skells @skells@qoto.org

50% of shitposts are made by 13% of fedi.

"Though much is taken, much abides; and though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are -- our equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield." -- Ulysses

#Quote #Quotes

So this morning finally took "Serious Cryptography" by Aumasson off my bookshelf and read it for 20 minutes. I bought it because .. I just like having books like this, but specifically it had a lot of positive comments from people, and is clearly aimed at practicality rather than dense theory.

First impression: this is *very* good - discursive, explanation by example, good advice, up to date (that's rare), and actually interesting. I will be reading a lot more of this.

#cryptography

But even if we grant them that most charitable interpretation that the dog really did eat their homework. It's still their dog, which they created, when they lobbied for the gutting of the Glass-Steagall legislation in the late 1990s.

Some will argue that 2008 was an Unforeseeable Chain Reaction which Caught Everyone Off Guard.

I think this position is manifestly indefensible, and history will regard it as an arrogant and uninspired excuse.

Some accuse bankers of maintaining elite assassination squads to dispatch of politicians who dare to challenge them.

This is at best idle conjecture and at worst veiled racism, but one need not believe any of it to find private banking an unconscionable centralization of power.

Whether or not one man should enjoy so much power as a Long or a Jackson is a fair point of debate.

But a power far less discussed is the power to decide who is, and is not, worthy of credit. Who will be the great captain of industry and who will be the struggling businessman.

Both had their fights with Wall Street banks, with Jackson famously ending the charter of the Second Bank of the United States and ushering in a period of the US government not issuing any form of centralized paper currency - which lasted until the Civil War in 1863.

Though Long's program was diametrically opposed to that of Andrew Jackson, there are yet significant similarities between the two.

Both were highly popular, and have been called demagogues. Both fought for expanded suffrage and against monied aristocracy and monopolies.