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In a rational world where declaring that government should be responsible for the foundational services that enable civil society the universal payment transact
by olefoo 14y ago
In a rational world where declaring that government should be responsible for the foundational services that enable civil society the universal payment transaction service would be operated by the government as a public utility.
In this hypothetical rational world, you would go to the government office when you needed to open a new payment account to make or receive payments. You would show proof of identity, and receive a duly signed certificate bound to a a hardware token of a standard type that you could then use to make transactions both on and offline. Since everybody would use the same systems there would be no questions about if someone could pay you.
But in this world, government securing the currency is regarded as an outmoded and dangerous idea, unless it's a bailout...
- raintrees 14y agoI am reminded of a Max Headroom episode that covered the character Edison Carter's loss of one of those devices. It was also his key to personal property (house, car).
- Domenic_S 14y ago> In a rational world where declaring that government should be responsible for the foundational services that enable civil society the universal payment transaction service would be operated by the government as a public utility. Already exists. It's called cash.
- olefoo 14y agoThat's one of the points I was alluding to. the .gov already does this in the physical world; why have they allowed a layer of private interests to insert themselves into the process when it is performed electronically?