[Dalewyn]

>The point of sanctions is as a disincentive against bad behavior at a national level.

There is an argument to be made that sanctions don't work. Maybe they used to in the long distant past, but they don't now.

Russia doesn't give even half a fuck, Iran gives negative fucks, North Korea gives no fucks, and China is turning the sanctions back against us, to name some prominent examples.

I appreciate the west's desire to settle diplomatic problems using something other than war, but sanctions aren't the solution (anymore?).

[janalsncm]

To the extent that they don’t work, a lot of that is because of bitcoin. North Korea steals enough bitcoin to cover half of their military budget.

Given that this thread concerns whether the legitimate use cases of Bitcoin outweigh the illegitimate ones, I think this is an argument strongly against the position.

[aardvarkr]

You claimed this based on vibes without citing any sources. Do you really think North Korea is thriving right now? How about Iran’s booming economy? The mighty Russian bear is so crippled by sanctions that China effectively owns them, with Russia entirely dependent on them to for everything besides oil.

Every day that these sanctions against Iran, North Korea, and Russia are in place those countries fall further and further behind. Every day their economies become less and less competitive

[Dalewyn]

You say that, but Iran keeps on war merchanting, North Korea keeps on lobbing missiles, Russia keeps on warmongering, and China keeps on owning the world.

Sanctions as they are right now don't work, and that is a problem.