[thejazzman]

so to be clear, you think world governments should be YOLOing it?

and you justify this because a platform for serving targeted ads has popularized the idea?

and you don't see a difference between a social network and our countries payment systems?

i'm just kind of shocked and disappointed by this, as i'm sure you're not the only one who perceives the world this way..

[michaeljx]

I am saying that a government,and any other system, operating in an environment of abundance without external pressures to improve, ends up accumulating year's of cruft, inneficiencies, unproductive bureaucracies and 4-eye principles everywhere .

Sometimes a system needs a good shock to improve. And at the end of the day, what is the absolute worst that can happen? Cause the upside of this working is definitely worth the risk in my eyes.

[nickthegreek]

> the upside of this working is definitely worth any risk in my eyes.

then your eyes aren't open. a moment of thought would easily produce outcomes that dont match the risk.

[sundaeofshock]

> what is the absolute worst that can happen?

Bond payments to major bond holders are not sent out. At that point, the US can no longer be trusted and the dollar stops being the de facto world currency.

Is that bad enough for you?

[cozzyd]

If you approve of this, perhaps Marko Elez can find some efficiencies within the payroll system of your employer?

[patchymcnoodles]

What is the absolute worst that can happen? People not getting their money is nothing bad for you?

[quickthrowman]

Respectfully, the fact that you can’t think of any consequences that exceed the risk means that you don’t understand what is at stake.

One single missed interest payment to Treasury bond holders would be a default, something that has never happened to the US before. Our credit rating would be downgraded, investors all over the world would liquidate their US Treasury bonds, and our borrowing costs would skyrocket, both for government and commercial/consumer loans.

This instantly causes a recession, far worse than what we saw in 2008. A US Treasury default would have catastrophic consequences.

This is one of many catastrophic scenarios possible when messing with a government payment system that handles trillions of dollars in payments.

Any money saved by cancelling payments is going to be used to give people wealthier than you or I a tax cut. Is that really worth the risk?

[philk10]

millions die, wars and famine? why isn't DOGE in the DoD accounting their systems?