I've a bone to pick with a libertarian. Possibly more than one, but not everyone. At the moment, my focus is this one (who also penned this and this and this). Surely, Gary North's ax is sharp as a samurai sword with so much grinding.
Mr. North is a well-known and respected libertarian and economic expert (if you run in those circles). For people who desire freedom (a term I use exclusively in the political sense), what he says is important to ponder. Such reflection has led me to three conclusions: 1) his understanding of bitcoin is minuscule; 2) he is contradicting some of his own principles by denouncing bitcoin, and; 3) he is blatantly ignoring his own field of theoretical science - Austrian economics - and, more specifically, praxeology, the logic of action and the science of means. Although irrelevant, these conclusions lead me to suspect he is intentionally putting his erudition aside because it conflicts with his worldview.
To substantiate my conclusions, I'm not going to discuss bitcoin's technical aspects, its potential benefits, or why it matters. There are people far more capable to present the likes of transferring digital property more securely, decentralized trust, etc. He won't care about those anyway.
Mr. North is waiting for "a detailed defense of Bitcoins from an Austrian school economist or economic historian." I am neither. But such credentials are not required for a proper defense. We can simply use his Austrian school premises. As he is fond of Ludwig von Mises, Human Action (HA) seems an appropriate reference to debunk what he claims are decisive economic principles concerning bitcoin's demise. I will reference it often and try not to duplicate where Austrian economists already have refuted Mr. North.
As an aside, that's one of the great things about Mises: although the reading is rather dry (I imagine more so if you're not interested in the subject matter), the messages and support logic are very clear and easily understood.
Mr. North has written extensively on bitcoin and, although I expect I could, I choose not to address the problem with every argument in every screed. There are too many. Candidly, the more I read, the more bizarre they became. So I will be selective. But, before questioning some of the contradictions and double-standards with his arguments, I want to address a critical topic that I think is missing from all bitcoin debate, especially Mr. North's...
Philosophy.
Continued at
http://valme.io/c/bitcoin/5sqqs/the-morality-of-bitcoin-or-why-one-libertarian-has-it-all-wrong/
