Thank you for expressing a dissenting viewpoint. I appreciate a civilized debate, so allow me to respond. Silk Road has already made an impact on the war on drugs. The effect of the war is to limit people's access to controlled substances. Silk Road has expanded people's access. The great thing about agorism is that it is a victory from a thousand battles. Every single transaction that takes place outside the nexus of state control is a victory for those individuals taking part in the transaction. So there are thousands of victories here each week and each one makes a difference, strengthens the agora, and weakens the state. The state may try to ban our tools, but if we never use them for fear of them being banned, then we have already lost, no? Personally, I don't think they can be effectively banned at this point. Iran and China, for example, are actively trying and failing. On your last point, we agree, though I'd like to add some clarification. Money is one motivating factor for me. If it wasn't I wouldn't impose a commission on trades, or require vendors to use the Silk Road payment processor. Money motivates me for two reasons. For one, I have basic human needs that money allows me to meet so that I may devote my time to our cause. I also enjoy a few first-world pleasures that I feel I have earned, but nothing extravagant. In fact, compared to most I know, I still live quite frugally. I buy better food at the grocery store now, and got some new clothes, and am more generous with my friends and loved ones, but I've always been a cheap ass, and still kinda am out of habit. Besides that, I don't want the attention that buying big toys brings for security reasons. More importantly, money is powerful, and it's going to take power to affect the kinds of changes I want to see. Money allows us to expand our infrastructure and manpower to accommodate the growing demands of our market and to pursue paths that will compliment and strengthen what's already been created here. All that being said, my primary motivation is not personal wealth, but making a difference. As corny as it sounds, I just want to look back on my life and know that I did something worthwhile that helped people. It's fulfilling to me. If you don't know this joy, you may hear my words as insincere and as a way to manipulate, but I know they are true and resonate with some of you. There is nothing wrong with living your life to maximize your own pleasure, so long as you aren't hurting anyone in the process, but you will miss out on higher levels of happiness if your focus is always on yourself. It's paradoxical, but the less you focus on your own happiness and focus on other's, the happier you'll be. Try it out, you can always go back to being selfish