What's the point of a currency if everything is free?
In my mind at least, the point of a currency is to make transactions as close to friction-less as possible. I really hate having to worry the cost of actually using a currency. 
Topic: Bitcoin = Communism? (Read 1860 times)
True. I just feel like everything in the bitcoin world should be 'free' free bitcoin transactions, free products and services. But I guess there is not really way of going around it, the appropriate people need to be awarded one way or another.
What's the point of a currency if everything is free?
Communism means an abolition of private property. Bitcoin is true free market private money. They are worlds apart.
And remember that anything one invests money in could appreciate without further effort... that doesn't make it communist, it makes it a good investment.
And remember that anything one invests money in could appreciate without further effort... that doesn't make it communist, it makes it a good investment.
The reason why Bitcoin isn't communism is because miners can go on strike, thus destroying the entire system, and prohibiting Joe from ever making a dime off his greedy practices. There are no strikes in a communist system last time I checked 
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Get to work!
. Get to work!
Bob might be working his ass off to improve bitcoin, which in turn raises the price of bitcoin. But Joe sits back and enjoys the fruits of Bob's labor by simple holding on to a bunch of bitcoins he did almost no work to acquire.
Bob probably owned bitcoins prior to Joe, and Joe's purchase of the bitcoins took them off the market which decreased the supply of bitcoins for sale and possibly helped to cause the exchange rate to rise.
The gains in the exchange rate either motivated Bob to continue his work or he may have even took some profits and sold at a higher rate, using the gains as bootstrap capital to help fund his endeavor.
i.e., that's not communism.
That assumes that bob shares his improvements for free. i have seen several optimized miners people have attempted(some sucessfully) to sell. Bitcoin is a very open market everyone has an equal opourtunity to earn bitcoins that does not mean that everyone earns an equal number of bitcoins.
True. I just feel like everything in the bitcoin world should be 'free' free bitcoin transactions, free products and services. But I guess there is not really way of going around it, the appropriate people need to be awarded one way or another.
Random thought...
Bob might be working his ass off to improve bitcoin, which in turn raises the price of bitcoin. But Joe sits back and enjoys the fruits of Bob's labor by simple holding on to a bunch of bitcoins he did almost no work to acquire.
If Bob minds his own business, then we don't really have a problem. But if Bob wants to maximize his returns for the work he puts in...
Bob might be working his ass off to improve bitcoin, which in turn raises the price of bitcoin. But Joe sits back and enjoys the fruits of Bob's labor by simple holding on to a bunch of bitcoins he did almost no work to acquire.
If Bob minds his own business, then we don't really have a problem. But if Bob wants to maximize his returns for the work he puts in...
...then he can buy bitcoin, sit back and relax, just as Joe did. This further increases the price, stabilizes the market, and gives more incentive for others to improve bitcoin.
In communism, property is publicly owned and controlled. In bitcoin land, private parties own and hold bitcoin. Those private parties chose when to buy, and when to sell. If bitcoin was communism, then there would be some type of central entity - call it a "central bank" which controls the supply of the money and distributes it to those who need it most, from those who produce. So I'd chime in about now that our current Federal Reserve system is more communist than BTC can ever be.
OP: Your scenerio actually sounds to me like a much closer match to capitalism.
The main real difference I see between $/gold/whatever and BTC is that with Bitcoin, it is a handful of clever peons rather than a mass of ignorant ones who do the work. In both cases, a bulk of the wealth ends up in the hands of a few who do little or nothing particularly useful.
The main real difference I see between $/gold/whatever and BTC is that with Bitcoin, it is a handful of clever peons rather than a mass of ignorant ones who do the work. In both cases, a bulk of the wealth ends up in the hands of a few who do little or nothing particularly useful.
That assumes that bob shares his improvements for free. i have seen several optimized miners people have attempted(some sucessfully) to sell. Bitcoin is a very open market everyone has an equal opourtunity to earn bitcoins that does not mean that everyone earns an equal number of bitcoins.
Random thought...
Bob might be working his ass off to improve bitcoin, which in turn raises the price of bitcoin. But Joe sits back and enjoys the fruits of Bob's labor by simple holding on to a bunch of bitcoins he did almost no work to acquire.
If Bob minds his own business, then we don't really have a problem. But if Bob wants to maximize his returns for the work he puts in...
Bob might be working his ass off to improve bitcoin, which in turn raises the price of bitcoin. But Joe sits back and enjoys the fruits of Bob's labor by simple holding on to a bunch of bitcoins he did almost no work to acquire.
If Bob minds his own business, then we don't really have a problem. But if Bob wants to maximize his returns for the work he puts in...
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