This post is the result of a rather lengthy response to Patch's post on the White House's post regarding the DAME law (and a reference to the Danelaw/Danegeld of Medieval England). Those who pay the Danegeld never get rid of the Dane. Joe Biden might be easier to remove, but the problem he's creating might not.
Relevant links (to both the DAME law and Patch's post on Pub0x) are in the "Resources" section at the end of this post. Having read the bit of nonsense on the whitehouse.gov site, here's what I think about it:
“… the Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) excise tax, is an example of the President’s commitment to addressing both long-standing national challenges as well as emerging risks …”
Well, cryptomining is neither, so where do Joe Biden and his advisors get off? Are companies in other industries (such as Google) going to have to pay a 30% tax on the electricity they use or is the US government singling out crypto just because they feel threatened and don’t like it? Are they going to tax everyone who has a television for causing environmental pollution with useless/unnecessary technology?
There’s an awful lot of assumption about crypto's energy use (and the nature thereof) in that publication from the White House. It’s just ridiculous (and obviously so at that).
"… even I as a non US citizen know about the historical housing policy that has been policy in the past in the US, among other crap. Trying to pass off the blame for the current housing situation on cryptomining is just ... well, I am at a loss for words is how stupid it is.
But at least the pollution that gets pumped out from all the oil and coal power plants in the US can be blamed on cryptomining right? Because when power is generated in these power plants from non-cryptomining industries they make sure the pollution do not fall anyway near low-income housing and community of color. Wait, what’s that? The pollution doesn’t change, it keeps going to the same place. Are you sure? Ok, ok. You’re sure.
But what about all the new oil and coal power plants that have been built to support the cryptominers, they have been built to target those groups specifically, right, right? What’s that, no new unclean power plants built by cryptominers. But what about the Kemper County energy facility in Mississippi. That was the last unclean power plant built; it was started back in 2010, surly [sic] that was by crypt… No, OK. It was not even finished. OK. So what you’re saying is that all unclean energy was already there, to begin with. And cryptominers are only using it as any other company or private person would. OK."
Exactamundo, Patch.
“And by the look of things the electrical grid is in desperate need of repairs and expansion. Because virtually no maintenance has been done on it since it was built.”
Are we still talking about America here? It’s the same in my own country, which is a Third World one — except that I don't think our power grid is quite that old or, if it is, it's not quite as neglected. You can say a lot about how terrible the National Party were (and they very definitely were in the extreme; I'm not going to argue or make excuses), but they did do a few things right. Maintaining infrastructure was one of them (albeit in certain chosen white areas and to a limited extent, not that the USA fares much better in racial favouritism, mind you). It makes me wonder, yet again, if the USA really is a First World country or if that's just another empty claim (such as that it’s the greatest one in the world). I'd advocate for the FSM to fuck America, but the Yanks seem to be doing just Yankee Doodle fucking Dandy with that all on their own.
I've an idea, if we're going to venture into "whataboutism" territory: How about making the US government pay reparations to the BIPoC communities the Cocaine Import Agency brutalised and terrrorised during the Reagan and Nixon administrations (and, lets face it, the last four hundred years or so)? How about making it face a war crimes tribunal for the nuclear bombs it dropped on Japan and all the nuclear test sites that are still highly radioactive to this day? How about doing the same for the genocide committed against the first people to settle in the Americas (Central, North and South)? How about cutting spending on BIPoC Baby Killers International so it can pay off its national debt and student loans? Basically, how about making it accountable for it's own horrible shit before it goes after the people trying to make the world a better place without its "help and liberation" of their fossil fuels, precious stones and natural resources, driven by the false narrative of the White Man's Burden and god/saviour complex? I've been around long enough to know that's not going to happen, because The World's Biggest Bully is an utter master at moving the goalposts so that it never has to be held accountable for its own bullshit and acts of terror.
The hypocrisy is strong with the USA, as it always has been. Now, where did I put my leper bell, since I might have to go around yelling "unclean, unclean" like the happily unamerican SOB I surely am?!
“... the energy is used to generate digital assets whose broader social benefits have yet to materialize ...”
"What they are saying is that crypto promised the moon and deliver[ed] a night out looking at the stars on top of the garage roof."
Well, in my experience, that’s (mostly) not wrong, as much as I was hoping it would be otherwise. YMMV, of course. I will add this, though: Using crypto for international payments from my various clients in the USA, UK and Europe has proven a much better option than going through PayPal and SWIFT (which are American companies, coincidentally), even despite all the persuading I have to do to get them to see sense. Hey, if you want to waste your money paying PayPal’s exorbitant fees, I have no problem artificially inflating my prices to make sure that I don’t lose out. BCH is also a boon to the Philippines and Venezuela, as is Nano to Iran, if what various people tell me is correct. I suppose it is working and does have some worth, but isn't (yet) all I hoped it would be at this point and I can't wait around biding my time for it to HTFU already.
There is, of course, an obvious solution to this, since Ethereum has now switched to PoS: Stop mining BTC (at least in the USA, although I'm not opposed to a global halt). If that’s how the powers that be want to play, then let the country fall behind technologically and suffer the consequences, just like China did/has. Either mine other cryptocurrencies or switch to PoS. It's the principle of the thing, though, that is so outrageous ...
I never thought I'd back Donald Trump for anything whatsofuckingever, but despite all his many faults, at least the Donald had the good sense to embrace crypto (even if for his own personal gain). Joe Biden, on the other hand, is just doing the American presidential thing of putting his best effort into unnecessarily making life difficult for the people in other nations of the world. It really is too bad that Bernie Sanders didn't win and get two terms. Hopefully, this will ensure that Joe Biden doesn't get another one.
Patch, I don't blame you for getting all bent out of shape about/over this. I am too (and I don't even care for Bitcoin and Ethereum, much less mining it). While it's your choice not to write/publish while angry, I have no such compunctions. (It's how I've ended up writing what are arguably some of my best/funniest pieces.) The fact remains that an attack on (or threat to) one of us is an attack on/threat to all of us. It's why I think we need to back Coinbase in its fight against the SEC, even though I don't care for the company personally.
Some day, when you mine crypto, you could get hit by a Wells Notice. When you are lying there, screaming "come help me, please", the SEC gulls come and poke your knees! SEC gulls, stop it now!
Snark out! I've got work to find in a "more respectable/valuable" industry (which hasn't happened today, partly through my own procrastination), since crypto isn't making a meaningful contribution to employment. Piss on that, all the same!
Thumbnail image by AI: An eagle dropping a Bitcoin on Joe Biden
