Topic: What if USD collapses and they issue new currency. (Read 3532 times)

About as likely as anything else he's suggested.

http://t.qkme.me/3s0fxo.jpg

+1 brother

A hobby?!? Just a fun project?!? Well, to each man his own, I guess...

Cheesy as this may sound, but I think of Bitcoin (or cryptocurrency in general) as potentially freeing the people from the suppression they're suffering from and make the world a better place. Why do we have to work for 40 hours per week (in case we have a job) or live in less than optimal conditions (in case we don't have a job and maybe also in case we do). Why do we have to exploit and destroy mother nature and her resources and eradicate other lifeforms? We're clearly not living up to our potential in this regard.

Now one might not believe there is a connection between the type of money we use to the prosperity and respectfulness we live in. I do: I think our economy can be run much more efficiently with sound money.

Much can be said about how to build a potentially better society and I don't want to spoil any efforts, but the single most effective measure is the use of sound money.

Desirable things like a smaller state, more efficient and modest natural resource usage and even a higher level of happiness will all follow from the use of sound money.

That's why I put so much energy into bitcoin and am so excited about it, not because it's a hobby that generates a little bit of colored paper currency.

Draw negative attention? Well FUCK YEAH, bring it on baby, this is a currency war and I'm fighting!

A couple of notes to this. If you think of bitcoin as nothing but something that generates USD, ask yourself this, how can it generate USD unless it has some value of its own? People are not usually in the habit of parting with wealth in exchange for nothing are they?

A second point is that the value of all currency is determiend to a greater or less extent by the faith/belief that resides in it. You believe that your USD will be redeemable for goods and services, hence you value it. If you don't believe on some level in bitcoin as having value, or actively disbelieve in it, you destroy its' value. Counter-productive.

What if this kind of talk draws negative attention?

I like to think of BTC as a hobby, a hobby that generates USD.  You can't have one without the other; so to speak.  I think that BTC will never surpass USD nor will it become a viable electronic "currency".  It's just a fun project that pays you back. 

That being said, I've seen some stupid and dangerous stuff including bad BTC deals and hazardous rig set ups.  I'm going to try and keep my head above water with all the help I can get.

Exactly this.

If you just convert old currency to new currency "1:1" so to say, you gain nothing and everything is as rotten as before, you still have a debt crisis on hand.

If you "wipe out" the old currency you also wipe out all the debt (because FIAT equals debt) and effectively steal from the people owning the debt.

Dilemma: how to introduce a new currency in a fair way?

I would have used "riot," but that works too. For those interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_2000

I believe the word you are looking for is Jubilee.

What dilemma would that be?

I completely agree with you, and I wasn't trying to say that said redistribution would be fair or moral.

What is interesting to me is the dilemma that such a situation would pose.

Well said.

Your idea of interesting and my idea of interesting must be two different things.   The redistribution confiscation of assets is theft.  Putting it under the guise of a revolution doesn't white wash it of the immorality that boils down to taking things that don't belong to you.

I'm more curious what would happen to debts.  Would laws around a new currency also incorporate a conversion of some sort to allow for debts to be converted?  Would I still have a mortgage on my home?  How would the value of my home be determined, and how would the amount of the new mortgage be determined?  What happens if my paycheck in the new currency drops relative to my mortgage payment in the new currency?

Moreover, if the point of issuing a new currency is to eliminate governmental debt, how could the government justify relieving themselves of their own debt while requiring the debts of the common people to be enforced?  Especially when common people are partial holders of the debt the government defaults on?

That being the case, would the people simply demand a revocation of their current debts owed to various banking institutions?  Would the banks themselves be shut down and go bankrupt in favor of the people?

It could be the start of a very interesting revolution and redistribution of asset-held wealth across the country.

South American people are extremely suspicious of their governments.  They know that every politician is in on it to steal by default.  But the idea of government?  It's as South American as apple pieexecutions and kidnapping.

Source: where do you think I'm from?  :-)

The US could pay off its debt tomorrow.  Simply hyperinflate the dollar 10,000% and that national debt which is 100% of GDP becomes 1% of GDP.   No secret currency is needed.  If the USD maintained purchasing power, and the government lived within it means BTC represents no risk to USD.  If the USD2.0 doesn't mantain purchasing power and the US gov2.0 doesn't live within its means then history will simply repeat itself.

If the US doesn't repay its debt (and it won't) in a manner which makes creditors whole (i.e. avoiding hyperinflation) then the US will be blamed regardless of how/why.   We are talking the court of public opinion here.     The US govt is a sovereign there is no legal remedy if they simply don't pay it back but it won't be without consequence.

Nothing.  What would prohibit the US from reintroducing slavery?  Or making ownership of all foreign products punishable by public stoning?  Or requiring a $20M license to have more than 1 child?  Or sterilizing criminals? etc.  You either trust your govt or you don't.   You resist tyrrany by one of the "boxes" (soap box -> ballot box -> jury box -> ammo box).  There is no other option.  

This applies to all governments on all issues.  I mean governments are "magical" they are simply a set of rules agreed to by the people.  It all comes down to people.  People can do bad things therefore governments can do bad things.   When someone says the government will arrest you they really mean people working for the government will arrest you.  When people say the government engaged in genocide they really mean people engaged in genocide while the government wasn't able or wasn't willing to stop them.

However I would point out things like the SR show the limits of the governments ability to enforce its will.  Many people refused to participate in the forced sale of gold in the 1900s.  Many today would refuse to participate in the prohibition of virtual currencies.  Outlawing napster didn't make p2p go away.  Outlawing pgp (yes our govt tried to outlaw pgp) didn't make encryption go away.  You can't outlaw ideas.

US won't go back to gold.  Not enough and it has many other issues that would limit the US from expanding it economy.  Digital currency could replace current forms and we should remember history, in the early 1900 gold was illegal to own and you were to trade it in for paper currency notes.  What would stop the US from developing their own digital currency that they make with their equipment and then pass a law calling all other digital currency illegal to own and or trade in?

This makes me sad to see that even with such high inflation, people do not wake up. Shouldn't south-american people at some point figure it out?