Such a refreshing thing to be reading from the bytemaestro. And to think I had my doubts about the longterm goals of this project. Bah. Shame on me.
I'm intentionally replying before I read the other responses because I want to compare my thoughts about this before and after taking in all the community's input.
I think most of the people here for ideological reasons rather than for profit motivated reasons can agree that there is a force at work which controls our lives in a way which may not immediately be apparent or understood. I think there is room for disagreement among the community, or if not, there definitely will be once we get the TV loving masses on board, about what the source of that control is. It feels more like we're being manipulated. Like our world-view is being shaped to align with interests that may not necessarily be our own.
Is this shaping force the government? Corporations? The plutocracy? Or is there zero conspiracy and this is what happens when the best that can be done by humanity gets averaged in with the lowest common denominator? I sure hope not. I'd like to think better of us. We could argue about that for many hours and still not budge each other. That's why these tools should be politically neutral, but simultaneously meet the needs of every viewpoint on the matter.
Why am I here? After becoming acquainted with Bitcoin as a user/non-holder, I realized during one of the bubbles that there's money to be made. That is what piqued my interest and got me to learning about it, and as I did, I realized that it was much bigger than just a safer alternative to liberty reserve, or just a way to buy some weed. When the blockchain clicked I saw that the implications for the world ran much deeper. This is about the time alt-coins first started arriving on the scene, and this is how I ended up here. It would be a lie for me to say that profit wasn't the original thing that got me interested in crypto.
Is profit an important factor in achieving the overall goal, to give people financial autonomy? That depends on whether or not you believe we can reach that goal without it. If not, then profit is priority number one, and tweaking the exchange and figuring out the most profitable role should be top of the list. If so, then profit will come, and we can focus on whatever gives end users more means for financial autonomy such as the bong bond market and anonymity.
This is what lends importance to the fee debate and the role debate. It's the assumption that the show can not proceed without a means to cover development costs. It sounds to me, BM, like you're arguing that we are now in a position, budget wise, where we can push forward without having to worry about how receptive businesses are, and can focus on the end user that we're ultimately trying to liberate. So I answer your question with another question, are we in such a position? Can the show go on if we opt to worry less about courting whales and more about giving people the tools they need to stand against governments/plutocrats/thugs/each other?
I think that either way Bitshares will grow and the infrastructure will grow with it. I think it's possible, nay inevitable that there could even come a point where there's enough interest that all the current devs could go retire and the show will go on. It's simply a question of mapping out how it will grow, and what it will focus on first.
I think BitShares can be a freedom platform without having to brag on that concept. Like a trojan horse, BitShares could be the thing hidden in plain sight that breaks us free of our shackles. But pitching it as such will surely hinder adoption from folks who can't even see those chains.
Sitting here mulling this over, trying to come up with a response to your post, I've realized that I think I disagree with the premise of it. Presenting the how and the what to the public isn't going to prevent people who can see the forest for the trees from coming aboard. But focusing on the why isn't going to convince people that we have a clear solution, nor will it bring the apathetic on board. Profit will.
Honestly, this new wallet works great. It's clearly going to be both a business game changer and a tool for revolution. It's only a question of what comes first, and honestly, I don't care. I know they're both coming.
Time to go read the rest of this thread now. Maybe I'll come back afterwards and declare everything I just wrote idiotic after seeing community input.
Topic: Why are we Here? Why BitShares? Why this community? Why Me? (Read 23159 times)
