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Please read the comic even if you have differing views to the author. You might be surprised by what's in it, and he has a good sense of humor. I would also rec

Please read the comic even if you have differing views to the author. You might be surprised by what's in it, and he has a good sense of humor. I would also recommend Schiff's "The Kingdom of Moltz"[1] Bitcoin is absolutely biased towards a libertarian/individualist/voluntaryist viewpoint. If we consider that inflation is effectively a hidden tax that you have no ability to vote on, then it is an immoral tax to which you should not be subjected. Not all bitcoiners are anti-tax, and there are many classic liberals among us who share the belief of no taxation without representation. Some of us are less favourable to governments, having understood lessons from history, and would prefer to keep the government at a bare minimum or not even have it at all. To people who would rather decide how their own money is spent, bitcoin is an invaluable tool. It can be held in ways which are unconfiscatable, untaxable, uncensorable and plausibly deniable. People have greater ability to choose where there money is spent, rather than having a gang of armed thugs demand you pay up and then they decide how the money is spent. Irwin Schiff was a victim of such violence - right up to his death in a prison hospital. We don't need to look back in history to understand where excess governmental power can lead us though, as we only need to look at China. In China, the majority of the population use WePay for commerce, and every single transaction goes through a central point of failure (the government). The financial activity of citizens is traced and linked to their social credit scores, along with other things like obedience towards the state. Disobedience can leave you with a credit score too low to allow you to board a train out of your region, or leave the country at all. Complete robbing of individual liberties in the name of the "collective good," but none of it is about being good towards your fellow neighbour, it is about being obedient to the State. If unchecked, this social credit score system will almost certainly be coming to the US. We are already dangerously close with vaccine passports. Those in power would absolutely love for a Central Bank Digital Currency to be rolled out where they can know everything about everyone and prevent undesirables from transacting. Bitcoin is currently the thorn in their side - the only viable alternative to despots controlling every aspect of your life. [1]:https://freedom-school.com/tax-matters/moltz.pdf https://freedom-school.com/tax-matters/moltz.pdf

mgh2 5y ago
> Complete robbing of individual liberties in the name of the "collective good," but none of it is about being good towards your fellow neighbour, it is about being obedient to the State. Are you sure? Where do you think social security, public education, infrastructure, hospitals, parks, national defense, etc, come from? They were funded by the government with taxes. COVID relief? In authoritarian or corrupt states this is a concern. But for the US and many Western nations, the state is mostly a force for good American bias: you take for granted and don't appreciate what you have
- sparkie 5y ago
  > Are you sure of this? Where do you think retirement income comes from? Public schools, infrastructure, hospitals, parks, national defense, COVID relief, etc? They came from the government... I was referring to the social credit system, not just taxation. Social credit is an absolutely inhuman way of treating people. We are not slaves of a government. In regards to where income comes from: it comes from the tax-payer, not the government. The trouble is the tax-payer did not contribute to this of their own volition, but did so under duress because they were extorted by the government which threatens violence for non-compliance. If people deem the services you listed as ideal or necessary, they would of course, contribute to them without the need for force. How does a State become authoritarian, and what put these western states in the position they are in today? The answer is that the ancestors people of those states fought numerous violent rebellions against their slave-masters to obtain the freedoms that are enjoyed (in decreasing fashion) today. But what happens when a population becomes docile, or robbed of their ability to fight a rebellion against a corrupt government. What if the docile even encourage putting their fellow neighbour into such position of helplessness? Governments are not a force for good. They never have been in history. The only thing that keeps them on a good path is the ability of their populations to hold them accountable. If you remove that ability, you will soon find out that your government is not a force for good. Cambodians found that out after surrendering their arms. Australia is learning the hard lesson as we speak. I'm not American anyway, but America enjoys the most freedom in the world thanks to its thoughtful founders, who put some constraints on future governments. Today, these constraints are often ignored and you even have the docile calling for them to be abolished.

mgh2 5y ago

> Complete robbing of individual liberties in the name of the "collective good," but none of it is about being good towards your fellow neighbour, it is about being obedient to the State. Are you sure? Where do you think social security, public education, infrastructure, hospitals, parks, national defense, etc, come from? They were funded by the government with taxes. COVID relief? In authoritarian or corrupt states this is a concern. But for the US and many Western nations, the state is mostly a force for good American bias: you take for granted and don't appreciate what you have

sparkie 5y ago
> Are you sure of this? Where do you think retirement income comes from? Public schools, infrastructure, hospitals, parks, national defense, COVID relief, etc? They came from the government... I was referring to the social credit system, not just taxation. Social credit is an absolutely inhuman way of treating people. We are not slaves of a government. In regards to where income comes from: it comes from the tax-payer, not the government. The trouble is the tax-payer did not contribute to this of their own volition, but did so under duress because they were extorted by the government which threatens violence for non-compliance. If people deem the services you listed as ideal or necessary, they would of course, contribute to them without the need for force. How does a State become authoritarian, and what put these western states in the position they are in today? The answer is that the ancestors people of those states fought numerous violent rebellions against their slave-masters to obtain the freedoms that are enjoyed (in decreasing fashion) today. But what happens when a population becomes docile, or robbed of their ability to fight a rebellion against a corrupt government. What if the docile even encourage putting their fellow neighbour into such position of helplessness? Governments are not a force for good. They never have been in history. The only thing that keeps them on a good path is the ability of their populations to hold them accountable. If you remove that ability, you will soon find out that your government is not a force for good. Cambodians found that out after surrendering their arms. Australia is learning the hard lesson as we speak. I'm not American anyway, but America enjoys the most freedom in the world thanks to its thoughtful founders, who put some constraints on future governments. Today, these constraints are often ignored and you even have the docile calling for them to be abolished.