That's a very interesting proposal. Just as the miners have an incentive to protect the integrity of the blockchain, they also have an incentive to bolster public confidence, and a "community bailout" via 51% consensus could do that.
On the other hand, it would uncomfortably remind people of the power that belongs to the miners (and particularly, the mining pools). It would open up the possibility of attepting to build political coalitions and proactively voting on blockchain policies (which might be inevitable anyway). It would also create a deep moral hazard, incentivizing future risky behavior from big actor, who then seek "bailouts", just like the conventional banking system that crypto-anarchs are trying so badly to differentiate from.
I wouldn't expect the community to do such a thing, but at the end of the day, the miners decide.
I'd argue it's not the miners with the power - it's the people selling goods. A seller has to decide whether to accept a payment, and the seller's choice of blockchain (for verification) is what matters - even if only a few miners mine that chain.
Even if 99% of miners are on one of the chains, if sellers does not accept payment through that chain then bitcoin on it are worthless.
I agree public sentiment is valuable. I've said for some time that marketing in the new economy will be everything. Funnels are collapsing - losing their sales layer.
However, I'd argue it's the electric power going into the system that is mostly driving this. Compute must become more efficient, otherwise it dies.
On the other hand, it would uncomfortably remind people of the power that belongs to the miners (and particularly, the mining pools). It would open up the possibility of attepting to build political coalitions and proactively voting on blockchain policies (which might be inevitable anyway). It would also create a deep moral hazard, incentivizing future risky behavior from big actor, who then seek "bailouts", just like the conventional banking system that crypto-anarchs are trying so badly to differentiate from.
I wouldn't expect the community to do such a thing, but at the end of the day, the miners decide.