Topic: [SPLIT]Taxes on Bitcoin transactions (Read 3385 times)

A friend just got back from 6 months in Europe & was very clear that flying is a lot cheaper than trains.  It also wouldn't surprise me if trains in Europe are heavily subsidized.  So using trains as a competing example probably isn't the best idea.  And finding a good example period is extremely difficult because almost all forms of transportation everywhere in the world are subsidized by the government.

A friend just got back from 6 months in Europe & was very clear that flying is a lot cheaper than trains.  It also wouldn't surprise me if trains in Europe are heavily subsidized.  So using trains as a competing example probably isn't the best idea.  And finding a good example period is extremely difficult because almost all forms of transportation everywhere in the world are subsidized by the government.

There's a free market in health care?   Where? How?

Elwar, I think your public roads speech was really overcomplicating things. Next time, just say that roads are government subsidizing of a specific type of transportation, which makes it impossible for other transportation types to compete. Government subsidy of highways is why trains and other type of public transportation that people in other countries get for cheap, can't compete, and why our public transportation is so expensive and sucks so much. Ask them if they prefer two hours in traffic that costs them gas, maintenance fees, and nerves, or an hour in a very comfy and fast train that costs them something like $15 round trip (as you can do in most of Europe). If you want to blame something for the destruction of our great rail and trolley system, highway subsidies is it.

Yeah, the libertarian viewpoint is always very simple: just leave it to free markets.

The problem I see constantly is that libertarians compare something that free market is very good producing at (like bitcoin exchanges, or consumer goods in general) to something that free market hasn't succeeded producing in very efficient/consumer-friendly way, like health care. "Just let free market handle it", without going to any practicalities, because "invisible hand is always the best solution". This is very simplistic and annoying.

Kindly stop driving on our roads... Thanks

But what you are describing really sounds like a local government, in fact even if not in name.  I can't think of any obvious difference.

In Somalia, for example.

There's a free market in health care?   Where? How?

COMPETITION IN A MARKET REGULATED STRICTLY BY IT'S CONSUMERS (i.e. a free market), you know, kind of like what we have with Bitcoin exchanges today where if you haven't noticed rates are getting lower and lower all the time and more and more exchanges are coming in with better and better services.

since we're WAY off the original topic anyway i'm gonna ask something I've been wondering about libertarian views. i get the road privatization thing, actually. ghetto's? well, they would have shit for roads just like they have shit for houses. *shrug*

but what about medical? the current system in the US (where i'm from) is jacked, i think we can all agree. medical insurance and all. one alternative, obviously, is the socialist route like they have in some countries like the UK and other places. what's the libertarian angle?

Wow, I thought I was a strong libertarian... but this thread is showing me that Im weak... LOL

I would have thought taxing citizens to build roads was a no-brainer, guess I will have to reconsider that, or perhaps reconsider some of my libertarian views as well.

I'm not against rules, but I am vehemently against ruleRs, unlike you I prefer my autonomy and freedom and do not agree with being governed by anyone without my contractually arranged explicit consent. But to each his own, if you want to be a slave to a small gang of people, be my guest. 

Some things are natural monopolies.  I think that most roads fit into this category

Where I live, no utility I use is publicly run. All private. Water, sewer, TV/Internet, electric. My garbage service is also private. I used to live somewhere that had a private fire department that was better than any other fire department in the state. My local fire company used to be private until the county passed a law to take all of the private companies over.

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Elwar, I think your public roads speech was really overcomplicating things. Next time, just say that roads are government subsidizing of a specific type of transportation, which makes it impossible for other transportation types to compete. Government subsidy of highways is why trains and other type of public transportation that people in other countries get for cheap, can't compete, and why our public transportation is so expensive and sucks so much. Ask them if they prefer two hours in traffic that costs them gas, maintenance fees, and nerves, or an hour in a very comfy and fast train that costs them something like $15 round trip (as you can do in most of Europe). If you want to blame something for the destruction of our great rail and trolley system, highway subsidies is it.

Kjj, stop thinking of competition as competing equal alternatives, and start thinking about substitutes. This is an error that a lot of people make when they first think about this.
My teacher asked in our business class, "You run the Coca Cola company, and are worried amount competition. What are some of the competing products you have to watch out for?" The students named Pepsi, Royal cola, generic, and every other brand of cola out there, but the teacher kept pressing for more. It wasn't until he suggested, "What about milk? Or orange juice?" that we we understood what he was getting at.

One alternative to water piped to your house is your own personal water well system. The alternative to electric wires from the power company is your generators. Right now we are limited in what we can get (gas, solar, wind), in large part because alternatives can't compete well yet, but if the price of electric, water, or gas rises even a bit, competing ideas will take off. After that, there could be even more different services we haven't even imagined yet (your own personal water tank with water delivered by truck? Japan is developing personal, fully contained, nuclear reactors the size of a shipping container that can be buried, and provide power for a small neighborhood for 20+ years)