if fiat money is bad, we could escape them easily even before bitcoin

[freigeist]

Considering the nature of Bitcoin, I am absolutely stunned that not a single person has spoken about the history of money and the tactics used to force people to use "their" fiat currency, hence "Satoshi Nakamoto".  Bitcoin is FAR from the first alternative currency in history.

Me too.

For those who would like to learn something about money and financial system
i would suggest to watch a cool documentary searies which I found on internet few years ago.

The title of the 3 free movies are:
1) Money As Debt
2) Money Ad Debt - promises unleashed
3) Money Ad Debt - evolution beyond money

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post external links here  as a newbie user
anyway you can find them on you tube or vimeo.

I find them very informative and easy to understand.
I hope you will like them too.

[1715004566]

1715004566

[1715004566]

1715004566

[zhangweiwu]

Thank you alll. Thank you to freigeist for showing me the documentary. I watched the first one and is really really enlightened. Thank you mechanikalk for pointing out the case that people is actually not allowed to compete with governmental fiat money. These are all very helpful and valuable!

[zhangweiwu]

From the US Constitution Article I. Sec. 10:

No State shall [...] coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; [...]

I think that means that the States can't create their own currency.  If I remember my history correctly, one of the problems after independence was that all of the States issued their own currencies, making the central government's treasury and interstate trade difficult.

Thank you for that important quote of the constitution. I had to dig into old newspapers to find out where I read about local provincial currency, and I found it took place in England, not in the U.S.

So from that news leads back to the wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totnes_pound

Totnes Pound is issued by Totnes, a town in Devon, England.

Quote from wikipedia:

A Totnes Pound is equal to one pound sterling and is backed by sterling held in a bank account.
In December 2008 a Totnes Pound was sold on eBay for £13.02.[citation needed]
As at September 2008, about 70 businesses in Totnes were accepting the Totnes Pound.

I wonder why British government not act agressive and ban it outright. Even if it is pegged to pound sterling it may shift through time.

Further digging into wikipedia reveals there are other community currencies:

This page lists 6 community currencies in the U.K.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Community_currencies_of_the_United_Kingdom

I further wonder if they are required to follow governmental fiscal policies.

[chrono.v]

You don't want to use gold certificates, as there is significant counter-party risk. You want to use intermediaries you can reasonably trust, such as VIA MAT, Brink's, and G4S (although all of them are exposed to government risk), through GoldMoney and BullionVault.

Bitcoin is however inherently superior.

[NewLiberty]

Bitcoin is fiat money, just not a government controlled fiat money.

who is forced to use bitcoin?

Fiat money=money without intrinsic value.

Fiat means force.

Fiat does not mean money without intrinsic value, though it is typical that if it is fiat, intrinsic value can be dispensed with.
For example, the US Dollar was fiat even when there was silver in the coins (up to the early 60's).

Fiat money is money that has the force of law.  The Legal Tender law means that the fiat currency discharges a debt when offered.
This means that you can eat at a restaurant, and the restaurant is free to accept any sort of payment that you agree to, but if you are in the US and offer them dollars they can not then say "no we only accept payment in live rabbits" and hold you for non-payment in rabbits.  You have a debt for the food you ate, and legal tender will discharge that debt.

[NewLiberty]

From the US Constitution Article I. Sec. 10:

No State shall [...] coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; [...]

I think that means that the States can't create their own currency.  If I remember my history correctly, one of the problems after independence was that all of the States issued their own currencies, making the central government's treasury and interstate trade difficult.

Thank you for that important quote of the constitution. I had to dig into old newspapers to find out where I read about local provincial currency, and I found it took place in England, not in the U.S.

So from that news leads back to the wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totnes_pound

Totnes Pound is issued by Totnes, a town in Devon, England.

Quote from wikipedia:

A Totnes Pound is equal to one pound sterling and is backed by sterling held in a bank account.
In December 2008 a Totnes Pound was sold on eBay for £13.02.[citation needed]
As at September 2008, about 70 businesses in Totnes were accepting the Totnes Pound.

I wonder why British government not act agressive and ban it outright. Even if it is pegged to pound sterling it may shift through time.

Further digging into wikipedia reveals there are other community currencies:

This page lists 6 community currencies in the U.K.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Community_currencies_of_the_United_Kingdom

I further wonder if they are required to follow governmental fiscal policies.

There are a bunch of community currencies in the USA.  Individual citizens and companies are not prohibited by this law, only the State governments are so prohibited.
There are Disney Dollars, all sorts of coupons, and many private currencies.  Some of these are voluntary only (like bitcoin) some are intrinsic, gold/silver/labor (Ithica Hours).