Assuming you mean transaction fees on the Bitcoin and Ethereum (or similar) networks:
Transaction fees are an important economic inventive for persons or organizations who run the “nodes” that make up the network. The hardware, electricity, and maintenance by humans needed to run those nodes cost money, and running them is not an altruistic endeavor. One of the goals is to make a profit; staking/mining rewards and transaction fees make that possible.
Aren't transaction fees economic incentives for persons or organizations who run banks that make up the "nodes" of our current network? So everyone is now a bank? Or rather, anyone can choose to run a bank? But then as time passes some banks will get big, and it becomes impractical for anyone else to choose to run a bank, but now the New Big Banks are not accountable to any government as they (technically) are today...
I'm skeptical because I read this and it sounds like using technology to create a system with even less accountability and whose outcomes, however horrific, will be justified by "That's just how the system works; I don't know what to tell you."
Yes, it allows anyone in the world with the means and know-how to become part of the “banking infrastructure”, i.e. to run one/more nodes that make up the network. This is the most fundamental and important aspect of the technology.
Ethereum (or Bitcoin) is not controlled or regulated by a single entity or group of entities with exclusive membership.
The software behind it is open source and anyone with the know-how can contribute to its improvement.
Anyone with the means and know-how can be part of the network, i.e. operate one/more nodes on the network. With e.g. Ethereum 2.0 (ETH2) the bar is much lower in terms of hardware and electricity costs. For example, I’m running an ETH2 node at home on an Intel NUC (Core i3) with the BIOS set to “low power mode”; its power draw is hovering around 10 Watts, and it would be around 4 Watts if I wasn’t also running a non-mining ETH1 node on the same box (presently necessary as the ETH2 network transitions away from being an ETH1+ETH2 hybrid).
Pretty much anyone with a computer can setup a wallet and near instantly send/receive funds to anyone else in the world who also has a wallet. There is no red tape and no regulation/interference (in the tech itself, that is; your local government may have some laws).
There is the difficulty of acquiring cryptocurrency with USD, CNY, etc. But in most places it’s not that difficult to setup an account with an exchange; or you can arrange for a direct transfer if you know someone who is willing to swap crypto for cash (just be aware of local laws).
1. Middle-people are a technical requirement. That's the point.
2. What happens if I send BTC without paying the middle-people a fee?
If the recipient doesn't typically receive it in seconds (and there's a public log of every sent and received 'message') let's stop making stuff up like bitcoin makes sending money like sending an email.
* you can mine your own transaction if you have the ability
* you can use a layer 2 state channel network like lightening (bitcoin/litecoin) or raiden (ethereum) to exchange value without a miner.
* if you are worried about fees, there are networks like EOS which don't have have them.
* there is at least 1 ethereum wallet that will pay your fees for you.
* if you use monero, the miner can't distinguish your transaction from anyone else's, so there's little to worry about with regard to selective censorship.
* if a bitcoin/ethereum miner does censor you, it doesn't mean your transaction doesn't get processed because there are other miners.
Transaction fees are an important economic inventive for persons or organizations who run the “nodes” that make up the network. The hardware, electricity, and maintenance by humans needed to run those nodes cost money, and running them is not an altruistic endeavor. One of the goals is to make a profit; staking/mining rewards and transaction fees make that possible.