Just because the USD was once pegged to gold or silver does not make it any less fiat; then or now. The value of the peg is defined by... ...fiat.

I think the US Constitution purports to apply to federal actors. It seems to be worded in a way to put limits on their behavior.

As Lysander Spooner wrote:

But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.

Personally, I think its purpose is to dupe people into believing that the racket that calls itself the United States of America is somehow a legitimate form of thuggery.

Not everything boils down to rational economics. People do lots of things voluntarily, without expectation of immediate financial gain.

The other issue with infrastructure type software (viz. OpenSSL) is that once created, they only occasionally require modification. It isn't a full time job. It'd be better managed by some interested custodians in their spare time (or rather; in time they choose to allocate to the pursuit); than for the software to be owned and managed by some organisation which assigns square pegs to round holes in order to get some half-arsed patches written and out "on time and within budget".

+1
All my ATO (~IRS) forms are signed under duress.

Somebody needs to explain why anyone would sign a "severance agreement". If you're going to fire me, then fire me. If you want my ongoing loyalty, then respect me and pay me (which really means continue to employ me).

If you force me to sign a "severance agreement", then you've not actually got any contractual agreement, since it was signed under duress. Of course, there's always the point about consideration. I might be interested in waiving the duress; for a price.

Do the communities who benefit from the secondary-use life of these batteries have the infrastructure and culture to properly recycle the materials; or will they end up in landfill/discarded into the environment?

You're thinking "enough" in the context of current fossil fuel consumption, not in terms of renewable energy load balancing, which could be a much smaller slice of the pie.

Not necessarily. In times gone by, town gas was produced to meet fluctuating demands (using coal) by storing in gasometers. Nothing to say this couldn't be also done with biomass gasification.

Is there enough material out there for a 3D JLaw reconstruction?

People always overlook the need for a thermodynamic sink...

I think we would be better off going 100% silver bullets. That would instantly fix everything.

This is bullshit. Each state racket has their own scheme of licensing, it isn't unified across the continent. As for most taxi drivers owning their own business; you'll more likely find that the licenses are owned by (and traded amongst) a class of wealthy investors who wouldn't see fit to sit their arses in the driver's seat of a cab.

The drivers are likely to be impoverished newly minted immigrants who get paid a pittance and, typically lacking in local language fluency, get fleeced when legal things go awry.

I think you'll find that most people don't consult "the law" as a benchmark for determining their behavior. Saying that "the law" is what makes "society function" is a classic example of the correlation equals causation logical fallacy. Just because a law prescribes or proscribes a particular behavior, doesn't mean it is the motivating force for undertaking or abstaining from such behavior.

Only when the farmer finishes collecting all the straws in his field.

They expect us to make the trade, but provide no guarantees that they will perform on their half of the bargain.

See Sousa v City of Antioch for a pertinent example of them denying their obligations.

Citizenship is supposed to involve reciprocal duties of allegiance and protection. Protection is not guaranteed, but you betcha they'll guarantee to get their pound of allegiance.