What if you were one of those babies?

Possibly the same resources that are being invested into building a bomb?  I'm not going to defend that man in anyway though...and maybe the point is many would take advantage of the handouts given...which I agree with.

But with technological advancement, at the end of the day...machines or robots will be doing more and more work which will replace human labour and income.  The world will have to go in a socialist direction because of this anyways, or you will have to deal with a massive population that cannot support themselves, which will make the aggregate standard of living lower.  How happy will you be as a wealthy person getting into your ferrari when there are 10 people starving outside your front door?

A couple years ago, I heard that the cost of eliminating world hunger was $30 billion a year.  US "defense" spending is at $700 billion currently I believe.  And lol @ using the word defense, when it none of it takes place on US soil...everything is initiating offence on foreign soil.

Not sure how many people aren't getting adequate food and water, but one year without making guns, bombs, tanks and fighter jets...would give approximately 23 years of food and clean water...and probably a sustainable infrastructure that could provide it for even longer (water filtration + farming infrastructure).  But who needs that when you have the mother of all bombs?

You're right, the anonymous aspect is a huge plus for customers.  No one wants to see jerkoff.com on their credit card statement lol.  But paying in general for online porn vs. free porn or paid actual human interaction...

Ideally you want genuine human connection and chemistry, in person.  Then there's porn and paid for in person interaction...which I'd say is not nearly as enjoyable.  Basically hiring someone to put on an act that they're attracted to you, for a specific amount of time...?  I can see how it can be entertaining, especially if you have money...but it pales in comparison to someone that is actually attracted to you.

Not sure about the bitcoin park reference - what is that about?

I don't know about other xapo users, but I got an e-mail the other day that they will start passing on the transaction fees to the customer (not for their own profit).  And they will allow an option to have a standard or priority transaction...with priority having a higher transaction fee and quicker transaction apparently.

I'm pretty sure there is porn sites that do accept bitcoin, at least from this forum.  I still don't totally understand why people pay for porn when there's so much available without having to pay...I understand it can be more intimate if it's interactive, but it's still online.  The thought of exiting the chase/game and paying for a sexual encounter isn't appealing to me, but if it was, in person escort/massage would be more satisfying than an online paid interaction.

With bitcoin, the government or central bank would lose its ability to manipulate the money supply.  Regardless of how well bitcoin works and how efficient and easy to use it is, it will never be acceptable to replace a national currency, because the government will have to give up control and the ability to manipulate, the ability for favor special interests at the cost of the general population.

Bitcoin is great as an alternative currency.

I wonder how many folks in the porn industry have been accepting bitcoin as a form of payment, not because they believe in the value of bitcoin or that its value would increase over time, but just for another payment method....that have become millionaires from the rise in value over the last couple years.

Eugenics is one way (and a harsh approach)...but with eugenics comes other problems.  Like can someone use this in order to target innocent people that can be decided to be guilty (framed) and given the death penalty?  Any government corruption in this process makes it break.

The root issue is what is causing the mental illness that leads to a violent outburst.  Our society doesn't have a good solution for people in this situation, who have had terrible childhoods, and terrible support systems, parents or guardians that may have neglected their children and stunted their development.  Our society ignores people like this, and doesn't dedicate the resources to care about troubled people enough to help them navigate through their personal issues.  We tend to only give attention to these folks once the crime has been committed, but not before then.

With or without gun control, there will always be a black market for guns.  So we should understand that anyone that wants access to a gun, with a few hundred bucks can get one.  That's the sad truth.  So any policy the government comes up with, will apply to those that go through the legal process to understand gun safety. 

I'd say the latter would be true for the most part on this forum, by the negative connotation of drugs.  And not all drugs..most people are fine with over the counter pharmacy drugs, they're okay with doctor prescribed drugs including addictive opiates.  But not okay with something the government prohibits regardless of the actual effects.  Most are okay with morphine and against heroine...even though it's the same substance.

I agree that some do research, but most just perpetuate the propaganda they've been fed through school, or even movies.  Reefer Madness got the North American general population thinking smoking weed makes men rape women.  And then at the exact same time it's prescribed as "medicine" and there is no longer a negative connotation lol

It's not an insult to anyone for someone that has earned money to spend it any way they want, as long as it brings no harm to you or anyone else.

We all definitely don't know how "drugs work".  Since drug prohibition (which is only there in the past century) we have all been brainwashed about how all drugs are basically like herion (strong, addictive opiates).  Unless you educate yourself, your school or government will not teach you anything useful about drugs (legal or illegal) other than putting fear into you to stay away from it.

No currency replaces another currency.  It's just an alternative that people can choose to use.

However, taxes need to be paid in local (national) currency, so companies will be more inclined to accept and pay their employees and taxes in the local currency.

Bitcoin will never replace any fiat currency.  Central banks have an insane amount of power, and they're not going to just give that power back to the people.

Agreed - Mental instability combined with not having a proper outlet for aggression.

The less training and confidence in themselves someone with a gun has, the more likely they are to use it.  I would say a good prerequisite to having a gun would be to have years of training and progression in martial arts without weapons and in particular, brazilian jiu jitsu.  A very technical martial art with no striking, and learning to deal with the aggression of others with minimal damage.  Once you've trained for around 10 years and have a black belt, you can have the option to own a gun.

But realistically, outside of the legal framework, prohibiting anything will create a black market, and at the end of the day, anyone that wants a gun and has some cash can get their hands on one regardless of gun policy.

Aside from your variables X, Y and Z, I think that the volume of transactions is another important variable that should be taken into account.  That has a huge impact on the demand of a currency, and ultimately, it's value.

Is that stat out there?  How much bitcoin is changing hands over a period of time?

One would think so.  During QE...I think #3...they were printing over a trillion dollars a year, and during this time, the USD gained strength against my local currency (CDN) lol

Net importer of goods, net exporter of fiat including that inflation.

I'd say it would be possible, but very unlikely.

If comparing to USD, I would think that the only way for it to be worth $1M would be if the US Dollar experiences hyperinflation.

On top of that, it would need to be adopted worldwide as a legitimate currency for payments.

On top of that, our traffic cops have quotas on the number of tickets they need to issue.

Step 1 - build poor transportation infrastructure to cause a traffic jam
Step 2 - decrease the speed limit after the traffic jam
Step 3 - set up a hidden speed trap with a radar

Now everyone is safe right...god forbid they let those criminals actually get to work or back home on their commute without a penalty

Meanwhile a pedophile goes unnoticed.

I somewhat agree with the majority of jobs and especially corporate jobs.  But no one is forcing anyone to work those jobs.  I get when people that have very little economic resources feel compelled to continue to work low paying unsatisfying jobs, but at the end of the day, it can be difficult but they can build skills that are in demand and make more money, or do something they enjoy.  But without skill, those types of shitty low paying jobs are the only option, and there is a huge supply of unskilled workers.

I agree competition is not always fair, but you do understand that the barriers to entry are government regulations right?  You mentioned insurance and banks.  Highly regulated industries...that are not in a "free market" environment.  I can add telecommunications to the mix.  Kind of like an oligopoly.  But in Canada, all three of those industries are highly regulated, and we don't allow foreign competition.  This is a result of corporate lobbying influencing policy in the government.  There's nothing wrong with a corporation wanting to benefit from policy change...but it should be up to a benevolent government (in our particular system in present day, not that I think it's a good system) to ignore special interests and act for the interests of the taxpayers and citizens as a whole.  But they often put corporate interests ahead of consumers.  We do not allow foreign bank or telecom competition.  So again we are forced to deal with an oligopoly or not have that particular service at all, but the oligopoly is made possible with government intervention.  Our government sets the competitive landscape, even for private companies.

I would actually say that the USA and France have a health discrepancy over 2.5 times, but that's just an unsubstantiated subjective opinion.  And I've been to both countries multiple times.  There are parts of the states that are very healthy, but as a country, no bueno.

Some quick wikipedia info:
USA is #1 in depression in the world - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_depression
USA is #19 in obesity in the world - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Body_Mass_Index_(BMI)
USA is #6 in cancer rate in the world (France is #2 lol) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_OECD_countries_by_cancer_rate

Anyways, this doesn't really prove anything, but on factors that affect health, they rank among the worst in the world per capita.  So the health care costs are going to be a function of having a relatively unhealthy population, having a standard approach to death with palliative care (expensive way to drug yourself into ecstacy as you drift out of existence) and efficiency of a dollar in your health care system.  Healthy population = less patients.

With respect to healthcare costs of public vs. private - it just depends on how the business is implemented and executed.  I think either can be made to be efficient with a high level of service if that's the goal.  Here, government jobs represent union negotiated raises (not on merit), 100% job security unless you assault, harass or murder someone, and when you do anything to fuck with their income, they threaten to go on strike and provide no service at all.  You can't tell me that these are servants of the public.  They serve themselves, and #2 priority is public service.  Our police cars say "to serve and protect" yet many people get an uneasy feeling when the person dedicated to "serving and protecting" you is around.

USA is mostly private, but with a corrupt (and large) government that hooks up special interests (corporations) which usually harm the consumer aka tax payer.   We have one highway that is kept better than all others in Toronto.  It's a private toll highway, and you need to pay each time you use it, on top of all your taxes for public roads.  That private road is kept better than other highways because it is competing for business, which is cars.  The more cars it can take, the more money it makes.  So it's in that companies best interest to keep the customers coming, by offering nice smooth roads, and less traffic.  Our public roads get pot holes and there is a long delay before anything is fixed, because they don't give a fuck.  And at the end of the day, I can almost guarantee that the construction costs (by distance) will be less than our public roads, because they will better negotiate with contractors when you're not playing around with guaranteed tax revenue, but your own money.

Hi,

I'm curious about the payment process in this campaign, as there wasn't a place on the form to submit bitcoin addresses of participants.  How is this going to work?

Thanks.

I have nothing against your opinion of government or the system.  What kind of slavery do you speak of? 

Prices can be regulated possibly, but the more common approach is to leave the price as it is and "subsidize" the cost for the buyer.  So prices will remain high, but a portion of our taxes would go towards the payment.  They can manipulate it either way really.

The point was that you said to give an example where private companies offer better service than public, and I gave an example of pathetic public service.  You wouldn't get that with a private company because you can simply choose not to do business with them ever again.  Eventually if everyone shared that sentiment, they'd have to improve their service or eventually go out of business.

I never said the health care in Canada is bad.  It's okay, but it is expensive and takes up a large chunk of our taxes.  But I know of wealthier folks that need serious medical attention fly over to the states to get their procedures done.

I'm not sure where you got the France vs. USA healthcare dollars from, but let's assume it's accurate.  You realize that the USA has a reactive healthcare system right?  And that the USA has by far the most unhealthy population in the world, which would require more reactive health care??
The reason it has a high dollar amount is because of the # of customers (unhealthy people requiring medical attention).  Europe in general is much more health conscious and eats more whole foods/less processed foods.  Finland for example has chef's in schools that teach kids about cooking and eating healthy.  I grew up with a cafeteria that sold burgers, pizza and fries, a McDonalds next to our high school and a vending machine that only sold pop/soda.  Why would we be as healthy as France?  Unless you take your health into your own hands, educate yourself on diet and have routine physical activity, the default is to eat garbage and get obese...and look at who has the most obese population in the world.

I agree that it has had the most initial success in penetrating into the mainstream.  Even then I think a very small % of the population is involved with Bitcoin.  And although it's possible that it will remain the top cryptocurrency, it's not guaranteed by any means.  If any other cryptocurrency is strategically adopted as a payment system for corporations, or accepted and regulated by government, it would have mass adoption and possibly surpass bitcoin.  Who knows what will happen 5 or 10 or 15 years from now.