Thanks! Your assessment was correct, I now believe. The interview is fascinating - I can follow his reasoning as he leads himself into a terrible place. It helps me step back and revisit what I want from BTC.

Bottom line (for me) - a robust P2P currency (with all its warts) is much more important than an interface with fiat (with all its warts).

I said it a long way up-thread, but now more than ever my preference is to keep BTC unregulated. If that must mean no interface at all with fiat, then I hope BTC takes that route despite the downside. That said - regardless of which path BTC takes, some people will stay with it and some people will leave and some altcoin will fill any vacuum created. The universe is probably unfolding as it should - P2P for me though, and government makes three.