We should be happy tyranny is allergic to bitcoin, not sad.

[daviducsb]

It now makes the U.S. look bad if we follow the example of the Chinese. Provides a fabulous counterpoint.

Good thinking!

[pungopete468]

The only thing tyranny is allergic to in the United States is the 2nd Amendment. Every other article in our Constitution is no more than words. Oh, look...That's been under attack a lot lately too...

[taltamir]

Since we are talking US specific tyranny.

Fourth amendment is becoming an issue with the NSA spying. A judge has struck down NSA spying on fourth amendment basis, (while also putting his own decision on hold pending appeal review at a higher court due to its magnitude.)

Meanwhile Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has sponsored a bill that would legalize NSA spying on everyone and everything

And tyranny has long been allergic to the 9th and 10th amendment and has long ago rendered it null.

The fifth amendment was violated repeatedly to take down megaupload, it was violated repeatedly to take down egold and the 2 other gold based alternative currencies at the time. And then there are cases with government whistleblows where due process is thrown to the wind and many others

The 8th amendment has been crapped on by the MAFIAA and their cronies.

[pungopete468]

Since we are talking US specific tyranny.

Fourth amendment is becoming an issue with the NSA spying. A judge has struck down NSA spying on fourth amendment basis, (while also putting his own decision on hold pending appeal review at a higher court due to its magnitude.)

Meanwhile Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has sponsored a bill that would legalize NSA spying on everyone and everything

And tyranny has long been allergic to the 9th and 10th amendment and has long ago rendered it null.

The fifth amendment was violated repeatedly to take down megaupload, it was violated repeatedly to take down egold and the 2 other gold based alternative currencies at the time. And then there are cases with government whistleblows where due process is thrown to the wind and many others

The 8th amendment has been crapped on by the MAFIAA and their cronies.

It's lovely to live in a world where the government is always right and where those in power are bestowed with an unimpeachable moral character just because they hold office...

One thing I'll say is that I've never seen so many citizens actually mobilize and insist on anything from our legislation as I saw a few months ago with the whole gun control debacle. The people are waking up and realizing that our liberties have been under heavy attack for nearly a century and are already so diluted that their existence today is even questionable.

I had so many interesting conversations with a few of my customers. It was really an eye opener...

[taltamir]

One thing I'll say is that I've never seen so many citizens actually mobilize and insist on anything from our legislation as I saw a few months ago with the whole gun control debacle. The people are waking up and realizing that our liberties have been under heavy attack for nearly a century and are already so diluted that their existence today is even questionable.

I didn't get out much and I think I might have missed that whole case. What happened a few months ago?

[pungopete468]

The sweeping "Common Sense" gun control bills introduced to keep you safe from your guns...

Pretty much after the Sandy Hook massacre the Gun Control crowd tried to push for crazy laws that restrict, delay, and weaken the 2nd Amendment. They would have done nothing to slow crime, or prevent violence, but would've made criminals out of a lot of regular people who hold tightly to that which they believe in; the natural right to self defense and preservation of life and liberty. Laws were passed in a few States but Federally the proposals were overwhelmingly defeated. The one thing they didn't see coming was that logic is apparently contagious and people still possess the powers to reason. It was crazy, I bet you can find articles about it online. I actually thought there might be a second civil war with the way some people were talking. Texas threatened cessation from the union, it was just a big mess...

Colorado for instance recalled two of the State legislators who voted against their wishes in enacting some of the regulations, and one of the States' Senators resigned under the threat of being recalled.

I can't believe anybody living in this country didn't notice the change in the political atmosphere in early 2013 because of the way it fumigated to regular people. lol

[taltamir]

Oh, you meant the sandy hook thing... has it really only been a few months? time perception is odd like that

[QuestionAuthority]

The sweeping "Common Sense" gun control bills introduced to keep you safe from your guns...

Pretty much after the Sandy Hook massacre the Gun Control crowd tried to push for crazy laws that restrict, delay, and weaken the 2nd Amendment. They would have done nothing to slow crime, or prevent violence, but would've made criminals out of a lot of regular people who hold tightly to that which they believe in; the natural right to self defense and preservation of life and liberty. Laws were passed in a few States but Federally the proposals were overwhelmingly defeated. The one thing they didn't see coming was that logic is apparently contagious and people still possess the powers to reason. It was crazy, I bet you can find articles about it online. I actually thought there might be a second civil war with the way some people were talking. Texas threatened cessation from the union, it was just a big mess...

Colorado for instance recalled two of the State legislators who voted against their wishes in enacting some of the regulations, and one of the States' Senators resigned under the threat of being recalled.

I can't believe anybody living in this country didn't notice the change in the political atmosphere in early 2013 because of the way it fumigated to regular people. lol

They don't have to take your guns away before they take away your rights. They have been slowly eroding away your rights for years without civil war. People are even voting for it and agreeing with the change.  Governments have two powerful weapons they can use against you, fear and God, neither of which require bloodshed to force crippling destruction of civil rights.

Evil actors are drawn to government service and law enforcement like a moth to a flame. The very act of wanting to be in control over others probably means they shouldn't be. These evil actors band together to extend their power at the expense of your liberty. They have currently expanded their power so much that this country is a shell of its former self. I'm embarrassed to be a citizen of this country.

China's government suffers from the same problem. Evil actors do everything and anything to remain in power. I don't see the difference between the two countries and their reaction to Bitcoin has been pretty close. They let the people play with it but keep it from being really useful to the people. China has the largest standing army in the world that is used most often to control their own people. The two largest military budgets in the world are the US and China. The similarities of control are very close. The only difference is the style of how they control and that's based on culture.

[madmadmax]

If China isn't a democracy then what is? The U.S.? Because of course we know that there are absolutely NO people in the U.S. that are paid to spy on their own citizens, and never for monetary gain! Pftt...

[luqash3]

Wilikon you are absolutely correct that china is not a democratic country. Chinese leaders have imprisoned their civilians where many restriction has been imposed upon them. I feel sorrow for the slave labor of china who are deprived from their basic rights including usage of bitcoin, google and many other things

[Wilikon]

I suppose this is going to be the first test of just how well Bitcoin's revolutionary credentials stack up. We have this idea that it is unstoppable, that its a tool for financial (and other) freedom that responds to government sanctions by simply ignoring them, that it gives the Joe Schmoes of the world the power to store and transact wealth that no centralised authority can take away from them no matter how much it wants to. We need to test Bitcoin's robustness in an ever more hostile and ruthless environment. So let's thank the Chinese government for their eagerness to assist our experiment.

My point exactly. We should be happy tyranny is allergic to bitcoin, not sad.

[Wilikon]

If China isn't a democracy then what is? The U.S.? Because of course we know that there are absolutely NO people in the U.S. that are paid to spy on their own citizens, and never for monetary gain! Pftt...

At least in the USA a citizen can name what amendment is under attack. A judge can do the same. Slavery was codified then broken.
In no way it means racism is gone in the USA, freedom are not under attack in the USA, inequalities etc. But at least you can see it, read it and do whatever it takes to fight for what you believe should be "right", no matter your political spectrum in the USA.
Now can you name me what Chinese constitutional amendments are under attack right now?

[taltamir]

Just because both china and the USA violate human rights and even their own laws at the whims of the tyrants doesn't mean that the scale of the violations are the same.
Also, the ability to complain about and fight against these violations without being tossed in a gulag is important.

That being said, I don't delude myself into thinking the USA is truly a "land of the free". its the "land of the slightly less enslaved"

[madmadmax]

If China isn't a democracy then what is? The U.S.? Because of course we know that there are absolutely NO people in the U.S. that are paid to spy on their own citizens, and never for monetary gain! Pftt...

At least in the USA a citizen can name what amendment is under attack. A judge can do the same. Slavery was codified then broken.
In no way it means racism is gone in the USA, freedom are not under attack in the USA, inequalities etc. But at least you can see it, read it and do whatever it takes to fight for what you believe should be "right", no matter your political spectrum in the USA.
Now can you name me what Chinese constitutional amendments are under attack right now?

No you can't, it has already been revealed that the NSA targets people who spread controversial political ideologies and people that are against USA waging wars abroad etc. What I like about China, Russia and other countries is that they are corrupt but they don't deny it, they don't brainwash their people to believe that they are freedom fighters and so on, no one even bother to hide just how corrupt they are, they are bad liars.

You can point at the piece of paper as often as you like, you will end up in Guantanamo or in a black bag in a deep grave as soon as you begin to make a difference.

[taltamir]

If China isn't a democracy then what is? The U.S.? Because of course we know that there are absolutely NO people in the U.S. that are paid to spy on their own citizens, and never for monetary gain! Pftt...

At least in the USA a citizen can name what amendment is under attack. A judge can do the same. Slavery was codified then broken.
In no way it means racism is gone in the USA, freedom are not under attack in the USA, inequalities etc. But at least you can see it, read it and do whatever it takes to fight for what you believe should be "right", no matter your political spectrum in the USA.
Now can you name me what Chinese constitutional amendments are under attack right now?

No you can't, it has already been revealed that the NSA targets people who spread controversial political ideologies and people that are against USA waging wars abroad etc. What I like about China, Russia and other countries is that they are corrupt but they don't deny it, they don't brainwash their people to believe that they are freedom fighters and so on, no one even bother to hide just how corrupt they are, they are bad liars.

The difference is that the USA had been less corrupt at some point and is getting worse.
I would actually say china is getting better, its still corrupt as hell but it was worse in the past.

[TippingPoint]

Take precautions.
https://prism-break.org

You have free speech, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but probably only anonymously on the internet.

[rocks]

Citizens do worse then nothing, they keep on voting pro police state candidates from BOTH parties.

The entire occupy movement is an astroturf retaliation against the tea party who are the only people who actually protest the loss of our freedoms. Tea party is enemy #1 for the republicans who ally with the democrats against them.

The is why the MSM labels the Tea Party as a bunch of ignorant rasist hicks. When in fact it is the complete opposite and represents a true awakening of the people.

It's reached the point that the government is sponsoring studies to shift public perception of the movement. Last year the government gave $400,000 to a Yale professor to "conducted a cross-analysis of intelligence and political affiliation, expecting to find that people who identified with the tea party knew less about science than the average person."

The professor did the study expecting Tea Party members would score worse. Instead he found the opposite and that “Identifying with the Tea Party correlates positively … with scores on the science comprehension measure.” This shows that: 1) The MSM/Gov is actively trying to discredit the movement 2) The MSM/Gov have successfully brainwashed people to discredit the Tea Party and create bigoted impressions of the people in the movement (in this case a Yale professor) and 3) These stereotypes are not based in reality.
 
http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/17/prof-sets-out-to-prove-tea-partiers-are-stupid-admits-he-was-wrong/

Yep, that's right. I was talking to friend about the Boston bombing that happened recently. He was all happy that the LEOs handled it so quickly and kept talking about what a great job they did. All I could see when looking at the still images and videos was flash backs of studying WWII Germany. Jackbooted soldiers marching into peoples homes without Martial Law and without a warrant. Scary!

IMHO this was the most scary thing in all of 2013. Not the "suspension" of constititional rights but people's acceptance of it. It shows how far the independent mindset in the US has fallen.

[taltamir]

Yep, that's right. I was talking to friend about the Boston bombing that happened recently. He was all happy that the LEOs handled it so quickly and kept talking about what a great job they did. All I could see when looking at the still images and videos was flash backs of studying WWII Germany. Jackbooted soldiers marching into peoples homes without Martial Law and without a warrant. Scary!

Can someone educate me about this please? I have been living under a rock for some time.
What boston bombing, who is the LEO, and what happened with jackbooted thugs marching into peoples home

[QuestionAuthority]

Yep, that's right. I was talking to friend about the Boston bombing that happened recently. He was all happy that the LEOs handled it so quickly and kept talking about what a great job they did. All I could see when looking at the still images and videos was flash backs of studying WWII Germany. Jackbooted soldiers marching into peoples homes without Martial Law and without a warrant. Scary!

Can someone educate me about this please? I have been living under a rock for some time.
What boston bombing, who is the LEO, and what happened with jackbooted thugs marching into peoples home

Take a look at the photos in this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=181212.0

LEOs is short for Law Enforcement Officers

[Wilikon]

Yep, that's right. I was talking to friend about the Boston bombing that happened recently. He was all happy that the LEOs handled it so quickly and kept talking about what a great job they did. All I could see when looking at the still images and videos was flash backs of studying WWII Germany. Jackbooted soldiers marching into peoples homes without Martial Law and without a warrant. Scary!

Can someone educate me about this please? I have been living under a rock for some time.
What boston bombing, who is the LEO, and what happened with jackbooted thugs marching into peoples home

LEO is "Law Enforcement Officer"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0mU7VATsC8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tweC6mcTbm0