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ECB pitches digital euro as response to Trump's crypto push
11d • mishaderidder.eth •

Basically the EU is like an indicator for all the worst ideas a government can do. And they‘re quick with it too. While the Americans somehow always manage to coordinate to get what they want, in the EU somehow our politicians are just out of control and nobody can hold them accountable because all of main stream media supports them
Just to clarify, I think it‘s a horrible idea to put a database of all the money in the hands of the government and make it easily editable. That‘s a recipe for totalitarianism if you ask me, doesn‘t matter if we vote for representatives every 4 years or not. It‘s anti-democratic, but they‘ll of course call it democratic
While I am also generally skeptical about CBDCs I retain a certain optimism for the right solutions. Why have banks in charge of my money when I can use the digital Euro directly from the source? The government already has a lot of power, and a well build digital coin won't necessarily increase this power. It's better to have one transparent system than hundreds of opaque ones. When the government acts (changes the supply, censors, etc), it will be visible for everyone. Of course that doesn't mean the design could be terrible and create more inequality, but we shouldn't assume that everything EU makes is terrible.
I think there comes a point when I find it anti-democratic if there is technology that pushes power to the edges but my democratically-elected government codifies power to them, or the courts, instead of the people. The government‘s publicly sourced money should benefit everyone, that‘s also why we demand that they make their software widely accessible and free to run, we want government money to be spent on open source not proprietary software. In think with the same idea in mind we can also demand that the government gives some positive rights to its citizens in regards to their digital money. I think legal guarantees are not enough anymore. They are weak and hard to enforce for someone with normal means. The world is already built on technology-based guarantees, in energy and in inter-state security competition. I think it‘s only reasonable that the governments start to think about what other technical guarantees they can provide to their citizens
> The government‘s publicly sourced money should benefit everyone, that‘s also why we demand that they make their software widely accessible and free to run, we want government money to be spent on open source not proprietary software. Big yes. This weekend converted an old MacBook Air to Linux Ubuntu. It was like bringing it back from the world of the dead. It is running super fast and Linux Ubuntu is totally consumer-ready in 2025. I like it a lot actually. Gov should stop buying expensive licenses from Microsoft etc. The way how Linux ecosystem currently looks the switch will be easy. (But of course it’ll be an huge effort to overhaul the whole administration, but it’ll create jobs too for locals, not only for folks in silicon valley.) And surely start with doing stuff on a public blockchain. A CBDC could be interesting, but only with a lot of checks and balances obviously. I would argue for a zkCBDC. First thing a CBDC should guarantee is absolute privacy for citizens. The biggest risk is that a CBDC becomes a tool for gov spying and control.
> "Basically the EU is like an indicator for all the worst ideas a government can do. And they‘re quick with it too. While the Americans somehow always manage to coordinate to get what they want, in the EU somehow our politicians are just out of control and nobody can hold them accountable because all of main stream media supports them" +1, at this point reading these news is like reading BabylonBee. Can't believe they're saying with a straight face that giving all control over 400M+ EU citizens' money to a few people at ECB and totally unaccountable EU institutions is an appropriate response to the US which has chosen more people freedom.
> the US which has chosen more people freedom. I would argue, but you’re free to disagree of course ;) that “freedom” in this case is more like an advertising slogan. The way the Trump gov is acting last week, also with all the decrees, it feels totally authoritarian. Maybe it’s “freedom” for certain people, which is mostly the case if politicians propagate freedom. But we will see, they’ve only been at it a week.
> The way the Trump gov is acting last week, also with all the decrees, it feels totally authoritarian. Isn‘t it ALSO a beautiful display of democracy that Americans can, for four years, elect a CEO that goes full founder mode in government? Courts will stop Trump’s bad proposals. An election in four years will fire him again. What‘s our freedom here in the EU? I know many people who are desperate for change, yet we cannot affect such changes in our governments
Yes, the people have spoken and chose this US government, democracy is still in place and did its job actually perfectly. Also I’m rooting for the trias politica to hedge against bad decisions. But I hope the new rulers don’t forget about the twin pillars of democracy: majority rule and minority rights are fundamental principles that coexist to support democratic governance. Majority rule serves as a method for organizing government and making decisions, rather than a tool for oppression. No majority should infringe upon the basic rights and freedoms of minority groups or individuals. Minorities must trust that their rights and identities will be protected, enabling their active participation in democracy. I'm fearing a bit for the freedoms and rights of the minorities. The current gov message seems to be winner takes all, fuck the rest or worse. There is a sense of vengeance, even revenge on opponents. Central to a healthy democracy is the role of debate and compromise. Open dialogue and willingness to compromise are crucial for achieving agreements that honor both majority rule and minority rights. The way Trump gov is acting and the tone of voice doesn’t give me confidence this is going to be the way. And yes, sure European Union should do some serious soul searching in this respect too. Of course only time will tell. If history teaches us anything is to expect the unexpected. Also current times make me think of a political theory called The Iron Law of Oligarchy. > In addition to technical reasons, there are psychological reasons. Most people want to be led. They don't want to figure out every single thing for themselves. They want to outsource the hard decisions and questions to other leaders far more compelling than themselves. And for the people who want to lead, no amount of power is never enough. People who acquire power always want to consolidate and extend it. As they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. As a reminder, The Iron Law of Oligarchy basically states that a true democracy cannot exist. It will devolve into oligarchy. The majority cannot organize, so even the most communist organization like a union is naturally and inevitably dominated by a minority oligarchic elite that is then in a position to corrupt and rent-seek. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy How to hedge for that?
> The way the Trump gov is acting last week, also with all the decrees, it feels totally authoritarian. I should've been more clear - my comment was related to their decision to bet on stablecoins vs. CBDCs :)