Bitcoin Documentary!

[neilausburn]

Hello,

I'm working on a documentary about private currency as it relates to contemporary geopolitical issues. I've interviewed Donald Norman from Intersango and I have a few more interviews scheduled. I'm writing this post to get the word out about this trailer I've made for the film:

http://youtu.be/ZGnqi_rUoSs

What do you think about my argument that the U.S. Military's primary objective is to keep the Dollar strong? Do you think if oil wasn't priced in dollars we would see the dollar lose its world reserve status? What correlation, if any, do you see in the dollar losing its world reserve status and a reduction in the standard of living of Americans? Do you think Bitcoin and its frictionless promise can offset this loss in standard of living?   

Neil

[Stephen Gornick]

Link to the Kickstarter page?

Any reason you couldn't also list it in http://PirateMyFilm.com?

The http://PrivateMoneyMovie.com website shows a bitcoin address for donations as well.

[matonis]

Any reason you couldn't also list it in http://PirateMyFilm.com?

The http://PrivateMoneyMovie.com website shows a bitcoin address for donations as well.

Yes just saw it on PMF http://www.piratemyfilm.com/projects/346
I just sent a link to Max Keiser also. The OP should follow up directly to promote; Max is on Twitter.

[matonis]

Neil, what is your email address please?

[RaggedMonk]

I would recommend re-recording this video.  You are    speaking    slowly   with    long    pauses    between     words.  The words are good though.  Get energetic, and practice your speech 10x, and you will seem much more confident and capable. 

[neilausburn]

Hey,

My email is neil at privatemoneymovie dot com

I plan on making a new much shorter trailer for the doc.

I'm thinking of presenting the logistics and the potentiality of private currency to my local chamber of commerce. Has anyone done anything like this before? If we can get one city on earth using private currency as a serious alternative I think this would be a major step in the right direction.

Neil

[draco49]

Bitcoin is not a "private currency" and should not be referred to as such.  Quite the opposite, Bitcoin is completely public and transparent.  I realize that you may be using the term in contrast to traditional fiat currencies.  However, I think it's important to make clear that Bitcoin is a completely decentralized, peer-to-peer, open-source transaction system.  Just my two Satoshis...

[neilausburn]

Bitcoin is not a "private currency" and should not be referred to as such.  Quite the opposite, Bitcoin is completely public and transparent.  I realize that you may be using the term in contrast to traditional fiat currencies.  However, I think it's important to make clear that Bitcoin is a completely decentralized, peer-to-peer, open-source transaction system.  Just my two Satoshis...

Maybe you should update the wikipedia article on private currency. Here is an excerpt:

In the United States, the Free Banking Era lasted between 1837 and 1866, when almost anyone could issue paper money. While there are more restrictions today than in this era, it is still legal to create your own currencies.[dubious – discuss] States, municipalities, private banks, railroad and construction companies, stores, restaurants, churches and individuals printed an estimated 8,000 different monies by 1860 and can still do so today (such as Bitcoin). If an issuer went bankrupt, closed, left town, or otherwise went out of business the note would be worthless. Such organizations earned the nickname of "wildcat banks" for a reputation of unreliability; they were often situated in remote, unpopulated locales said to be inhabited more by wildcats than by people. Yet according to Lawrence H. White's article in The Freeman, "it turns out that 'wildcat' banking is largely a myth. Although stories about crooked banking practices are entertaining—and for that reason have been repeated endlessly by textbooks—modern economic historians have found that there were in fact very few banks that fit any reasonable definition of wildcat bank".[1] The National Bank Act of 1863 ended the "wildcat bank" period.

[TizzyTazzy]

Good luck with your ventures! 

I'm hoping people will see the potential in BTC one day.

[Zhou Tonged]

Make sure to include how many people got Zhou Tonged!!!

[draco49]

Maybe you should update the wikipedia article on private currency. Here is an excerpt:

In the United States, the Free Banking Era lasted between 1837 and 1866, when almost anyone could issue paper money. While there are more restrictions today than in this era, it is still legal to create your own currencies.[dubious – discuss] States, municipalities, private banks, railroad and construction companies, stores, restaurants, churches and individuals printed an estimated 8,000 different monies by 1860 and can still do so today (such as Bitcoin). If an issuer went bankrupt, closed, left town, or otherwise went out of business the note would be worthless. Such organizations earned the nickname of "wildcat banks" for a reputation of unreliability; they were often situated in remote, unpopulated locales said to be inhabited more by wildcats than by people. Yet according to Lawrence H. White's article in The Freeman, "it turns out that 'wildcat' banking is largely a myth. Although stories about crooked banking practices are entertaining—and for that reason have been repeated endlessly by textbooks—modern economic historians have found that there were in fact very few banks that fit any reasonable definition of wildcat bank".[1] The National Bank Act of 1863 ended the "wildcat bank" period.

Thanks for this information.  I'll look into.

[finway]

Watchin'

[Raoul Duke]

Make sure to include how many people got Zhou Tonged!!!

Zhou Tong himself got ZhouTonged. For realzzzzzz!

[matonis]

Bitcoin is not a "private currency" and should not be referred to as such.  Quite the opposite, Bitcoin is completely public and transparent.  I realize that you may be using the term in contrast to traditional fiat currencies.  However, I think it's important to make clear that Bitcoin is a completely decentralized, peer-to-peer, open-source transaction system.  Just my two Satoshis...

This is a good point. "Private money" or "private currency" is usually used to refer to nonpolitical (or non nation-State) issuers, such as Liberty Dollar, e-gold, FB Credits, or Linden Dollars. Bitcoin is private in the sense that it is non-governmental; however, bitcoin is very public in the sense that all transactions are published and that the nodes are collectively managed. It is the ultimate non-Statist public currency.

Definitions are important. Digital currency is a very broad term that refers to issuers, national and private, that operate electronically, with digital cash being a specific subset having privacy attributes more like physical cash. More recently, the term cryptocurrency has come to mean a digital bearer instrument that utilizes cryptography exclusively for its issuance and/or verification. For further information, please see http://digitalcash.org

[Matthew N. Wright]

Make sure to include how many people got Zhou Tonged!!!

Zhou Tong himself got ZhouTonged. For realzzzzzz!

Only an idiot who doesn't know how to use Bitcoinica would come on here with a name like "Zhou Tonged" and keep talking about it.

Some people are such sore losers.

[matonis]

Neil, at the 1:04 mark in your video, you talk about examining the evolution and history of State-dominated money and I thought you might find the following of interest.

Previously, I set out to answer the question: "How did the State specifically go about appropriating the monetary unit for their own use?" which resulted in my thesis at George Washington University: The Political Appropriation of the Monetary Unit at http://www.slideshare.net/jonmatonis/the-political-appropriation-of-the-monetary-unit

[casio]

correlation? check gold historical price against gold.

[check_status]

[PA]You know, Bitcointalk is not Twitter, so please stop using shortened addresses that hide the real addresses.

It has been the goal of the extremely wealthy to have a true global currency since at least the early 1900's, unfortunately that hasn't been possible until more recent times. Bitcoin might be that vehicle, at least for the digital world for now, but eventually it may become a true global currency.

Fascinating fact: A Rockefeller consulted a well known psychic on instituting a global currency in the 30's but was told it would not be possible until at least 1994.

[Stephen Gornick]

extremely wealthy to have a true global currency since at least the early 1900's

I doubt a decentralized Bitcoin was what they had in mind.  Hard to extract an advantage (read interchange fees / payment network fees) when you are competing with a (nearly) free alternative, especially one that is not debt-based.

[molecular]

Awesome!

question: is this project funded via pmf or kickstart or both?

did you select "bitcoin" or "usd" for funding on pmf?