Quote from: NewLibertyStandard on July 18, 2010, 06:18:53 AM

People often think other people are not intelligent because the other people are not well versed in the specialty of the first people. People are quite capable of being well versed in what they need to be versed in. ...If bitcoin were to become the predominate currency, people would understand it just fine.

I agree with the first portion of your statement, and disagree with the last. I'm not saying that people are too stupid to understand bitcoins. I'm saying that many, many very intelligent people today don't understand monetary creation policy because they don't find it worth their time to study. If they don't find it worth their time in dollars today, they won't find it worth their time in bitcoins tomorrow, and thus will accept credit. Per my last post, however, even if they do understand and won't accept credit, they can be legally forced to do so.

Quote from: Bitcoiner on July 18, 2010, 04:40:01 AM

...Would you have opened a checking account when you were 14, 16 or 18 if you could move around authentic dollars as easily as bitcoins? If you were a professional accountant at a business, wouldn't you prefer for the business to be paid in authentic hard cash rather than a soft bank balance if it could be done securely, easily and for free?

With all of your comment up to where I cut, I agree. However, no, I wouldn't have opened a checking account at 18 if I could have moved the money as easily. However, I opened a savings account at 6 or 7, and not to move money, but because the bank promised me free money in interest if I let my cash sit in their vault (or so I understood at the time). Free money is very tempting, and thus, people would continue to use banks. As for the accountant, yes I would prefer my balances be paid in real BTC-cash. I run a computer programming business today, and I'd prefer that everyone paid me in gold chips. However, legal tender laws don't give me a choice, nor would they give a choice to the accountant in the BTC scenario.

Quote from: Bitcoiner on July 18, 2010, 04:40:01 AM

And as for all this talk about banks lying or otherwise deceiving people, sure they might not understand the intricacies of fractional reserve banking, but if you ask random Joe on the street how the bank can afford to pay interest on savings accounts, they'll be able to explain that the bank makes their money by loaning out borrowed money at a higher interest rate than they pay out to the people who deposit their money at the bank. This simple 5th grade explanation shows that people do understand that the bank doesn't keep 100% of their deposits on hand at all times.

I agree. What people don't understand is that a mortgage for one million dollars is created by typing in "1,000,000" and by nothing else. They think the bank is taking deposited money, loaning some of it out, making money, and paying interest. In reality, the bank is *inventing fake money,* loaning *that* out, and making money. Only a tiny, tiny actual deposit s needed (if any - I'm not sure of the current status of the law).