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Individuals are weak and vulnerable.
It was only possible to build and exploit the steam engine where you had the legal structures, infrastructure and trading potential that the Great British government put in place.
They didn't invent and build the steam engine and industrial revolution in some backward Congo jungle with no government and the complex structures of civilisation that good government enables and that's why Libertarians are deluded dreamers.
The wealth of nations is derivative of the quality of their governments.
China won the trade war.
USA military industrial complex is a corrupt, broken flailing and failing empire.
Libertarian dreamers should go live somewhere there is no government and see how long they last.
Chinas government has organised the resources and its people better than the decadent west and has won the trade war.
The wealth of nations is determined by the way they organise their collective resources.
The steam engine was invented by a man living in a country where the government organised better than those it was competing with and thus the steam engine delivered superior results for the people of Great Britain.
Today China has organised the production and distribution of electricity- the energy that drives the post industrial era better than any other industrialised nation - Chinese consumers and producers pay HALF or less for electricity compared to what those in crony capitalist western nations pay.
Game over for the petrodollar crony capitalist empire of Uncle Sam.
A huge factor in this is energy- coal, oil, electricity.
These modern energy sources have enabled most of the reduction in toil and increase in material productivity.
But coal and oil have resulted in altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere and that is changing the climate.
That is now beginning to have significant effects on the economy- on farming, real estate and infrastructure.
Today USA is losing its lead in the global wealth and power balance- and China has already won the trade war and cut off supply of vital rare earths to the US military industrial complex.
The petrodollar is dying.
A contest is developing for global hegemony and any measure of wealth and purchasing power needs to factor in such global power changes.
The oil fueled US empire is in decline and China with its modern electricity based industrial and developing post industrial competitive advantage is emerging as the primary economy on the planet.
We organise into groups- nation states operating under different and competing models and philosophies- Chinas mercantile, autocratic, state capitalism hybrid vigour model is proving more productive and competitive than the USA and its decadent fiat debt leveraged speculative and imperialist militaristic crony capitalism.
Do you really know who @DarthCoin is?
Do you know him IRL?
Does anyone on SNs know him IRL?
Only his sock puppets claim to know him in real life.
He is a phantom...created purely upon what he claims.
I have been involved with anarchist and protest groups for over 40 years and that experience has taught me that such groups are almost always targeted by government security apparatus.
They will observe and often infiltrate.
Their agents will talk big and seek to gain intimate knowledge of the group and its technical and structural features.
@Darthcoin is clearly highly technically competent- exactly what NSA or the like would want with an infiltrator.
They want to know the inside of any potential threat to the state and will send in someone who can ingratiate themselves to the group.
@Darthcoin fits the profile perfectly.
Who really knows who @Darthcoin is except for from what @Darthcoin has claimed?
WHO?
We can only judge him from the contrast between his words and his actions.
Refusing to attach a wallet for no good reason.
Why?
Because to attach a wallet is almost certain to breach tax compliance laws and a government security operative infiltrator cannot or prefers not incriminate himself in such a manner?
There is no sound or credible reason a true Bitcoin Maxi who has even basic technical ability would not attach wallet to this P2P BTC circular economy...unless he was an incredibly lazy hypocrit, and/or a government agent.
Our standard of living has been improving in material terms for centuries because we have developed and implemented new technologies which increase our comfort and reduce our toil.
A huge factor in this is energy- coal, oil, electricity.
These modern energy sources have enabled most of the reduction in toil and increase in material productivity.
But coal and oil have resulted in altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere and that is changing the climate.
That is now beginning to have significant effects on the economy- on farming, real estate and infrastructure.
Today USA is losing its lead in the global wealth and power balance- and China has already won the trade war and cut off supply of vital rare earths to the US military industrial complex.
A contest is developing for global hegemony and any measure of wealth and purchasing power needs to factor in such global power changes.
The oil fueled US empire is in decline and China with its modern electricity based industrial and developing post industrial competitive advantage is emerging as the primary economy on the planet.
Real estate is highly debt leveraged.
Prices rose since 1990 because the cost of debt was declining steadily until peak Covid.
Since peak Covid the cost of debt has not reduced- and going forward it cannot reduce, or increase by much as either would collapse the entire fiat debt monetary system.
So property prices are almost certain to stagnate, and they are.
Buying property now is not the good investment it was over the years from 1990-2020.
Yes Queenstown sounds great and looking forward to going there although I cant spen more than a few days looking around and spending sats there. In Chch there is only one food outlet that I can spend sats at and though they are great food and value I dont go there more than once a month.
#878208
Here on Stacker News however I can and do use sats every day and its great- I just do not understand anyone who claims to be a serious bitcoiner not attaching their wallet so they can be part of this circular economy everyday.
We need to use the LN at every opportunity or it will not grow stronger.
@Darthcoin has a lot of followers on here so if he is not attaching his wallet others are likely to follow his example and that worries me as despite asking many time he has not come up with any credible reason not to attach wallets- instead just a lot of absurd shoot the messenger abuse and bullshit.
A lot of work has gone into enabling SNs to be a P2P V4V BTC/LN capable community and circular economy and if @Darthcoin is going to boycott and shit on that I am not going to stop raising the issue until it is resolved...its too important imo to ignore.
I use coinos wallet for LN as the fees are ultra low and its very easy to use and easy to attach to Stacker News- if I can do it most people will find it easy as I am no tech guy.
How to attach coinos wallet-
Correct and I am planning a road trip in the old Hiace and maybe hiking some trails down there in and around Queenstown to see what the lightningpay.nz BTC circular economy is like there - it looks like there are a number of bars and restaurants there where I can spend sats- hope to report on this when its done, maybe in next few weeks.
lightningpay.nz have put a lot of work into building up a network BTC/LN accepting merchants in the area and it does look exciting.
In the meantime @Darthcoin keeps being a toad and refusing to attach his wallets- I cannot understand it and will keep reminding him to reconsider his position. Surely he is technically capable of attaching a wallet if I can do it most people can!
Out of interest @hgw39 why dont you attach LN wallets so I could zap you some sats?
Am not zapping anyone without BTC/LN 'horse and gun' capacity set up unless they have good reason for not doing so...and suggest others consider the same approach.
SNs has build a sats centred social media community at some effort and expense but you @DarthCoin refuse to attach your LN wallet.
Is USA, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and a few outlets in Europe what you call international?
Does anyone want to eat at Steak and Shake everyday?
If they were in New Zealand which they are not my guess is once a month would be the most I would go there.
We are on Stacker News everyday and yet @DarthCoin is BOYCOTTING the SN P2P BTC LN Circular Economy.
By attaching our wallets and using sats on Stacker News we are both demonstrating and supporting a viable BTC MoE V4V circular economy and strengthening the wallets and payments nodes and channels...but @DarthCoin cannot be bothered.
@DarthCoin the BTC Maxi who claims to be 'Living on The Bitcoin Standard' is a lazy big mouthed technocrat hypocrit.
Is there???
Where can ordinary people use sats on daily basis that supports the growth and development of the LN?
WHERE?
SILENCE.
For most people here on Stacker News is the most accessible place they can use LN P2P every day.
SNs has build a sats centred social media community at some effort and expense but you @DarthCoin refuse to attach your LN wallet.
You claim to be living on the Bitcoin Standard yet you refuse to use sats on the most obvious platform in fact you admit accumulating shitcoin CCs and selling them for sats thus encouraging the debasement of the Stacker News BTC circular economy.
You are a blatant hypocrit.
Attach your wallet/s or continue to be called out for your hypocrisy.
My problem is he claims to be a BTC Maxi 'living on the Bitcoin Standard' yet here on Stacker News he refuses to engage with the P2P circular economy that has been built at no small effort by the SN team.
If we do not use Bitcoin as a P2P MoE it will not grow and strengthen- it will instead decay and die.
So I find @DarthCoins stated position as a BTC Maxi irreconcilable with his actions- he is a blatant hypocrit.
He clearly has the ability to attach a wallet but he is too lazy to do so and be part of the P2P BTC V4V circular economy here on Stacker News.
He may or may not have held BTC since 2011 - but do you have proof?
If he does so what anyway?
Does the length of time someone holds Bitcoin prove he is 'living on the Bitcoin Standard'? No it does not.
You appear to take everything he says as gospel trusting him without verification?
Do not trust- verify!
I do not trust anyone who talks big but whose actions do not match those big words.
Refusing to engage in the SN BTC P2P circular economy shows @DarthCoin is not a BTC Maxi- he is demonstrably a hypocrit.
I do not believe anything this serial arsemilking hypocrit claims without verification.
I can daily verify he has NOT attached LN wallets because he has NO Gun and No Horse.
He has had ample opportunity to explain why he refuses to attach LN wallet but has not given any credible or convincing reason- instead he attacks me rather than the issues I raised- proving he is an arrogant troll and not a man or reason and not someone who will behave ethically but rather a hypocrit, bully and troll.
Humans are social animals with an intrinsic and deep evolutionary understanding that their survival is strongly connected to their alignment with the group they associate with.
Thus they 'believe' whatever the group believes and strongly resist anything to the contrary.
Libertarians included.
How exactly is it nonsense?
'Some factors include persistent drought on American pasture lands'
Above quote from the article you linked to.
https://reason.com/2026/01/28/the-real-reason-beef-costs-more-fewer-cows-not-corporate-greed/
The science of climate change is now backed by solid recorded evidence.
'Although 2025 was slightly cooler than 2024 globally, it was still far hotter than almost any other year on record (Copernicus 2025) and the impacts of this hotness were unmistakable. This report reviews some of the worst extreme weather events of 2025 the WWA team has studied, documenting the severe consequences of a warming climate and revealing, once again, how unprepared we remain. Across the 22 extreme events we analysed in depth, heatwaves, floods, storms, droughts and wildfires claimed lives, destroyed communities; and wiped out crops. Together, these events paint a stark picture of the escalating risks we face in a warming world.
At the close of 2025, this report underscores that even in a year that had weak La Nina conditions (NASA, 2025), that lead to lower sea surface temperatures, global temperatures remained very high and significant harm from human-induced climate change is very real. It is not a future threat, but a present day reality.'
The climate is changing and weather events, storms, droughts, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes are increasing in frequency and severity.
The last 5 years have been the hottest in recorded history globally.
Are you suffering from Trump derangement syndrome or sponsored by Big Oil/Koch Brothers or just a crazy suicidal person with a death wish for all sentient life on the planet?
It is infectious for several weeks before the carrier becomes aware they are ill.
However it is not as infectious as Covid.
Help is on its way!
Here in New Zealand there are rapidly increasing numbers of beef calves being raised.
We are responding to the market signals, which are the best prices for beef in decades.
Yes global supply is down but demand is rising.
Good for beef farmers here in New Zealand!
And yes, Climate Change is causing droughts which reduce supply in some regions.
BRICS have other ideas and they dominate global trade in commodities and manufactured goods where MoE is the primary objective.
They are developing a currency called The Unit which is backed 40% by gold with the other 60% a basket of Chinese, Russian, South African, Brazil and Indian currencies.
This may be part of the reason for the rally in gold prices currently underway.
The real contest is between BRICS and the US.
Bitcoin is an minor player in terms of liquidity and probability although it is an interesting and significant asymmetric player.
Sold some sats and bought gold late last year.
Gold is the tyhing to own short to medium term as the USD goes down the gurgler...
Longer term Bitcoin is still a hodl with the best odds but glad I am somewhat diversified in liquid assets- who the fuck wants to be holding more fiat shitcojn that they need to pay the bills?
The British government did not ban the steam engine.
Nor the telegraph.
Nor the cannon.
They did attack the Chinese and enslave millions of Chinese to Opium addiction.
Such is the factor of human organised trade and power projection.
Organised and enabled by the governments.
The basis of wealth and security for all human groups.
The Chinese government today build nuclear power more efficiently than any other organised group of humans in the world and that is why the Chinese people have a significant advantage in wealth creation and future prosperity.
Chiese engineers are building the first new nuclear power generator for Britain, because Britan got lazy and fat and decadent and forgot how to build things of value.
The US imperialists may want to bomb China and preserve their petrodollar hegemony but the US imperialist militarists have no rare earths and so the US military industrial combine that is the real basis of US wealth is crippled.
How sad.