Multiple good hypotheses here. I’d like to add my own. The governments can be viewed as a modern iterations of religious cults, and there is no bigger taboo in a religious organization than questioning the basic dogma.

Try to question democracy in a democratic republic and you immediately get the weird looks, and irrational dismissal. 9 times out of 10 this self preservation instinct is good and beneficial to everyone involved, because giving a benefit of doubt to closeted authoritarians would be a mistake. That one time somebody really wants to have an honest discussion, it simply sucks.

The opposite. I’m afraid I will waste my life procrastinating, not even being aware of what it has to offer.

It’s a vendor specific thing, so if that bothers you, just look up the pairing procedure for each device before buying.

As far as I remember, the philips bulbs can be reset by holding on and off buttons on the remote. This functinality has a limited range, but a sophisticated attacker could probably just bring a better antenna.

In practice, the compatibility issues will probably keep you busy enough not to think about the theoretical attacks.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to discourage you. Practically all the lights in my house, and some other stuff like blinds and aquarium equipment, are running on zigbee. When you finally tune it just right, it’s pretty great.

Zigbee devices that can be remotely reset back into pairing mode.

Meanwhile, the vendors are introducing security vulnerabilities marketed as features, even in protocols that would be reasonably secure otherwise…

We’d be better off going back to barter than trying to peacefully pry the system from their clutches.

Normal people would just start selling the beige shirts…

No need to do even that. If a simple piece of software becomes a company, it’s 99% a scam.

The goal of the hostile country is to cause chaos and conflict. It does not care if an insider or outsider does it.

The only way to win is not to play.

Everyone living together on a shared plot and exchanging goods & services instead of money.

Can’t imagine looking for an alcoholic shoemaker willing to exchange a pair of shoes for 10 liters of vodka.

Meanwhile down on earth, you’ve just caused an entirely new class of derrivatives traded on sketchy and unregulated markets, increasing the risk of fraud to all, including small individual investors.

Wealth is finite

The size of the observable universe is ~93 billion light-years. So, you’re technically right, but…

Tough question. I don’t think the descendants of european, asian and african settlers are going back home any time soon.

Communists and fascist are the conservatives on my side of the planet though. They both appeal on “the good old times, when the world was right”. Both equally glorify physical labor and fight against the intellectualism.

It’s the bullshit of hard work will result in success and money.

That’s funny, because it’s not the liberal leaning folks who glorify the hard labor.

Yes, reporting on a success of an individual is practically the same thing as openning the gas valve… Jesus F. Christ !

3d printer is subtracted from revenue for tax purposes

That makes sense. Since my profits always oscillated around zero, claiming any expenses had no practical effect.

legitimately running a business, or just trying to save money on their hobby

That’s actually how it started. We’ve installed linux on some old desktop machine with my classmate back in school, set up some services like webhosting, mail, jabber, and started to give access to people for free. No guarantees, no pressure. As we finished school, trying to turn it into a business was a logical next step. It never went big, but we just kept the thing around, bought newer hardware, moved it to a proper housing, did basic maintenance, and years later, here I am owing to the government thanks to my highschool hobby.

Well, I fell into a bracket that’s taxed (it’s not officially called a tax, but that’s what it is) by a certain fixed minimal amount. Thanks to my total revenue being relatively low, it makes an absurd amount percentage-wise.

IRS will audit you, and could deem you a hobby

Are there any negative consequences? I’d prefer to be downgraded to a hobbyist. Instead, the government has increased my taxes to around 70% of my yearly revenue. Social democracy, fuck yeah!

When some internet stranger manage to enrage me more than usual, I sign up for a porn site with their email address.

Who did you piss off lately? :)

I HATE to put on a tinfoil hat, but this is the best thing that could have happened to the ruling party. They are already in the middle of dismantling the media and justice. This will accelerate the process.

Well, considering they have unofficial blessing from the police, it can bring not only more competition to the market, but competition consisting of people who are more aware of the consequences of their actions. Both will make the product better and cleaner.

The criminalization (and proper enforcement) of certain services ensures that only people with high risk tolerance, or ones who can’t properly realize the consequences of their actions will provide them. In other words, if the only people in drug business are the ones who don’t give a shit, they won’t give a shit about their customers. Even if it means killing them faster.