest elephants in the room, which I have alluded to here, namely: Nearly half of the global population, women, are not represented here in the slightest.  Since a select few here continue to insist upon creating the dorm room floor environment thus ensuring that this imbalance will continue, the trend isn't likely to change.  Naturally this isn't a problem unique to BitShares, but BitShares could be unique in it's response.  Women are just the beginning, this is a challenging space for anyone to engage in, and you've got all sorts of groups whose values are aligned with this project but who would not feel welcome, or see value, when they are greeted with the kind of base accusatory discourse they see when they enter here.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but when I have guests over I like to clean up a bit, and create an enjoyable environment to meet with them.  I'd like to see a little bit more of that kind of hospitality here on the forums.

Peace



TL;DR "what good is your free speech when the only ones left to talk with you are telling poop jokes?"

I move to ban @CRAPCOIN from the forum. It's crapping on every thread.

Hey, while we're at it... why not? 

Quote from: lovejoy on December 07, 2015, 10:29:49 pm

I've seen so many lives ruined by unjust drug laws, this is the first and loudest thing that comes to mind, echoing sentiments of @merivercap, @CLains and others above.

So I would put nonviolent drug offenses at the top of the list, especially since it affects such an insanely large number of people and consequently has a dramatically negative effect on society.
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Prisons_and_Drugs

Thinking more on the topic at large.

I haven't made this post yet because one of the criteria is the penalty is mostly financial.

Ruined ass life forever is a bit more than just financial.

Ahh yes, true point... Mostly financial eh? Well beyond the point where ones freedoms are beginning to be restricted by the state for running afoul of various unjust laws and horribly disproportionate sentencing guidelines, the whole theater of supposed, 'justice' is constantly exacting dues and levying financial burdens upon the accused, requiring resources well beyond what the average citizen has access to.  Bail, legal fees, time away from work, general life disruption.  So yes, greatly financial in terms of penalty, up to the point where your other freedoms are violated, and then it's a whole other ballgame besides, right down to finding work with a felony on your resume... The modern reputation system at work.