I'm a "lefty", and appreciate the US government being used to prove me wrong just as much as the anarchists appreciate similar proof with Somalia. Not all leftists are the corporate schills you see in government. Much like you guys, my dreams have yet to come to fruition.

The republic, any republic, will inevitably degenerate into a government for sale. It's simply cheaper to bribe/threaten one man than an entire voting population. If there are positions with more power than an average citizen, they will be filled by the wealthy. The word "statist" conveniently wraps non-anarchists up into a neat little package, but most people I would actually consider leftist support the current administration as little as you do.

The monster is formidable enough without us bickering and portraying each other as strawmen.

United States of America. The second amendment of our constitution guarantees the right to "bear arms" (own guns).

Exposed as someone who got cash in the mail? It's already illegal to do this with drugs, but Silk Road people do it all the time. You just need to conceal your Bitcoin stash.

I like the hiding it idea, but I'm not sure I would want to count on that repeatedly.

You could always just snail mail it with the Bitcoin in escrow.

Crime is a major factor in its value, no denying that. However, Bitcoin had value before the Silk Road. It's just another business.

You would be surprised. In my country pretty much anyone can get a gun (it's one of our highest laws) but most of them tolerate rampant abuse of power on a local, state, and federal level. Guns don't help if the people who own them are disorganized, poor, and brainwashed.

What the hell! Someone tell those insurgents that there are only two sides!

By the way, if they get an embassy, it is no longer U.S. soil.

I think you are grossly underestimating the prevalence of misanthropy in internet scum in general. Sadly, this is typical for an online forum.

I'd like to second the Silk Road suggestion, that stuff has certainly improved my life. You're young and the world is changing for the better! Give it a chance!

It still bugs me how "rich" is commonly viewed by income, not assets.  I don't know why people care so much about the RATE at which one becomes rich - it just screws over risk-takers and helps old money.

After I was denied my right to donate to Julian Assange, I searched desperately for a long-term solution.

My poorly grounded observation: it's always a couple days between big news stories and price rises, since it takes a while to bring USD in through exchanges. You can bet your ass I'm not selling right now.

I'm pretty sure the "fewer people" answer is the norm in my country (USA) - the vast majority of the population supports spending a huge percentage of our national budget on "defense". What's sad/funny about this is even the an-caps here, whose selfish and idealistic attitudes frequently irritate me, more support a foreigner's right to live (with $0) than my neighbors. I guess the poll had its intended effect...

There is no need for such a system, states can negotiate treaties without losing sovereignty. The same can be said for anarchist groups, but it's harder because there are more parties involved. It's a classic Coase theorem example.

Of course now that we have Bitcoin, frictionless automated externality negotiation might be possible, but I'm just daydreaming for now... 

This. I'm an engineer; if it wasn't for Bitcoin I wouldn't trade currency at all. Doing the required homework for another currency would be less fun and not worth my time.

One of the primary complaints against Bitcoin is that it is used for evil, more so than other currencies. Getting people to quantify things is an easy trick to get them thinking rationally.

Would you please elaborate?

Since I was asked to explain "moderate":

I'm a left-libertarian. I believe in self-ownership, non-aggression, and most other libertarian concepts. I differ from most libertarians in that I believe the planet itself and its resources are public property. Thus, I believe a limited state is justified. I chose "moderate" because I think the state should spend on whatever maximizes utility; for example, if some education spending is more cost effective at reducing crime than just spending more on police.

If mining pool management is a natural monopoly, then this might just be the first time. I'd rather nothing be done, let it play out, just to see what happens.

The last thing a revolutionary new social concept needs... is people walking around with the Mark of Bitcoin on their hands and foreheads.