MelissaGayBWW

econ

@phygit @benwehrman @antic @kytt @siggy47 @niftynei @PlebLab @Book_It @needcreations_ @jimmysong @roytheholographicuniverse @birdeye21 @jeff @BitByBit21 @itsTomekK @potus @MaxAWebster @runningbitcoin @MEME_LORD @Levlion @elvismercury @brandonsbytes @Public_N_M_E @GlobalThreat @Billy_Dow @ekzyis @BitcoinOutdoors @TNStacker @Chiefmonkey @MerryOscar @davidw @Relight_Motion @nout @notgeld @kr @south_korea_ln @OneOneSeven @kdnolan @dk @k00b

Hey Territory Founders, 

Inspired by this post https://stacker.news/items/368635 by @south_korea_ln I thought this week's discussion could surround the recent surge of sat farmers on the site. 

I have definitely noticed this in the sports territory. Some users posting very similar posts multiple times a day without context or engaging with the broader community. They are clearly trying to farm sats. I don't know if they are AI generated posts or not. 

A way to combat this would be to increase the cost of posting but that may deter honest actors from posting as well. 

My approach to dealing with these users was to first ignore their posts. Initially I was engaging and zapping every post made in the territory but this just encouraged farming posts, so I stopped doing that and focus now on zapping and engaging with posts that add value to the territory. Then I began downzapping the farming posts. And finally in one of my own posts I called out the user and stated that although I don't want to censor or mute them I would be downzapping all of their content. This seemed to have an impact and the posts have pretty much ceased. 

What tactics are you taking in your territories to combat farming posts? It would be great to hear others ideas and strategies and get a discussion going. 

Cheers,
GR

(50% of zaps will to @south_korea_ln. The other 50% will be donated to rewards)

SN Foundry- Weekly Discussion

UFOs

⚡Announcing Storm.pub!⚡Lightning Enabled version of YouTube, Future Nostr Client

ValeriePoole2HF

Bitcoin as a disruptor to the current monetary system

KaylaGoodwin8CB

It was listed for about a month before it sold. But to keep your privacy you must offer to pay shipping. If you want the buyer to pay for shipping you have to KYC. 

I have another item listed and to find it I have to go to the site and find it. Or keep the initial offer link. 

bitcoin

Music Territorys - Feel Good Friday!

IsaacBairdGXI

Live look at Stacker Sports podcast beta test. 

![](https://m.stacker.news/56670)

Human Action

AlvinAguilarW4X

Tagging @kr because he'll be organizing the next one. We have a set of things we already want to try next time, but these suggestions are helpful.

It'd probably be extra helpful to come with roundtable topics along with guests for the topics.

I've been going through Base58's bitcoin dev course and I am enjoying it quite a bit. For me, I think its the combination of the various technologies. The deeper I get into it the more respect I have for Satoshi and the developers that have built bitcoin. It may be old news to those of you that work on bitcoin projects every day but I'm pretty excited about how it all works still.

What is the most interesting thing about bitcoin on a technical level to you?

_A stunning philosophical work that influenced thinkers like Henry Hazlitt, Ron Paul, and even me._

# Introduction
[_The Law_](https://fee.org/resources/the-law/) is a pamphlet written by French economist Frédéric Bastiat in 1850 while he lay on his deathbed. It is a riveting and astoundingly effective defense of liberal ideas. Much of it is devoted to establishing the natural rights which God has given us and attacking the socialist ideas which harm those rights. The work has influenced countless individuals over the years, including Henry Hazlitt, Murray Rothbard, Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, and Milton Friedman. Any person interested in the ideas of liberty, or even governmental theory in general, ought to take the time to read _The Law_.
![Frédéric Bastiat](https://imgprxy.stacker.news/ZRxWnyQTygQJzHXMbNeX9Hs7oYjOpm563iukBTPkgvQ/rs:fit:600:500:0/g:no/aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29tbW9ucy9lL2U2L0Jhc3RpYXQuanBn)

# How I Found Bastiat
I stumbled upon a copy of the book once while thumbing through the small personal library of a dear friend of mine. When I asked them about this small, insignificant book, they told me that it had been a while since they read it, but that it was a work every political philosopher should read at some point. So I asked if I could borrow it and headed home.
![bookshelf](https://imgprxy.stacker.news/R2IpdrPOM2_44O9I70ZX4RYD-zBdmm2eYp5WMRUYEF4/rs:fit:600:500:0/g:no/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWFnZXMudW5zcGxhc2guY29tL3Bob3RvLTE0ODE2Mjc4MzQ4NzYtYjc4MzNlOGY1NTcwP2l4bGliPXJiLTQuMC4zJml4aWQ9TTN3eE1qQTNmREI4TUh4d2FHOTBieTF3WVdkbGZIeDhmR1Z1ZkRCOGZIeDhmQSUzRCUzRCZhdXRvPWZvcm1hdCZmaXQ9Y3JvcCZ3PTE1MjgmcT04MA)
###### [Image by Janko Ferlič](https://unsplash.com/@itfeelslikefilm)

I poured over the book, absolutely devouring the text. Bastiat is famous for his witty humor and understandable language, which certainly helped to keep me hooked. But what really made me hang onto Bastiat's every word was his riveting pace and resolute conviction. This was a man literally writing from his deathbed, and you can tell that he was giving a final message to the world, writing things about freedom which he knew to be true. Consider one quote from the text that remains one of my favorites to this day.
> Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough.

# Why His Arguments Stuck With Me
I had always been a lover of freedom before reading Bastiat, but something about his work stuck with me. _The Law_ is by no means a superficial defense of liberty, nor is it one that feels radical or extreme. He does not advocate for overthrowing the government, does not stoutly affirm that we are being oppressed or any such thing. Instead, his arguments are measured, calm, and powerfully clear. He made his points in a way that felt completely reasonable and distinctly human; in _The Law_, liberty is the only way for humans to live.

Consider how he makes the majority of his arguments. They could be seen as blunt or dismissive of opposition, but really, I feel they are full of clarity. Bastiat knows what he knows, and he wants you to discover those things as well.
> Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.

> Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.

It was like putting on glasses for the first time. Not only did politics seem more understandable, it also became incredibly distinct.
![glasses](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1540162875225-3f6b56d69fe8?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1287&q=80)
###### [Image by Nathan Dumlao](https://unsplash.com/@nate_dumlao)

# Core Arguments of _The Law_
Bastiat makes several key arguments throughout the pamphlet:
1. The law exists to secure natural rights. Any other use of the force of law perverts it and offends our basic dignity of humans.
2. Government and the law often attract those who wish to shape and mold society through what Bastiat terms "legal plunder".
3. Proponents of "legal plunder" and socialism misunderstand both the dignity of humans and the separation of government and society.
4. We must commit ourselves to creating law in which no one plunders anyone else.
There is obviously much more inside of this brief but powerful book, but I will leave you to read and find out.

# Summary
Frédéric Bastiat was an incredible writer and thinker. His works on economics, politics, free trade, taxation, philosophy, and more have had ripple effects across generations. I would highly encourage all of you to take the time to read [_The Law_](https://fee.org/resources/the-law/). It will change your entire outlook on the world of politics, just as it changed mine.
!["The Law" book](https://imgprxy.stacker.news/RTfNL0_OUa3DuoyPKb7pwCmOWpuQ6NERMMh4vhFtUaU/rs:fit:600:500:0/g:no/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWUub3JnL21lZGlhLzM1MTY4L3RoZS1sYXctZnJvbnQucG5nP2FuY2hvcj1jZW50ZXImbW9kZT1jcm9wJndpZHRoPTkwMCZmb3JtYXQ9d2VicCZybmQ9MTMyMDk3NTM0MjkwMDAwMDAw)

A Personal Story: Why You Should Read Frédéric Bastiat's "The Law"

We run IVPN, a privacy-focused VPN service. We are Bitcoiners and motivated to contribute to the development of the ecosystem and adopt/trial new tools as merchants.

Our full time focus is not on Bitcoin however, so we probably miss useful developments - for customers and/or for us as merchants. 

Done so far over the course of several years:
-> Accept Bitcoin with no intermediaries using BTCPay 
-> Donate to BTCPay annually
-> Accept Lightning payments for our base service, running our own node
-> Attend Bitcoin conferences to give out vouchers and gather feedback 
-> Built IVPN Light as an experiment for short-term VPN access with Lightning payments - https://stacker.news/items/259328

What we considered and explored, but have not yet concluded:
-> Start or join a Fedimint federation - multiple issues with this as regulars here probably know, main one we see is companies and well-known actors in the space who could provide the necessary "anti-rug" trust don't want to take the risks for very little/no clear upside 
-> Hourly/daily and recurring subscriptions paid with Lightning - this is still something we would want to see but ran into integration issues and hiccups (no particular fault of external parties, to be clear)


What we are looking at/excited by now?
-> Setting up a bip 353 username would make sense for customer repeat payments, but we don't use any of the wallets currently supporting it
-> BOLT12 improvements and possibilities look great overall, not likely to replace our BTCPay payment flow with a different implementation at this point 

Anything else worth looking into? Even if it's in an experiment stage and needs test merchants.
