Oddbean

My grandmother asks me today if i'm going to vote tomorrow, I said no, I see no reason to, it affects nothing She responds, so you don't belong to this country? I know the previous generation battled for the "right to vote" so they have a sunk cost and a certain affection to it, but its still funny that voting every 4 years is seen as participating in the country But all the work and value you create is not? Lol why does it matter who violates my property rights? Why does it matter which cohort gets to benefit from that inflation and tax theft? F all that!

Isn't the last part why you'd vote? I understand the whole governments are illegitimate and corrupt and and, and yes obviously nothing beats collectives on the ground actually doing the work (Afriforum, neighbourhood watches, stokvels, etc), but when it comes to corruption, obvious mismanagement, obviously archaic backend systems and nepotism, cronyism, allowing all the stuff that happened in Covid, shouldn't we use the one opportunity we have to budge the needle? Or are we only going to engage them head-on with the likes of Sakeliga when it's a bit too late? If the masses are lazy to vote, catch them sleeping.

The masses will never be too lazy to vote, thats why they the masses, they sold on the freebie, on the idea that politicians are alchemists who can produce something by decree I have no problem with local groups, business, and communties doing their thing, driving change on a grass roots level, I encourage it, but property rights for is the main thing, everything else is downstream of that I think voting with your money is more effective, which is what I am focusing on, its where I can affect the most change, casting an X one one of 70 grifter parties doesn't appeal to me

I hear you, but unless you wage a war to abolish the current system of government, we're stuck with them. Whether you acknowledge them or not they determine taxes on everything you buy, import, earn, fill up, etc, can throw you in jail for not wearing a mask, etc. Route around them, by all means, just expect to get Ulbricht'd or Samorai'd. The main way to change who occupies that seat and determines those things is through elections, or war. South Africa is somewhat unique in that we're going to be led by coalition, most likely, so not necessarily "by decree". More voices are represented, more checks are in place, more common sense should prevail, it isn't just one party steamrolling us anymore. Will it be messy, absolutely, all those obnoxious characters battling for their own way, but I'd rather have what more closely represents multiple people coming to an agreement than just one party having their way. Even the DA sucks, I don't want gender-neutral bathrooms for my teenagers, and if the DA had their way in Covid I probably wouldn't even be alive right now.

I get the whole lets not make a little change the enemy, I'm just so black pilled to the whole thing, I don't see how having coalitions makes a difference if the incentive is to debase and missalocate resources regardless, is anyone talking about the trillions of debt, or the 285 billion in interest? No because they all want the same thing, wealth without providing labour, goods or services to the market. I get my view is a bit of a pipe dream, but what i'd like is smaller government, smaller and smaller and smaller, but how does voting achieve that?

By voting for parties that agree with you. The ANC is communist, they see state-owned enterprises as welfare distributors, that's why Eskom can have 420b+ debt and still exist, and it's why they'll send out 10 dudes on minimum wage to change a light bulb, badly. Obvious waste for the sake of distributing "wealth", but all communist governments go the same route. You hang around the bitcoin community long enough, black-pilling is inevitable. Governments don't exist for the sole purpose of debasing currencies - surprise! Corrupt governments that can't manage their money and who run on paper-based systems with no checks in place will obviously debase the currency, those who focus on fiscal management, transparency, and staying small will do better. They can't have communist ideals. We suffer a lot from poor management systems. The ANC simply isn't interested in doing things well, when they can siphon funds off to a family member. But there are parties who intend to do things properly, at least better. It's extreme to think that all parties are like the ANC, are only motivated by money, want to grind us to a pulp, and want to be as big as possible. That's extreme black-and-white thinking - either governments don't exist, or they are corrupt?

I don't think they're all sitting their washing their hands with johnny walker, twirling their moustaches, I believe there are bad apples and there are those think they're doing the right thing in many cases, yet the end result for the citizen is the same. I just think the incentive structure encourages debasement, at all cost. You can be commie, capitalist, or a monarch, if you debasing the currency its all the same for the citizen.

It's part of civil society bro, you want your voice heard bro, please bro, people died for this right bro, if it was such a good service, would you need to convince me? No one had to sell the smartphone to me or sneakers, they serve a purpose so I participate in that market lol