So I use a client that has been patched to send coins to another address in my wallet periodically. There is no way anyone but me can know all the addresses in my possession, they are anonymous.

The way I see it, yes deflationary currency's have failed in the past, but it was a different, slower world. Bitcoin is a great experiment in how such a system would work in a Global Market, with a huge diversity of participants trading in real time.

Yes, there is a chance that the lessons of the past may hold true, but the opportunity to help give Bitcoin a chance to succeed is way too good to pass up. (And we're having some laughs along the way.)