[ETH_start]

>>but let's entirely ignore all that, and just daydream about the valiant freedom fighters it will save from oppressive government /s

The threat from governments and other entities that obtain a monopoly on violence is one that is not naturally self limiting. There is no right governments cannot deprive people of, making most of the methods people use to defend themselves from a threat (e.g. being discriminating when choosing who to associate with, hiring private security, etc) ineffective when dealing with threats posed by governments. Therefore, I think mitigating the dangers posed by the state should be the highest priority.

One way we know that achieves this is eliminating, via disintermediation of centralized platforms, the bottlenecks that magnify the power of the state, and reduce the political cost for those who control the state to enforce mass-surveillance or censorship edicts.