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It's great to have another option to fiat that is decentralized. Also sending and receiving bitcoin is much easier and cheaper than with fiat.
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Am I able to switch over to the available full member slot?
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There are many reasons for lifting weights or exercising...
It's obvious for anyone that competes or trains as an athlete, to improve performance. Some people want to be stronger, others like the way it makes them look and feel.
I used to lift for strength and aesthetics...but I lift less nowadays and do other types of physical activity, but still enjoy it.
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Drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated... making drugs more available will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe.
It is a health issue rather than a criminal issue...to be handled by health professionals and not police. One of the main risks associated with making drugs illegal and creating a black market is the purity of the drug. There's no standard as there would be if it was legal, and that poses a huge health risk to users. Kudos to Washington and Colorado for legalizing at the state level. It'll be interesting to see how drug policy changes in the next 5 years. |
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Why won't you invest in new technologies or in new companies offering new services!?
You can buy some stocks and wait for them to go up... IMO, it probably the safest way for you to invest and wait for high returns. However, for it to be profitable you need to know very well in which stock or company are you investing with!
Well try bitcoin based stocks, coinbase and other stuffs. Especially regulated companies, because those wont get "shut down", if they pay by the rules of the rulers. What do you mean by bitcoin based stocks? Are there stocks that can be traded with bitcoin or is it a stock that reflects the price movement of bitcoin? yeah there are, there are plenty of broker that accept bitcoin, for trading stock, commodities and forex search for simplefx, 1 broker, bit4x ecc... Interesting, thanks for the info...I quickly checked out simplefx...is it mainly for trading fx or actual stocks listed on say the new york exchange? I wonder how tax works when investing with bitcoin as well... |
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Why won't you invest in new technologies or in new companies offering new services!?
You can buy some stocks and wait for them to go up... IMO, it probably the safest way for you to invest and wait for high returns. However, for it to be profitable you need to know very well in which stock or company are you investing with!
Well try bitcoin based stocks, coinbase and other stuffs. Especially regulated companies, because those wont get "shut down", if they pay by the rules of the rulers. What do you mean by bitcoin based stocks? Are there stocks that can be traded with bitcoin or is it a stock that reflects the price movement of bitcoin? |
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For some people in here it has already been the investment of the century.
Some people bought houses, retired, started business because of this revolutionary currency.
Shame I'm not one of those people. So far, even if was not an early adopter I made some cents with it.
Me too... in a literal sort of way.  Regards, Christopher It really is crazy to think about the very early adopters that were handsomely rewarded for throwing in a couple hundred bucks into a new technology. Although I wasn't one of them either, kudos to those that came out ahead. |
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imho, bitcoin is a very good investment, since you can't loose all of your investment (bitcoin can't go to 0) and the upper limit doesn't exist on price, but still
it is also very unlikely to make you 1000x return in few years like it already did tho.
cheers
Why can't bitcoin go to zero? (Or let's just say 1 dollar/euro/pound?) Don't kid yourself, I believe it can certainly go that low...just like every other investment in this world (even the stuff that has a tangible backing like gold). Agreed, it's unlikely that it will go to zero, but it's definitely possible. Have you ever seen a stock go to zero? It can happen and it happens quickly...once the price starts dropping below losses that people can tolerate, there's a mass selloff based on fear. Again, unlikely for it to happen to bitcoin as it seems to be growing in popularity. |
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Is it better to save money in bank or invest it online, in real estate or maybe gold?
There are merits and setbacks to both of the choices. Investing it online is quite risky , while saving money is not that profitable because of the rising inflation taking place. But I'd rather go with saving in a bank , not only because it is safer , but it is supportive for financial gains.. I'm assuming online investing includes regular investments (bonds, GIC, stocks, mutual funds, etc.) for which there is a given level of risk, but not any moreso because it's done online. I think most people invest that way these days, rather than going to a physical location or talking over the phone, aside from those that have managed investments. |
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I do think that there is some rationale for the banning of certain hard drugs which have a much greater potential for harm vs. soft drugs like marijuana or even LSD but other than that, you are pretty much preaching to the choir. Not once did I say that I personally believe any of those mentioned activities to be morally wrong.
Bitcoin sees very little economic activity compared with fiat. Fiat is used to buy your baked beans at the supermarket. Fiat is used to pay the mortgage for your house. Fiat is used to pay for your children's college educations. Bitcoin isn't. Until recently, the vast majority of the Bitcoin economy was comprised of "underground" elements and this association was only beginning to be shed from the beginning of last year. Fiat, on the other hand, has much more varied set of uses and the "underground" elements only comprise a minority of the fiat economy. Since this association has hurt mainstream adoption of Bitcoin in the past and is something that the Bitcoin community is trying to distance itself from, is it really wise to be actively encouraging underground markets to adopt BTC at this point in its evolution?
I'm not a vegan myself but if I lived in a society where 95% were vegans who opposed meat/dairy consumption, I would not like to see Bitcoin being targeted towards livestock and poultry farms, slaughterhouses, and butcheries - especially if the (presumably) taboo meat/dairy industry already comprises a significant share of the Bitcoin economy.
Society is irrational and illogical, but if Bitcoin wants to be mainstream then unfortunately, it must pander to society's views and expectations.
I don't think any drugs should be banned, because banning does not stop anyone from taking it. It just places them in a category of being a criminal rather than someone with a health issue or addiction problem. Many pharmaceuticals and even over the counter drugs can lead to death from overdose, and actually there are many more deaths from "legal" drugs than "illegal" drugs. Most people consider heroin a terrible drug - super addictive and difficult to be a functional person for users. But morphine prescribed to a patient seems totally fine, when it is the same thing (pharmaceutical grade) and equally as addictive. I think for Bitcoin, it needs as many transactions as possible to stabilize its volatility before the mainstream adopts it. So it needs to start with some of the more taboo industries. Instead of being selective of which industries to enter, Bitcoin needs to just be focused on growing as much as possible. |
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When you say "tax evasion" do you mean illegal tax evasion, or legal tax avoidance through the loopholes of the tax code?
I meant illegal tax evasion, by hiding the profits and other means. Legal tax avoidance through various loopholes can't be termed as tax evasion per se, as they are not doing anything illegal. It is the responsibility of the government and the tax authority to eradicate these loopholes. We can't blame the corporations for it. Right, I agree with you. Sometimes when you see people complaining about "tax evasion" they are complaining about legal tax avoidance. But I don't think it's the government's responsibility to eradicate loopholes; the government built them in the first place to placate some special interest. It is the responsibility of the citizens to hold their reps responsible for creating/not closing loopholes. If it takes you longer than 5 minutes to calculate how much income tax you have to pay, the system is too complicated. These special interest groups lobby and contribute to political campaigns, so it's part of the deal which obviously conflicts with policies that would benefit the greater population. Until it gets to the point where a politician rises up without having to sell his/her soul to the contributors of their campaign, I wouldn't really expect any change unfortunately. Yeah, our system misaligns the interests of the nation with the interests of politicians. The politician's aim is to get reelected, so they enact policies to that end. Those policies are not always in the best interest of the nation, in fact, I'd say they're often not. How do we fix this? Ultimately, you have to take money out of politics, but doing this does infringe freedom. The question is where is the line when this is acceptable? Yeah you hit the nail on the head with reducing the money controlled by politics and government in general. Another possibly less effective way would be to make government decisions fully transparent to the public, which would give corruption more exposure. As the public becomes more aware and informed, they can make better decisions when voting and that may give an opportunity to more honest politicians. |
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Gambling, porn and drugs are not shady unless abused, like anything else. There is nothing morally wrong with doing any of them, however they are categorized as "sinful" from a religious perspective which has made its way into law. They are considered illegal or crimes in many places, to which there is no victim.
If you look at it from the wider perspective of society as well as the beliefs of those who occupy positions of power and make the laws, then that is a minority opinion. Whether we like it or not, most people still believe that those things are wrong even if most members on these forums (including me) might not subscribe to that belief. If Bitcoin wants to become mainstream rather than being merely confined to libertarian circles then from a marketing point of view at least, I think it makes sense to de-emphasize those aspects. It's interesting to see that you mention Just-Dice and Canadian gambling laws. What's funny is that the we have lottery and gaming corporations in Canada run by the government. They are even able to market and encourage lottery and gaming to the mainstream through TV commercials, radio, internet ads, etc. We have state-sanctioned lottery games here too. Usually the revenue generated from those go to schools and community projects. As I said, gambling is probably the least controversial out of the so-called "sinful" activities that I listed. There is nothing morally wrong though, as it brings harm to no one. So whether or not these things are taboo or against what certain people stand for, doesn't mean anything to anyone else. It's a belief system that needs to be subscribed to. Porn/prostitution with consenting adults has no victim. Gambling has no victim. Drugs has no victim. You can argue that people that abuse these things can harm themselves, but you can harm yourself with anything done outside of moderation. So to say that gambling is wrong, but if the government owns the corporation, then everything is fine and it's not wrong anymore, is exposing an incredibly stupid mindset. If someone thinks its wrong, then simply don't do it. But to take freedom away from everyone else that doesn't share that same thought, doesn't make any sense. A vegan thinks it's wrong to eat meat/dairy, so should eating meat be illegal for people that don't share that belief? As stupid as it sounds, it's as legit an argument as gambling/porn/drugs, or maybe even more so as animals are being killed. Anyways, back to bitcoin, to start restricting its use based on what the transaction is for doesn't make sense to me. Pre-bitcoin all shady transactions were done in FIAT, and it's likely still a significant majority that's done in FIAT, and it doesn't give FIAT a bad name. |
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When you say "tax evasion" do you mean illegal tax evasion, or legal tax avoidance through the loopholes of the tax code?
I meant illegal tax evasion, by hiding the profits and other means. Legal tax avoidance through various loopholes can't be termed as tax evasion per se, as they are not doing anything illegal. It is the responsibility of the government and the tax authority to eradicate these loopholes. We can't blame the corporations for it. Right, I agree with you. Sometimes when you see people complaining about "tax evasion" they are complaining about legal tax avoidance. But I don't think it's the government's responsibility to eradicate loopholes; the government built them in the first place to placate some special interest. It is the responsibility of the citizens to hold their reps responsible for creating/not closing loopholes. If it takes you longer than 5 minutes to calculate how much income tax you have to pay, the system is too complicated. These special interest groups lobby and contribute to political campaigns, so it's part of the deal which obviously conflicts with policies that would benefit the greater population. Until it gets to the point where a politician rises up without having to sell his/her soul to the contributors of their campaign, I wouldn't really expect any change unfortunately. |
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I was thinking from the perspective of society rather than from my own personal beliefs. For instance, I gamble at Primedice sometimes and have CLAMs invested at Just-Dice. Yet Primedice recently closed off access to its US-based users and Just-Dice abandoned BTC in response to Canadian gambling laws. Online gambling is outright illegal here in New Zealand so it's quite clear that the society that I live in doesn't approve of what I'm doing.
And I would say that gambling is still considered to be shady. It's just that "shadiness" is a spectrum with dice sites like PD on one end of the spectrum and assassination markets and terrorism on the other end. Drugs and pornography probably lie somewhere in the middle.
If you read news reports from mainstream news sites, then it's clear that they often lump all of those things together in order to make Bitcoin seem like something that is "underground":
Gambling, porn and drugs are not shady unless abused, like anything else. There is nothing morally wrong with doing any of them, however they are categorized as "sinful" from a religious perspective which has made its way into law. They are considered illegal or crimes in many places, to which there is no victim. It's interesting to see that you mention Just-Dice and Canadian gambling laws. What's funny is that the we have lottery and gaming corporations in Canada run by the government. They are even able to market and encourage lottery and gaming to the mainstream through TV commercials, radio, internet ads, etc. |
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Payment received - Thanks  Can you please register me for another month? |
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A 1% tax applied to people and corporations equally (no loop holes) would bring in more revenue than the current system. I believe the people should not be taxed whatsoever and the revenue from taxing corporations alone would still surpass current levels.
The system that you're suggesting of 1% tax (I'm assuming on all sales) would generate significantly less tax than the current system. It wouldn't even cover the current consumption tax. There's sales/consumption tax as well as corporate income tax, personal income tax and municipal property tax. There's far too many ways for corporations and rich people to avoid paying taxes. If there were no loop holes, way more tax money would be collected. I heard the 1% figure somewhere, can't remember where. Don't get hung up on the actual figure though, the important point I'm trying to make is that corporations have far too many ways too avoid paying taxes (not to mention the subsidies they receive) and the poor (middle class) are left footing the bill. Of course it's always justified by using scare tactics, implying that these large corporations need tax breaks and subsidies otherwise they would up and leave. There are ways to minimize paying taxes by minimizing income, as there is flexibility in choosing the way you report income. But probably what you're looking for is to just have a higher corporate tax rate. I think the loop holes that you're referring to are likely what expenses should a corporation have the ability to count against revenues. Most publicly traded companies do not minimize taxes...they actually maximize profits through accounting, so that their shareholders are happy. Subsidies are another problem for sure. It's a double edged sword though. Subsidies keep companies local and with higher taxes and regulation, as we've seen, a lot of corporations start outsourcing parts of their business to lower cost areas overseas, and higher local unemployment. |
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Yes but the freebitco.in gig is unlikely to be longlasting
Unsustainable biz model one would think but who knows
Lol who would say that today seeing its condition today, more than 1 million member. I wonder how much they earn per month after giveaways... are there any known numbers? I think they show that on the stats page mate. The site is pretty transparent with sharing stats, but the stats don't include the site's own income. The top dog has cleared over 500 bitcoin though...damn. |
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I was blowing leaves off of my property this morning (granted 7:30am might have been a bit early) when a police officer confronted me. He told me that I was breaking the law (where I live the noise ordinance is from 10pm-6am). When I let him know the law and asked what law I was breaking along with some other discussions, he responded by saying, "This isn't the good old days, freedom doesn't exist anymore." He had a straight face and was dead serious. It is a sad day when not even the police believe in freedom anymore or respect the laws. I just wish I had been recording the interaction as it would have been youtube gold.
I guess you're supposed to be happy that you didn't get the shit beaten out of you for no reason along with the many other youtube clips. To serve and protect right?   lol that's amazing. Since it is "public service", it would be interesting if the tax payers were able to pick the slogan for government services. |
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I was blowing leaves off of my property this morning (granted 7:30am might have been a bit early) when a police officer confronted me. He told me that I was breaking the law (where I live the noise ordinance is from 10pm-6am). When I let him know the law and asked what law I was breaking along with some other discussions, he responded by saying, "This isn't the good old days, freedom doesn't exist anymore." He had a straight face and was dead serious. It is a sad day when not even the police believe in freedom anymore or respect the laws. I just wish I had been recording the interaction as it would have been youtube gold.
I guess you're supposed to be happy that you didn't get the shit beaten out of you for no reason along with the many other youtube clips. To serve and protect right? |
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A 1% tax applied to people and corporations equally (no loop holes) would bring in more revenue than the current system. I believe the people should not be taxed whatsoever and the revenue from taxing corporations alone would still surpass current levels.
The system that you're suggesting of 1% tax (I'm assuming on all sales) would generate significantly less tax than the current system. It wouldn't even cover the current consumption tax. There's sales/consumption tax as well as corporate income tax, personal income tax and municipal property tax. |
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