Quote from: BlackHatCoiner on Today at 06:36:07 AM

There are some ways it benefits the network, but 'til there. You aren't voting for anything if you run your own node.

I never said anyone was voting by running a node. I was offering an analogy.

At least here in the U.S. there are a lot of people that are apathetic about making an effort to go to the polls and vote in elections. One of the more frequent excuses is that their vote doesn't matter (since it's just one out of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of votes, depending on the election). However, if everyone were to have that attitude, then nobody would vote, and then a single vote would suddenly have a LOT of power. The only way democracy works is if people participate. You limit the power of any single individual by participating along with the multitudes so that, not only your vote but, EVERY vote is limited in power.

The post I was responding to was suggesting that there was no benefit to running a node since there were already other nodes on the network to provide a copy of the blockchain. In otherwords, he was coming off as a bit apathetic about making an effort to participate in the network. I simply pointed out the parallels of that attitude to the common attitude of citizens that don't bother participating in elections. Then I pointed out the parallels of the repercussions, in that if EVERYONE had that attitude, then there wouldn't be a network. If there were only a few nodes, then those nodes suddenly have a LOT of power.

There is a certain level of personal responsibility and duty that come with choosing to participate in any system that can only exist through the voluntary efforts of the members of that system. To choose to do NOTHING to support such a system you choose to use is quite selfish, self-centered, greedy, and anti-social.