Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: ba on December 18, 2012, 12:09 am
-
Just read what I wrote to SR support the other night in reply to a warning that the resolution time period was about to run out. I must have been feeling a bit, er, talkative. But actually I agree with everything I said, and want to make it public. Just want to see what people's views are on this. In particular: is Silk Road really making/going to contribute to the end of criminalization? What will its legacy be? Will people look back and see just some clever guys making a lot of money...or will they be viewed as heroic revolutionaries?
( Names removed, including mine).
"Dear Silk Road Administrator,
I appreciate the warning. Without wanting to sound obstinate (I am not overly bothered about what is after all only $20 or so) I feel that to capitulate, and agree to accept less would be unprincipled: I am fully accusing [scammer] of being a scammer---something I am very careful not to do until I am about 99% certain---and I don't believe that negotiating would exactly do my case any favours. Thieves like that are dragging this place's good name in the dirt, and I am not going to stoop to the level of infighting. There has been a bit of an unsettling trend recently...more unsavoury types preying on both buyers and sellers, and generally increasing the levels of paranoia, which were fairly high to start with (for good reason I suppose). Very saddening, but I am really proud of the way the whole community has come together over it with a combination of trust and resolutions like this one, rather than falling apart in a haze of accusations and paranoia....as so many people predicted would happen from the start.
On an unrelated point, I've been meaning to say for a long time now (and please pass this on to whoever is responsible...as high up as it goes until someone is too busy to give a fuck what I think!): I have massive respect for what you're doing. I am not especially political: socially liberal, libertarian...but I strongly believe we should be able to do what we want as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. The laws on drugs are one of the few things that make me really angry. I fully believe that, if it were possible to change the world's laws at a stroke (and there is a UN convention coming up 2016 so maybe it will be) then it would be the single most effective thing we could do to make the world a better place. I won't go into why as this will end up a massive rant.
Anyway, I know you're not all philanthropists -- hell we all need to make a living, and I imagine it's getting fairly lucrative here. But that doesn't dilute the fact that you are risking your own liberty to give people theirs. Silk Road is almost a certainly a large nail - and I truly hope one of the last - in the coffin of this bullshit "War" on drugs (spit), and given the consequences of criminalization: the funding of terrorists and organised criminals, innocent people slaughtered in Mexico, addicts forced on to the street, Latin American countries taken over by violent cartels, West African countries forced into narco-statedom, people dying from dirty needles and unpredictable or contaminated gear, rampant petty crime, overflowing jails, careers ruined by "criminal" records, countless millions wasted on unnecessary policing and missed tax revenue (yes even the tax revenue argument)....given all these things that will be all but abolished, I think that the legacy of this place will be a great one: in a few generations time, when we look back and see how utterly destructive this criminalization experiment was, Silk Road will be viewed as a revolutionary and life-saving institution, and that the work put in by you will be finally recognised as nothing short of heroic. I for one applaud you!!
(Oh yeah, I almost forgot: also thanks for giving me a convenient way to buy drugs ;)
Anyway, it is a bit unfortunate that I have added this on to the end of a resolution argument....not trying to ingratiate myself. To prove this, whatever you decide I should get back I want to donate to the cause. Give it to someone who is working for SR voluntarily, or is generally sacrificing a much better paid job to do what they think is right. Keep up the good work! Don't let the fuckers drag you down! And if I am wrong about [scammer] then I deeply apologise."
To this, SR support replied:
"Make sure you reply in the resolution center."
~SR Support 1 day
Which I thought was pretty funny! Anyway, got my coins back...they never did accept my donation (I think they probably got bored and stopped reading before that point). I would have tried harder to give them money, but the temptation to spend it on drugs overcame me. (I think that's what they would have wanted me to do though). Ha! I love this place.
-
LOL I love this OP!! Great from start to a LOL finish!! + 1 karma for a good laugh at 8:52 am after snorting a Opana original 15mg!!! lol
-
The war on drugs is really only a war on those who compete.
HSBC has admitted to laundering money for large cartels as well as terrorist organizations.
They do not, however, have to face any type of criminal indictment. The CIA is known to have
been importing drugs into the US in may instances. The whole fast and furious debacle.
I could go on...
So, yes SR may come under attack from the so-called war on drugs, but that is only because it is in competition
with those who profit the most from prohibition. Not because there is some war on drugs and we actually want to
stop their proliferation. If as much money could be made from decriminalization as is made from prohibition, then
drugs would be legal.
my $.02
-
Sweet rant, yo.
TL;DR for the lazy and/or terminally short on attention:
Drug laws = bad.
Drugs = good (while not harming others).
Silk Road = FUCKING EXCELLENT.