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I find it a bit silly that "catching tax fraud" is the main marker of the authoritarian. And then some jump to bitcoin, which is by definition perfectly auditab
by rtpg 10y ago
I find it a bit silly that "catching tax fraud" is the main marker of the authoritarian. And then some jump to bitcoin, which is by definition perfectly auditable, as a decentralised ledger.
Even in a cashless society, governments (well some, anyways) still require warrants to search business records, to wiretap, to follow you around.
Inversely, even in cashful societies tracking all of this is still pretty easy. You register car purchases through the state. Your employer files taxes.
This is why a strong, independent judiciary is important!
- jimmywanger 10y agoI don't think that's the main marker of the authoritarian, and that's a fairly reductive way to think about it. Put it another way, what can be tracked should be tracked is the way we should be thinking about authoritarians. If there exists a database where all transactions can be monitored and datamined, they will be monitored and datamined in the name of national security, terrorism, or money laundering. Plus, I don't even want to think about private companies. "Sorry sir, unless you give us the right to search your financial records for suspicious transactions, we're not giving you car insurance or a mortgage. Or a job."