Charles,
> On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Jon Cox <j...@experiments.com> wrote:
> >> > > Currencies are consensual belief systems.
> >> > ? ?No they are not.
> >> > ? ? ? In the USA, I *must* pay taxes in USD,
> >> > ? ? ? not Bitcoins, regardless of my level
> >> > ? ? ? of belief or consent in either.
> > ? I only took issue with the word "consensual".
>
> They're still consensual. I don't have to use Hungarian Forints, no
> matter what Hungary says. Only if I want to do business with Hungary
> do I have to use Forints. Similarly you could decide to only accept
> transactions in Bitcoins, and that would be consensual as well.
Consent implies an non-extorted assent.
Jail is used to extort the use of USD for certain purposes.
Consider the following:
Q: Did you rape this woman at gunpoint?
A: No. It was consensual sex. She agreed to it.
Q: Did you threaten to shoot her if she did not comply?
A: Yes.
Q: And you call that consensual sex?
A: Yes, she agreed to it.
Defining consent as "any form of assent", whether extortion
is present or not, strains the common meaning of the term
to the point of absurdity.
> Even more, as long as currencies are fungible (albeit with friction)
> you can accept only Bitcoins, Hungary can accept only Forints and you
> can still transact business.
That statement has no bearing on the issue of consent.
> There is no problem with Bitcoins - as long as someone is willing to
> make a market in them in some other convertible currency (but there's
> the rub.)
Yes, there are plenty of problems with Bitcoins,
both in the abstract and its implementation.
Some of Bitcoin's flaws are shared by other currencies.
Others are particular to Bitcoin.
Want an example?
Ok, check out the recent crash in Bitcoin's value:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrikj7fy4MU
http://venturebeat.com/2011/06/19/popular-bitcoin-exchange-mt-gox-hacked-prices-drop-to-pennies/
http://leanback.eu/bitcoin/plots/20110619195756-mtgox.png
Yes, the value of Bitcoins crashed from $17.50 down to $ 0.01
in the span of about 5 minutes yesterday, and though people
were allowed to buy at $0.01, they probably won't be able to
cash out, because Bitcoin just announced a rollback.
A rather timely illustration, wouldn't you say? ;)
Bitcoin has its share of unique issues and missed opportunities.
Criticism of it is not automatically trolling, nor does it
necessarily imply a lack of understanding of Bitcoin itself,
or the nature of fiat currencies/barter in general.
If you're interested in learning about Fed for the sake making
informed comparisons to other currencies, I'd recommend:
Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve
Runs the Country (by William Greider).
It's a slog in some places, but a very good book overall.
The level of scholarship & documentation provided is impressive.
Cheers,
-Jon
