The Implications of Bitcoin: Money Without Government

Coin Desk ^ | 23 January 2014 | Jon Matonis

[Errant]

One of my favorite things about bitcoin is how it’s such an all-inclusive tent.

Bitcoin attracts political idealists from the right, political idealists from the left, Silicon Valley technologists, social science academics, philosophers, capitalists, socialists, and even apolitical speculators.

Alex Payne kicked off this latest round of analysis with his blog piece: “Bitcoin, Magical Thinking, and Political Ideology”. A self-described programmer and secular humanist, Payne worked as an early engineer at Twitter building the service’s developer platform and backend infrastructure.

[ClearCase_guy]

So what happens when the government takes down the Internet?

Here, I'll mention "The Matrix". In that movie, humans live as batteries to power "the machines" and the humans live their lives in a virtual world that is controlled by "the machines".

At one point the computer program known as The Architect threatens to extinguish the human race. Neo is not daunted -- "You need us" he tells the computer.

The Architect grimly replies: "There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept."

But in a purely human society, if it all comes crashing down, the ruling class will not fare so well. If they crash the system, bitcoin fails, everything else fails, and the rulers end up decorating lamp posts.

[SVTCobra03]

Bitcoins can disappear into the ethernet in one keystroke. Gold and silver have been money for 5,000 years.

[Errant]

Yes, I’m mining them now but the difficulty is increasing rapidly. I’m thinking of switching to mining one of the newer alt coins for the heck of it. A 7970 will do about 600 Kh/s using about 0.250 Kwh. You can calculate your profit at your local electrical costs from there. Another advantage is that I’m using the heat from mining to warm a little grow room I have, so it saves on heating cost too. :)

[Errant]

Here is a link to a comparison of others: http://www.wheretomine.com/

[PoloSec]

There is also an interesting video at CoinDesk news...

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/bitcoin-investment-outcome-seen-as-binary-TYyZyJ8GS22SWSD9L_9ghw.html

[Errant]

Good info and a keeper for future ref., thanks for the link!

[montanajoe]

Every time I see an article about Bitcoin I smell tulips..

[Errant]

Tulips don't spend well, Bitcoins do. Tulips were an investment scheme, Bitcoin is a payment scheme. There are a lot of other differences:

http://www.coindesk.com/information/

[Hostage]

There are alternatives now emerging to the internet,

The antinet.

The othernet.

The undernet.

With a solar powered battery charger, staying connected can be a perpetual experience.

[House Atreides]

“...Does cash fit into the Bitcoin paradigm?”
*******************************************************************
The dollar and Bitcoin each have their place—and places where maybe they should be avoided. Ever tried to take more than $10,000 in cash with you when leaving the country?

[Hostage]

Gold is just a yellow metal with some nice properties.

Gold’s historical value was backed by the sword of a ruler but now no more. Gold is obsolete as money and it serves only as a pressure relief valve in times of social upheaval. It’s a psychological crutch, an emotional obsession.

What serves as value today is whatever attracts the most people or subscribers. We may not agree that an attractive phenomenon is valuable, but if 300 million people think it is valuable, then it is valuable.

[montag813]

Bitcoin is far too vulnerable. EMP? Bitcoin worthless. ISP cancels you? Bitcoin cutoff. Government goes after you? Bitcoin blocked. Rural locale with no internet? Bitcoin useless.

[RockyTx]

bitcoin’s problem ...

an unlimited number of competitors

[Errant]

You left out comet strikes, massive solar flares, meteor impacts, super volcanos, ice ages, nuclear war, earth shift, plagues, alien attack, supernovas, and the second coming to name a few more instances in which Bitcoin will be useless.

[Errant]

I remember a time in America when competition was considered a good thing.

[Cementjungle]

Think thumb drive. Cash on a chip. You need to plug it into a system with electricity, but you walk around with cash in your pocket. If it’s keyed to a phrase only you know, then the cash is yours and no one else’s. It can’t be stolen, but it can be spent.

Of course you must be diligent about making your backups and all that, since all digital media will fail from time to time. That aspect makes it a pain in the neck.

[Graybeard58]

Anybody remember when we didn’t have credit cards?

I do not remember when we didn't have credit cards but I got my first one only 51 years ago.

[Errant]

I got my first one only 51 years ago.

Still trying to pay it off I bet. :D

"The general-purpose credit card was born in 1966, when the Bank of America established the BankAmerica Service Corporation that franchised the BankAmericard brand (later to be known as Visa) to banks nationwide," Sienkiewicz writes."

The history of credit cards

[Graybeard58]

My first card, in 1963 was an "Esso" card, good only for anything sold at their gas station chain, my second card was an American Express, some time in the 60s. The AMEX card may not be considered a credit card because the balance was due in full, every month. Nowadays AMEX has an actual credit card.

I've used credit cards over my adult life time and actually paid interest in the earlier years but it's been many years since I've paid a dime in interest. my current c.c. has a balance of about $2500, by the end of the credit cycle, it will be around $4,000, which I will pay in full. $4,000 is about my usual monthly balance, on which I get a 01.5% cash rebate or about $60 per month. I cash in just before Christmas time for an extra $700-$800 Christmas cash.

I have no idea what any of my cards charge in inrterest nor do I care, I don't pay it, whatever it is.

[Errant]

Wow, you should spend $40,000 a month and you could then get back $600 a month. Never mind the CC company's take is only about $1200. A well deserved reward for them considering the risk of never seeing their money again. Of course the business just ups the prices on their goods so they're not out much in merchant fees, accounting services, fraud, chargebacks and etc. A perfect example of a win-win-lose if ever there was one. And hey, 1.5% back beats 0.15% interest on a savings account any day. What's that inflation rate again?