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Ethereum Classic Blog

What Does Security Mean in Ethereum Classic?

Donald McIntyre
Philosophy

You can listen to or watch this video here:


The first problem with the concept of security is that it is the absence of something. This makes it difficult for the great majority of people to feel or reason about, especially those living in advanced nations.

If we want a detailed explanation of security, we could say that it is "the absence of hazards which increase the risk of perils that could cause loss". This may be simplified to the phrase "the absence of danger".

The second problem with the concept of security is that for many things; especially matters of money, wealth, information, and contracts; the key to achieving it is to actually eliminate human agency. The great majority of people believe that the more "good people" are in charge the more secure things are. We are conditioned to think that people create security when in reality people are the most common source of insecurity.

The third problem with the concept of security is that it is viewed differently in different cultures and regions. As mentioned above, the lack of true danger in advanced societies means that the great majority of individuals and organizations using blockchains do so for superficial purposes which normally range between trading and making money to the excitement of technological innovation.

The above leads people to do stupid things such as creating more and more proof of stake and proof of authority blockchains that are worth hundreds of billions of dollars but are useless in terms of the true promise of the blockchain: the absence of danger.

Only a fraction of users in the world are using blockchains and Ethereum Classic for their true value of security.

However, everything will change because the world will be a dark place very soon.

The forces of centralism are strong and will get stronger in an accelerating technologically driven world:

  • Censorship is already spreading and will become rampant. Even our thoughts will be produced and controlled by the state, if not by a global government.
  • Social credit scores and id's will eliminate our privacy and render us naked in front of the global empire.
  • Control of behavior through biased AI agents will be more prevalent than individual sovereignty and representative governance. Indeed, the guise of representation will continue to exist, but for what use if our vote will be decided by the central controller?
  • Disinformation will be only produced by official sources (supposed conspiracy theories and subversive information sources will become the new truth).
  • In essence, there will be straight central manipulation of entire societies.
  • The name of the game will be the stripping of wealth through direct means such as taxes and indirect means such as inflation (i.e. Modern Monetary Theory).

Then, the current traders and investment opportunists will see that they are truly naked and will change their focus to security. And, those playing with their little proof of stake and proof of authority toys of innovation, in their pompous university labs, will fail miserably and re-focus their projects to the presently abstract concept of security.

Because security will not be abstract anymore, it will be very tangible and real.

ETC is a refuge.
ETC is a refuge.

So, the meaning of security in Ethereum Classic will be this: It will be a refuge for those escaping centralization on a global scale, arbitrary confiscation, persecution, and tyranny.

ETC will be a real life instrument of Life, Liberty, and Property. Not just a written text on an old piece of parchment with fancy signatures.

This is when Ethereum Classic will shine as a shield for the world; a shield against the beast of globalization. Suddenly, everybody will want to escape the overlord.

ETC is a haven of basic rights. Basic rights are represented in it by means of a fully replicated ledger with accounts, balances, assets, programs, and smart contracts which crosses all borders and reaches everyone in the world regardless of their country, culture, ideology, beliefs, gender, race, or any other human condition.

People who believe in human agency think of finality and immutability as the result of human decision-making. For example, in proof of stake systems, they believe that a two-thirds vote by the block validators produces finality as if people were the guarantors of last resort. This makes proof of stake only suitable to protect people's wealth and applications from what may be called unauthorized theft.

However, when it comes to authorized theft, the arbitrary over-taxation, confiscation, censorship, limitation, or elimination of people's Life, Liberty, and Property by tyrannical law, then proof of stake advocates are either absolutely compliant or totally in favor of such situations.

Ethereum Classic security is true because it is a sanctuary against any kind of theft.


Thank you for reading this article!

To learn more about ETC please go to: https://ethereumclassic.org

This page exists thanks in part to the following contributors:


DonaldMcIntyre
DonaldMcIntyre
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