I'm still trying to figure out the diff between capitalism and socialism.  The basic premise (I think; someone correct me on this) of capitalism is to take profit, invest it in some business (your own or someone else's), and then make more profit and repeat.  Is this not allowed in socialism, or is it setup so that it cannot be done as easily or at all?

That's a good point, and to be perfectly honest, I'm a lot more afraid of being hit by a stupid driver (not even a drunken one, just a really bad one) than I am of the likelihood of being held a gunpoint, not by the "T", but by one of my fellow citizens trying to jack my car.

I believe this is reason #1 as to why a nation which doesn't produce any money whatsoever should not be eating itself alive into any more debt.  However, I also think it's much too late to ever come out of this trap, and Bitcoin won't save us in the short term; once the camel's back finally breaks, there will be hell.  So I suppose the reasoning is, knowing they'll never pull out, they may as well spend all the cash they possibly can before the jig is up.

So far it has been fine.  However, occasionally, the site will fail to load at all for minutes at a time, as if it were offline.  Other times, it's just reliably slow, but now, it's speedy.

Hysterical

Might as well, all other businesses are fleeing   Where are you from initially?

I would argue that there are very few human beings who aren't intelligent; our species is the very definition of intelligence, the reason why the word, let alone the concept, exists at all.  It depends on how a person acts; even people who believe in completely irrational things can appear highly intelligent; they can form sentences just fine and explain clearly their beliefs, whatever they may be.  The effect seen when examining people on this forum is that they generally favor logic and reason, complete their ideas using their language properly, and have an interest in ideas that other people don't prefer to think about; I believe this is directly influenced by Bitcoin and what it is, that draws so many of the same type of personalities.  A test was done earlier that showed this forum was dominated by INTx personalities, who are known to be rational and logical, and love abstract concepts like philosophy and science.  Perhaps it is these traits that make them appear more intelligent than others, but this does not imply that their minds are literally bigger or faster; the personality merely holds knowledge in a very high regard.  So, the presentation of these people are generally as I've described; a desire to be clear and concise with one's language, so they may express their ideas on abstract concepts (like Bitcoin) in a way others would understand.

Of course, everyone has different interests, and they're all intelligent, even if their beliefs are irrational (like racists, for example.  And scientologists/mormons.)  Bitcoin just attracts a certain type of person.  Are they more intelligent?  I don't believe we can measure the ability of a person to think based on their interests, personality or presentation; I believe it is already obvious that a person can think, and what it is they think about is what they naturally choose to think on, and how often.  My mind works in no different fashion than any other; what differs is what I value, and though some people may value morals, or wealth, or relationships, I value knowing and understanding.

So naturally, that would lead to an increase of general knowledge.  But if we're measuring intelligence on how much we know, People magazine would be the most stimulating literature in the world.

EgotisticalElf, why are you an elf and so egotistical?

Amen!

Yeah, pretty much If you're not born there, they don't want you takin' their jerbs.

We still have a lot of people who refuse to use computers, let alone the Internet.  Bitcoin's gonna have to get in line

America never had any money.  In fact, it owes trillions of it

Interesting insight, thank you for the well thought-out response.  Any thoughts on the novel by Orwell, 1984?  Also, when people who advocate socialism say, "Well that's just American propaganda that you're saying--that's not real socialism," exactly what are the differences between "Americanized" socialism and actual socialism?

Why would encryption need to be outlawed?

Who here believes in it, and why do you prefer it over other systems?

What's the point of making money and never spending it?

So basically, government.

It's absolutely necessary.  You have to get those terrorists off your island (LOLOLOLOL) or else who knows what they might do?  They're climbing in your windows and snatching your peoples up.  And besides, if you're doing nothing wrong, you should have nothing to worry about.  Only criminals would care about surveillance; are you all criminals?

I remember when I used to think this way back in my HS days   Seems this kind of garbage is spawned only by fear, or, as American politicians like to put it, "Terrorists win!"  Anyway, remember, folks: freedom is slavery; ignorance is strength; peace is war; and Big Brother is watching you.

...seriously, what would terrorists want with a little island like NZ anyway?

Is it common to throw in random English words when one is speaking Thai?