Topic: Why is the Occupy movement not immediately embracing bitcoin? - page 5. (Read 17960 times)

The only dictation here is that money cannot be used for illegal purposes (we already have that) and that Bitcoin will be the money.  The fact that it is better at preventing illegal activity is just a bonus, the technological power of Bitcoin is the real star here, forced redistribution will only have to happen at the start if the wealthy try to cheat the system again.

The benefits of Bitcoin are so obvious there is no doubt people will soon want to adopt at as their currency.

The system would be the result of Democratic change in the United States as people rise up and demand Bitcoin and the fair wealth distribution that represents the ultimate power of this new electronic commodity.  You would be free to leave for some country still dependent on fake fiat currency if you do not like the system, but the revolutions there won't be far behind once they see the American economy dominate with the power of Bitcoin.

Checking with the government is a strange way to put it, the whitelist will be public information.  Vendors will check it for the same reason they check dollar bills to make sure they aren't counterfeit.  

You have not explained how you will track down someone using an invalid address...

So, regarding education, be careful what you wish for.

Of course it's easier.  You can take cash out of the bank and engage in anonymous transactions.

There is no such thing as perfect enforcement, but Bitcoin provides tools to make it much easier to detect evasion in the form of the transaction log.  If an address is receiving a large amount of coins a certain percentage should be leaving in tax.  Random checks could be entirely automated against a formula that could look for suspicious activity to be passed on to a human investigator to check.

Perhaps. But today one can purchase items without paying tax in so many different ways that I can't begin to count them, so I think you are ignoring reality on this one. Cheers.

There would be no point in selling your whitelisted account as you would no longer be able to buy so much as a pack of gum in a legitimate business without one.

I see nothing whatsoever wrong with stirring people's imagination with alternate forms of currency generally.  I am sure that at least a fraction of these people have contemplated alternate money systems, and are aware of various efforts, most of which have failed.

The technical hurdles of decentralizing the currency in the way that Satoshi has done, and the skill with which he has done it are actually quite novel,  impressive and interesting.  If that inspires and interest people, what's the harm?

I can say for sure that if I were a protester who had never heard of Bitcoin, I would be very thankful to whoever took the time to inform me of it.

It's not that I understand enough to believe this system and my beliefs are better, it's that I understand enough to know that the way things are going with globalization, it's pretty much inevitable. It's not about capital as it is about private contracts, as well as the ability to compete around the world and no longer be tied down to a specific geographical region.

Even without government sanctions, something analogous to a corporation can arise in a free market, either through investment, price fixing, trusts, and so on, especially in a market without the regulations to prevent this from happening. The fact that the government recognizes them makes no difference, except that with government recognition the corporation must pay some taxes (if it actually pays) back to society instead of none at all.

The difference between governments and businesses in laissez-faire societies is that the government starts as a 'monopoly' (although once again, checks, balances, and more protections for citizens can be seen as a way of deconstructing the 'monopoly' a government branch has over public policy), while the business can use collusion, buying up of resources/competitors, and other means to lock itself into a monopoly. The government is still somewhat accountable to voters, the monopolic business is accountable to no one.

Human nature, especially in the forms of government or corporations, leads to corruption. Trying to eliminate any chance for corruption to take hold in government and constantly making a push against the corrupt who come into power is the best means we have of combatting it we have. Letting a corporation or individual in charge of a business do whatever they want will lead to a beast far too similar to a corrupt government, only without all that "accountability" and consent of the people.

"Voting with your wallet" has always been an ineffective strategy against companies who spread out their unfair, manipulative or harmful dealings into shell corporations