The government just labeled anyone who supports competing currencies a special kind of domestic terrorist. Maybe its time to stop defending them and get on board with the Libertarians 
Ditto...yup: http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2011/03/22/starting-a-new-currency-is-%E2%80%9Cdomestic-terrorism%E2%80%9D/ has a quote from the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted Bernard von NotHaus for coining a competing gold dollar currency:
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It is a violation of federal law
to create private coin or currency systems to compete with the official coinage and currency of the United States. Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism. While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious and represent a clear and present danger to the economic stability of this country."
I think it's time for you, eMansipater, to reluctantly accept the fact that your efforts to promote bitcoin make you into a domestic terrorist, as far as the US Government is concerned, whether you like it or not. Admittedly, it took me a while to embrace the fact that I'm an "enemy of the state".
Not everyone thinks the government here is evil. I genuinely believe there's many individuals who believe they can do/are doing good for people. However the entire system has evolved into a corrupted organism. It's not an evil conspiracy but a 'stand alone complex'.
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Stand Alone Complex eventually came to represent a phenomenon where unrelated, yet very similar actions of individuals create a seemingly concerted effort.
Thanks for introducing me to concept Stand Alone Complex. Yes, there is no conspiracy, but rather The State is an ecosystem/organism that, through natural processes of the self-interested individuals making it up, evolves it into a parasite living off of its subjects.
Bitcoin should be above politics.
Exactly. BTW, please stop implying that anarchism is a political ideology. Anarchism is a lack of political beliefs, just like Atheism is a lack of religious beliefs.
I was speaking specifically to anarchists who fault the state on its use of force.
I think you are conflating anarchism with pacifism. Anarchists of the market-anarchist variety are not necessarily pacifists, but rather simply believe that voluntarily-funded competing providers of law, security, and any other good are preferable to a coercive monopoly.
Nice try.
But let's wait and see what happens when BitCoin takes off. Do you really think government will welcome it with open arms?
But let's wait and see what happens when BitCoin takes off. Do you really think government will welcome it with open arms?
Depends on the rhetoric swirling around in the bitcoin community at the time. It's possible that we could sell governments on the idea if we undertook to do so. Though bitcoins are a cash analogue, they are ultimately more trackable due to the existence of the blockchain. If a government were to get ahold of a mapping of addresses to identities, calculating tax owed by an individual from bitcoin activity would be as simple as mining the blockchain for data. If a country moved to using bitcoins exclusively as legal tender, they could feasibly replace most of their tax departments with a computer program.
Wait a minute...can't people simply use a new address for every transaction? But yeah, anyway, I sometimes wonder how long it will take for some government somewhere to reluctantly start accepting bitcoin as legitimate payment of taxes... Just like how some 3rd world countries have ended up pegging their currency to the dollar or simply just declared the US dollar as their main currency.
Yeah, yeah, we've all heard this "go along to get along" BS all our life, it's not like it is anything new.
The next thing you know you'll be advocating for a new gubmint agency to have oversight powers of the bitcoin OSS development standards, wouldn't that just be boon for all you mainstreamists, it would be the ultimate stamp of approval for those that need "official" affirmation before taking a pee ... then what?, back to square one, vested interests co-opting the agency that has the reins of power, you could make your bitcoin agency a branch of fed. res., is that 'official' enough for ya?
At some point you've got to show some spine and say which side you are on. If you go along to get along you are putting your stamp of approval on everything the State does in your name, the blood is on your hands. The crimes are too great and obvious now, you can no longer just pay your taxes and close your eyes, their sins are your sins once you have knowledge and acquiesce. Politics and money are intertwined, no third way sorry ... free money or socialist crimes against humanity?
The next thing you know you'll be advocating for a new gubmint agency to have oversight powers of the bitcoin OSS development standards, wouldn't that just be boon for all you mainstreamists, it would be the ultimate stamp of approval for those that need "official" affirmation before taking a pee ... then what?, back to square one, vested interests co-opting the agency that has the reins of power, you could make your bitcoin agency a branch of fed. res., is that 'official' enough for ya?
At some point you've got to show some spine and say which side you are on. If you go along to get along you are putting your stamp of approval on everything the State does in your name, the blood is on your hands. The crimes are too great and obvious now, you can no longer just pay your taxes and close your eyes, their sins are your sins once you have knowledge and acquiesce. Politics and money are intertwined, no third way sorry ... free money or socialist crimes against humanity?
+1. I'm tired of all this "go along to get along" harmonious BS too. I wasted so much time in Libertarian Party and Ron Paul politics where they would always tell me to shut up whenever I tried to point out the gun in the room.
Anyway, another great thing about bitcoin is that it introduces a lot of statists (def: staism is the advocacy of the state to solve social problems) like eMansipater who are intrigued by the secure, distributed, p2p nature of bitcoin to the wonderful world of secure, distributed, p2p law/security of market-anarchism, even though they really didn't want to be!