-- Declan McCullagh:
But then you have the next wave of attacks by the U.S. regulatory apparatus (again, assuming sufficient determination). The U.S. could pressure the Panama government to close Pecunix or apply direct or indirect sanctions and incentives. The U.S. could make it more difficult for U.S. residents to transfer money into a Pecunix account, perhaps through direct criminal sanctions or regulatory discouragement. The U.S. could mount a propaganda campaign against trusting Pecunix and similar operators, and so on.
Yes, but all this is more complicated, more difficult to do, and easier to evade, than sending in goons to a certain shop to beat the owner insensible and seize his inventory. A ruler who is competent and violent can accomplish all sorts of things. As Napoleon said, you can do anything with bayonets except sit on them, but in fact you cannot do anything with bayonets. It is hard to do complicated things. Leviathan is necessarily far less intelligent than the individuals that compose it. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG l4fPcdUpIZed1a9UOLVkoXAVUyNfIpAwdU1iD1c/ 43VuVeZv4rjEnepkdOsSb+yERponsE9yYH6rr1Dls