Has Bitcoin changed your political position

[Ekaros]

Yes, I used to want smaller government.

Who wouldn't want smarter government... Too bad I don't see that one ever happening, or only with total crash...

[1714983191]

1714983191

[1714983191]

1714983191

[1714983191]

1714983191

[1714983191]

1714983191

[Carlton Banks]

Yes, I used to want smaller government.

Socialist now eh? You'll soon come running back once they've got you doing brain surgery on minimum wage. With a quality assurance inspector inspecting your work. And a quality assurance inspector inspecting the quality assurance inspection.

[hawkeye]

If they can get get you asking the wrong question they don't care about the answer.

Wrong question.
Who is better, Democrats or Republicans, Obama or Romney?  (Change for whichever country you are in).

Right question.
Why do we need government?

[just_me]

Bitcoin did not change my political position.



what is a political position?

[beetcoin]

some people here seem to welcome anarchist ideals.. but i can't go with that. in an anarchy, it's a fight for survival because there will be people are hungry to climb the ladder from the power vaccum. there would either be war or slavery everywhere. and yes, i know that we are under economic slavery right now, but that's not what i mean. in my mind, it would lead to lots of death and war. at the same time, i know capitalism is fucked up.. so i don't even pretend to know the answer.

[FirstAscent]

No. It hasn't.

Issues and being newly informed should change your political viewpoint. Not attempts to address issues.

[Mike Christ]

some people here seem to welcome anarchist ideals.. but i can't go with that. in an anarchy, it's a fight for survival because there will be people are hungry to climb the ladder from the power vaccum. there would either be war or slavery everywhere. and yes, i know that we are under economic slavery right now, but that's not what i mean. in my mind, it would lead to lots of death and war. at the same time, i know capitalism is fucked up.. so i don't even pretend to know the answer.

Yes; when you're dealing with a society of barbarians, you can only expect this; anarchism just happens to highlight this best, whereas totalitarianism hides it best; this does not remove the barbarians either way, the barbarians just form the best society for them, which typically involves you beneath their foot, either literally or economically or spiritually et al.  Anarchism can only function with a society of rational thinkers, which I believe is what we should be working towards, not away.  My analysis is that all forms of government are temporary until we achieve secular rationalism, whereupon such an event the state naturally becomes unnecessary, much the same way a person no longer relies on their parents to make decisions for them upon realizing they can make such decisions on their own.

Check out this book for an easy explanation on anarchism; the situation you've described is not the political philosophy of anarchism, just a passing tide until another state can be installed, i.e. Somalia.  The anarchist society does not mean no rules, it simply means no rulers, and it is the only method of governance that you can ever hope the law to be reliably and uniformly upheld.

Yes, I used to want smaller government.

Socialist now eh? You'll soon come running back once they've got you doing brain surgery on minimum wage. With a quality assurance inspector inspecting your work. And a quality assurance inspector inspecting the quality assurance inspection.

Knowing Elwar, I don't think he's referring to a larger government, either.

[Elwar]

governments...

how cute

[FirstAscent]

what is a political position?

It's a position which allows you to engage in political debate while having sex.

[ajax3592]

Of course Bitcoins are the way to go for Anarchists. I'm one  and Atheist too.
People who got in it during early days, would not be dependent any more on 9 to 5 jobs.

[Lethn]

I think I've become more 'radical' and 'extreme' in my beliefs, I've always been pretty against government but now I know we can defeat the infrastructure entirely I think I've turned almost purely Anarchist. I do still believe though if we must have government it should be small and not overreaching since we've all seen what happens when it gets a lot bigger.

[Vandroiy]

Nah, it's the other way around: I'm here because of my political position.

If politics were not bonkers, I reckon Bitcoin would be useless. It's only backlash against the insanity that has been compromising banking around the world.

It's not like humanity can't solve the issue of efficiently transmitting money. On the contrary, we need multiple hugely expensive police systems to prevent that. It keeps everyone occupied with anything but the actual criminals, while governments can set up absurd laws that favor their buddies on the markets -- with a glorious enforcement system "against terrorism" already in place.

I'm not under the illusion that Bitcoin is efficient. But what's happening in current banking might be so much less efficient that Bitcoin has a chance.

[Loki8]

some people here seem to welcome anarchist ideals.. but i can't go with that. in an anarchy, it's a fight for survival because there will be people are hungry to climb the ladder from the power vaccum. there would either be war or slavery everywhere. and yes, i know that we are under economic slavery right now, but that's not what i mean. in my mind, it would lead to lots of death and war. at the same time, i know capitalism is fucked up.. so i don't even pretend to know the answer.

Anarchism is for children and naive people... I don't believe in anarchism but I believe in communities. I believe in people working together towards a common goal.
The Amish society is a good example.

[Carlton Banks]

some people here seem to welcome anarchist ideals.. but i can't go with that. in an anarchy, it's a fight for survival because there will be people are hungry to climb the ladder from the power vaccum. there would either be war or slavery everywhere. and yes, i know that we are under economic slavery right now, but that's not what i mean. in my mind, it would lead to lots of death and war. at the same time, i know capitalism is fucked up.. so i don't even pretend to know the answer.

Anarchism is for children and naive people... I don't believe in anarchism but I believe in communities. I believe in people working together towards a common goal.
The Amish society is a good example.

That's right, anarchism and chaos are actually the same word, they're totally interchangeable. That's why so many people use them interchangeably, authority figures especially. Because when you say something out loud, it automatically becomes true.

[NUFCrichard]

So far it hasn't changed my position too much.  When a government tries to shut down Bitcoin, then it will.

[Spendulus]

....

I'm not under the illusion that Bitcoin is efficient. But what's happening in current banking might be so much less efficient that Bitcoin has a chance.

If direct person to person currency destroys the State's ability to require itself to be an intermediary in every transaction (via it's currency) which said currency it then creates as it wishes, the result of direct currency would lessen the power, influence and apparent wealth of the State.  Since it's wealth is only that taken from the people, the effect of bitcoin should be that people get correspondingly richer.

I think bitcoin  if adopted in many nations as a second currency would have very interesting consequences.  For example:  

A decides to go to war against B.  A starts to print money and to ramp up it's military.  People in A move money into bitcoin.  A finds it's ability to go to war against B seriously impacted.

C is in a downward spiral with inflation at 50% per year.    Commerce and business and contracts are severely impacted because nobody knows how the units of currency will perform when the deal made today is executed tomorrow.  Making a contract becomes a form of betting.  As volatile as bitcoin is, it is superior to the currency of country C.  Better money drives out bad money.

I believe these are examples of people achieving a solution through peer to peer networking - with the ecurrency - which previously would have been thought to be solvable only by political changes at the national level.  Hence, bitcoin exposes the weak underside of the political process.  It can't help but destroy one's opinion as to the need for political action or change.

[oakpacific]

I was a supporter of a U.S dominated global political order, because history has invariably shown that the fall of one hegemony inevitably gives rise to a new, often much more dangerous one, especially considering the status quo: despite all that U.S has done, it's still much more benevolent and fair than Russia or China.

However it was entirely out of my expectation that something like Bitcoin can be done, because I am not Satoshi Nakamoto, and I am not the only one who had my "impossible" turned into "possible".

[Walter Rothbard]

haha, former right-winger here.  So glad to meet you in the middle, friend!  I made the journey in the years leading up to Bitcoin.

What was the defining moment when you realized you were an anarchist?

For me the defining moment was when I believed that security and law were services that could be provided by the free market and should not be monopolized by force.  I realized at that point I had completely fallen over the edge.

[Spendulus]

haha, former right-winger here.  So glad to meet you in the middle, friend!  I made the journey in the years leading up to Bitcoin.

What was the defining moment when you realized you were an anarchist?

For me the defining moment was when I believed that security and law were services that could be provided by the free market and should not be monopolized by force.  I realized at that point I had completely fallen over the edge.

The technical plausibility of micropayments, coupled with wide usage of smart phones, has undermined the fundamental need for government in various areas.  Might take a while for people to realize that and implement systems, of course.

[Walter Rothbard]

The technical plausibility of micropayments, coupled with wide usage of smart phones, has undermined the fundamental need for government in various areas.

I never needed coercion.