Interactive Debate: Is Bitcoin a legitimate form of currency?

[percival]

http://politix.topix.com/homepage/7666-is-bitcoin-a-legitimate-form-of-currency

An interactive debate where you can see the results by state, by political leaning or Male vs Female.

[Carlton Banks]

Like asking "is crapping a legitimate form of excretion?". What if the government says no? 

[pedrog]

Like asking "is crapping a legitimate form of excretion?". What if the government says no? 

Well said, sir!

I think the great majority of people participating in that debate know nothing about bitcoin...

[Melbustus]

...
I think the great majority of people participating in that debate know nothing about bitcoin...

I think the great majority of people participating in that debate know nothing about: currency, money, monetary systems, monetary history, political systems, economics, finance, etc...

[GoldSilverBitcoin]

What does legitimate mean here, is another key point? Legitimacy is a belief, which brings us back to the idea that stuff or things have value if people believe it does.

[Carlton Banks]

Like asking "is crapping a legitimate form of excretion?". What if the government says no?  

Well said, sir!

I think the great majority of people participating in that debate know nothing about bitcoin...

It's horrifying, but I don't think the implications are clear enough to the people who would even entertain a debate with that sort of question as the talking point: if you're having to ask whether or not a grassroots technical innovation is legitimate or not, you're basically saying you've already accepted a form of dictatorial government. The cryptocurrency toothpaste is not going back in the tube. The only "solution" is to eradicate all knowledge of it, and that's going to take some seriously unprecedentedly heavy handed governing.

[Carlton Banks]

What does legitimate mean here, is another key point? Legitimacy is a belief, which brings us back to the idea that stuff or things have value if people believe it does.

What's a legitimate use of the word legitimate?   

More vernacular imprecision, where words and expression carry both direct and indirect connotations. Here's what wiktionary says about the etymology:

       Etymology

       From Late Latin legitimatus, past participle of legitimare ‘to make legal’.

But the definitions also include something approximating "belief", so it has multiple meanings really. Is our language as corrupt as our institutions? I still can't get over HOW IN HELL that "Bitcoin" has landed in the Oxford English dictionary, it's beyond comprehension. Will they take it out when it's "banned"? Where is HashCash and e-Gold's entries? Does not compute. Syntax error.

[niko]

I was annoyed at first, but now I see this as something extremely positive.

We should really undestand the results in the context of the following observation by Bob Dobbs:

You know how dumb the average person is? Well, by definition, half of 'em are even dumber than THAT.

It is amazing that over 40% of participants recognize Bitoin as "legitimate".  I am assuming their interpretations of the meaning of "legitimate" and "currency" are at least as  reasonable as Bob Dobbs' interpretations of "average" and "median".

[sidhujag]

Like asking "is crapping a legitimate form of excretion?". What if the government says no?  

Well said, sir!

I think the great majority of people participating in that debate know nothing about bitcoin...

It's horrifying, but I don't think the implications are clear enough to the people who would even entertain a debate with that sort of question as the talking point: if you're having to ask whether or not a grassroots technical innovation is legitimate or not, you're basically saying you've already accepted a form of dictatorial government. The cryptocurrency toothpaste is not going back in the tube. The only "solution" is to eradicate all knowledge of it, and that's going to take some seriously unprecedentedly heavy handed governing.

Theres two contexts in which the title applies. Simpleton approach where your essentially asking wether we can freely trade the currency with one another analgous  of other medians of exchange without the swift hand intervening.

The other context in which the title applies is the technical discussion of bitcoin providing a payment exchange mechanism that exists within its own ecosystem and that if its a viable form medium of exchange one that does not lose trust as a payment gateway because of its evolutionary origins. This has been proven to you and I but the avg joe is more concerned about the first context rather then if it is self sustainable or not.

Thats what I see when i read the title anyway.