Ideally: Laws should apply to all people and all companies. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. Don’t defraud. Don’t evade taxes.
In practice: Most laws apply to one type or class or religion or political party, or one of two competing companies.
The traditional method is sneaky. When you see weird-looking exemptions and requirements in a law, you can be sure those provisions were exquisitely crafted to prefer one of several competing brands, or to leave a loophole for the richest. “All gorples with a diameter less than 3.75 inches and weighing less than 6 pounds are banned.” If you know something about gorples, this tells you MiniGorples Inc didn’t pay its bribe on time. If you’re not a gorple expert, you believe the officially stated reason for the precise requirement.
Now we’re seeing more open and straightforward bribery. The Pope wrote a carefully bounded encyclical against AI, with certain exemptions; then he showed his hand by brazenly appearing as a brand endorser for Anthropic. Nine out of ten leading Popes smoke Anthropic!
Kalshi vs Polymarket is mostly (not entirely) divided by party. In general Polymarket is D, Kalshi is R. The demon “state” of Washington has openly endorsed Polymarket, the arson bookie.
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Washington residents will soon be restricted from placing wagers on sports, politics and entertainment on Kalshi, an internet gambling site, after a King County judge found the company likely operated in violation of the Washington Gambling Act and the Consumer Protection Act.
The order, signed by Superior Court Judge John F. McHale on Wednesday, prohibits the company from “marketing, advertising, promoting, conducting, operating, facilitating, distributing, offering, or accepting event contracts, or other contracts, instruments” wagers on sports, elections, politics, culture or technology and science. The order does not apply to wagers on commodities, climate, economics or finance.
McHale’s order follows a lawsuit by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, who alleged that the company operates in “direct violation” of state laws that prohibit gambling, except for sports wagers placed on tribal lands.
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In other words, Polymarket pays better bribes on “sports, elections, politics, culture or technology and science”, and the judges and legislators use both companies for betting on “commodities, climate, economics and finance.” Arson bets, of course, are “climate” bets because everyone knows that carbon dioxide starts fires.
Polistra's Mill 