You lose freedom by giving up a little here, a little there.
AND
I think that's what Bitcoin was meant for, I don't buy into that "freedom" stuff. People have been working on it in the last years just like lab rats trapped into a cage made of ideals.
There is a middle road..... which is to take the best of the current system, and yet improve on it by "fixing" the supply, and minimalizing fees. You accomplish that by making Bitcoin the actual fiat Currency.
And lets get that perfectly clear - IF Bitcoin or ANY other Coin becomes THE INTERNATIONAL CURRENCY then it will by default be THE FIAT COIN.
Here's why.....
A) Taxes are a necessary part of running an orderly world. The powers that be WILL protect their ability to tax (and they should). Subsequently they will implement Rules, Regulations and Laws regarding the Currency. That is a basic principle that is as old as civilization. That will not be changed in a global civilized society.
B) We live in a world of terrorists and criminals; good and evil. Technology is increasingly a tool of evil, and good will increasingly also use technology in its war against evil. Unfortunately the line between good and evil when you are dealing with Governments, Corporations, Financial Institutions is becoming increasing blurred.
(OK... sometimes they are just plain evil) REGARDLESS, technology is currently the new world battleground. To think that all the established powers of the world will not use every single power at their disposal to achieve their goals "to protect the people" is to assume a childlike idealistic naivety.
What we had pre-bitcoin....
Is a world that most currency based transactions were traceable at some level if they really wanted to. But the little guy trying to earn a living and doing "Cash Jobs" and keeping things off the books is mostly ignored. Having CASH in your hand was still basically anonymous. But moving HUGE amounts of Cash, and laundering it - really only is something that
"criminal or terrorist or extremely greedy people" did. And THAT is STILL the concern of governments. And it is a valid one.
Currently Bitcoin can be used both anonymously as "Cash" - but even more importantly it can move HUGE amounts of money anonymously and quickly by the same
"criminal or terrorist or extremely greedy people" crowd.
WHAT IS NEEDED is for those
"People have been working on it in the last years just like lab rats trapped into a cage made of ideals" to wake up and make some moral decisions / choices....
Because it is clear that there is too much emphasis being put on protecting the privacy of larger criminal/evil element concerns. Evil sucks - and I am not sympathetic to helping its cause. But emphasis does need to be placed on making sure that there is some degree of anonymity / "freedom" of average citizens to be protected in basic transactions / small off book jobs etc.
In other words - focus on keeping the flow of bitcoin from a privacy standpoint similar to that of using current fiat cash systems. Run it through a bank / exchange and it is traceable and taxable and more accountable. Hold it in cash in your own wallet (i.e. bitcoin wallet) and you can move it around more easily - and make these smaller transactions more difficult/costly to track. That is basically the current system.
But the REAL FOCUS needs to be on improving the system.... lower transaction fees that are fair across the board. Limitations on currency manipulations by having the fixed "gold standard" of cryptocurrency.
The 2nd poster really does have it right when he says,
"People have been working on it in the last years just like lab rats trapped into a cage made of ideals". In the REAL world... choices have to be made, sacrifices offered up, etc. Yeah, not good sometimes. But again.... REAL world.