[EDIT] I get now that you meant my trust rating means 0: trust ratings mean what people choose them to mean it's less risky to do this kind of transaction with me than with a new member with 0 feedbacks, that's for sure: very unlikely I'll ruin my reputation to scam some $, counterproductive.
That said, your choice.

Do you have any sympathy for the people in these threads:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=339882.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=145797.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=339849.msg3655636#msg3655636

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=328076.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=322631.msg3454765#msg3454765

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=322229.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=321684.msg3450929#msg3450929

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=328013.msg3531406#msg3531406

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=328013.msg3526610#msg3526610

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=338172.msg3627572#msg3627572

http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/14195/did-i-just-get-defrauded-by-coinbase

This is just a small handful of threads I found on this forum.  There are a lot more on other forums and people that don't have a voice.

Do you have any sympathy for what people were put through and is going through?  Do you know how much coinbase is taken in from 1) arbitration 2) 1% fee 3)hedging or stealing with customer funds.

Are you saying that to be completely in the clear morally, and the only thing you have to do is not to vote in the politicians that order the atrocities?

I don't agree. I'm not from the US but I feel partly responsible for the millions of innocent people that have been killed (mostly by the US and partly by its allies) while I paid taxes to a government that supports the US, even though I didn't vote in the people who approved the support.

Although, shouldering all the worlds problems onto oneself is of course not feasible. But living more or less like an agorist is. Personally, I feel that achieving just that is many years ahead of me (though bitcoin will help alot to speed it up).

The question is, is it better to be a dissident (and have a clear conscience) at the cost of other ambitions? What if those ambitions are about creating (and hence adding value to society)?

For me, having a completely clear conscience is not possible when atrocities continue while better knowledge is so easily accessible as today. But, I won't allow guilt to consume my life either.

Still it is hard not to think of the opposition to the Vietnam war, nothing near that scale of opposition happened with the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Maybe we are getting more complacent.....

Maybe there's something else, but I can't think of it.

Hi all,

I want to introduce myself.  My name is Michael from Cloudhashing.com, and I have taken over the public relations work there after being one of their customers since August.  I will be the only one writing from this account now. 

My professional involvement with CH began about a month ago when I began writing Cloud Hashing emails about mistakes they were making and things they should address in order to thrive.  I have been doing PR for 16 years, and they were making mistakes that frankly could have been avoided with some strategic planning.  To their great credit, they were very open to my critiques and wanted to make changes to better support their customers.  I met and got to know the owners and staff, and I am convinced that their intentions were honest and genuine, but they had made mistakes along the way which really hurt their credibility in some cases.  Some of this is to be expected from a start up which is suddenly way more successful than it had estimated during the planning stages, but some of it was inexcusable.   

Over the last month we've opened a customer service center in Austin, TX and hired full-time customer support.  This isn't some call center or anything.  In fact, I trained a really solid guy personally just last week.  Before this, we didn't have full-time, dedicated customer service, and it showed.

We also linked our Facebook to our Twitter and stopped doing customer service queries via social media and forums.  It's unprofessional.  Someone's accounts and concerns should be handled promptly and privately via email or phone.  When CH started it took some unheard-of length of time for someone to respond to customer queries (we're talking weeks, if ever!).  Today, you will likely hear back the same day or the next if it's a weekend or a complicated issue that we have to consult others on.  But in general, it's the same day or as darn close to it as humanly possible.

We also instituted a rule which basically states that we will never release information about what we're "going to do" or "are about to do" or anything like that as had been done in the past.  Who cares what you're about to do?  Just do it already.  Too many in the Bitcoin space are talking pre-orders, pre-announcements, pre-results, pre-promises.  I hate that.

About myself, I am passionate about Bitcoin, and I love the opportunity to help Cloudhashing.com reach its full potential.  I am married with two kids (another on the way in Jan.) and I enjoy watching the Kansas City Chiefs actually have a winning season...and long walks on the beach etc.

If you have questions about Cloudhashing.com or Bitcoin mining in general, I am very happy to respond to the best of my ability.  I look forward to helping bring Bitcoin mining to the mainstream with Cloudhashing.com, and I wanted to introduce myself before posting further as I know this is a strong community who knows Bitcoin like no other.

Michael

We have gone over why fiat has backing. The quality of that backing is a different matter.

You did not back your opinion here! It is not false, it is in fact spot on, and his claim is well backed by his arguments.

"Backing" is a solution to a problem that Bitcoin doesn't have. The reason you want a currency to be backed by someone or something is to ensure its scarcity.  Otherwise, the value can be stolen from you by supply expansion.

But backing is an imperfect solution because the backer can always either fail to meet its obligations or can structure its obligations so vaguely that it can technically meet them while still devaluing the currency and robbing those who hold it. Even physical scarcity, which is what gold has, is still imperfect -- we might one day find an asteroid full of gold and gold might become as cheap as aluminum.

Bitcoin's scarcity is guaranteed by mathematics. It's as close to perfectly guaranteed as we humans are capable of. So long as there is demand, its value will be assured because its supply is known. (Of course, there's no guarantee of demand.)

Btw, dumb is bad.

Dumb + arrogant is a lot worse.

He misspoke out of confusion, laziness or lack of knowledge.

You are just being an arrogant prick, and taking his words literally, when any person with the IQ of a monkey can infer what he actually meant. Given that you not only fail to see that, but instead gave him an arrogant answer which really does not help in any way (either by making him see where he is wrong or referring him to the actual information he needs to understand); it had to be said: There is a Bitcoin Foundation and it has an actual lists of recommended spokesmen, regardless of what you feel about it/them.

So, if you wanna be a literal prick, let me tell, you're wrong as well. His words are not absurd given that there is actually at least one entity that can act as an official spokesman, and has done so in the past: Satoshi.

No kidding.

What I'm saying is BittBurger was probably suggesting he be added to that list, which does actually exist.

I'm not interested in the politics of whether or not you particularly feel represented by the Foundation.

What? There's a list of recommended spokesman from the Bitcoin Foundation.......

From what I've seen, the meaning is invented on the spot by the person trying to justify (or condemn) the value of a currency. I think this practice started in 1971, when the dollar became completely fiat. It was no longer backed by gold, but it couldn't be backed by nothing.

In more legitimate usage, "backed by" generally means "can be exchanged for a fixed amount of".

Andreas should be the official spokesperson for Bitcoin.

Seriously.

Ok all tag links must now be verified by a moderator before being displayed on the site. The moderation rules will now be a bit stricter, any links should provide context for the purpose of that address which would be useful to other users e.g. "Wikipedia Donation Address" linking to wikipedia.org = good, "This Address Scammed Me!" linking to reddit = bad.

You can now also submit tags verified with a signed message, rather than a link, which will be approved immediately. Blockchain wallet users can do this through the wallet ui label address function.

I will add a way to remove tags soon.

I'm not responsible.   The government has nothing to do with me.  They are a racket that steals my money at gunpoint, nothing more.   If a thug steals my money on the street and buys some bullets with it and shoots someone with them I am not responsible.    If I cheered the thug on or made excuses for the murder that would make me pretty immoral which is why I don't defend the government at all.

Remember: Intrinsic value is one of the essential properties of money, that allows it to fulfill its functions. Without intrinsic value, gold could not fulfill its monetary role. You want to seperate golds intrinsic value from its monetary value, however that is impossible, as without intrinsic value gold has NO monetary value. The reason you insist on seperating these two aspects of gold, is because you want to believe that bitcoin can function as money despite its lack of intrinsic value.

Now may I ask the OP, will you accept a money order made out in your name?