[bigjimslade]

Government is not on your side. Remember that, for all countries, for all times, for all peoples. Government protects itself first, at your expense, by helping those who can help it accomplish that said goal. If you can't help it to that end, you're nothing, literally. It truly couldn't care less about you, your liberties, or even your very life. Government can and does completely destroy people's lives, regularly, for having committed no moral offense of any kind, having caused no harm whatsoever to anyone anywhere in any way, but instead for having violated nothing more than a statute granting random behavioral power over you to some overfunded, distant, and uninterested regulatory agency.

This explanation might aid those who're confused about why a community strengthening, environmentally positive, socially worthwhile website like Streetlend would shut down in response to this huge collection of laws that was sold to us as actually helping us.

[civilitty]

> a community strengthening, environmentally positive, socially worthwhile website like Streetlend

If Streetlend were even remotely as you described, they would have easily made enough money to defend itself against the government - all in glorious free market fashion. All hail supply side Jesus! Oh wait, it's tiny operation making a pittance in revenue. Whoopsie!

Thankfully, this is the 21st century and Western society has long ago decided that it'd rather have "the government" destroy individuals with a system of courts to appeal to rather than let anyone do whatever they wanted. Thanks Obama.

[CryptoPunk]

Many large and profitable enterprises struggled as marginally profitable businesses for an extended period of time before finding a formula that worked.

The ability to run a failing business is also valuable in and of itself. Look at the businesses run by the McDonalds brothers before they opened McDonald's restaurant for example, which helped them gain the experience necessary to eventually create a successful business.

>>Thankfully, this is the 21st century and Western society has long ago decided that it'd rather have "the government" destroy individuals with a system of courts to appeal to rather than let anyone do whatever they wanted.

Ah yes the 21st century, where a growing proportion of young adults live at home, have given up on starting a family, and have a shrinking pool of industries in which they can afford to start a business or career, as a result of an increasing number of well-intentioned regulations.

Regulations like GDPR are hopelessly misguided attempts to centrally plan greed and abuse out of society. The complex bureaucratic rules attempt to anticipate every permutation of commercial interaction, and predetermine the correct parameters of action for each permutation.

It's absurdly reductionist and unworkable, and only results in more rent-seeking and less efficiency.