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Being resistant to legal action is an advantage in many parts of the world with repressive government. There are more advantages when you look outside the narr

Being resistant to legal action is an advantage in many parts of the world with repressive government. There are more advantages when you look outside the narrow view of utility in modern western society. Now anyone in the world can explore entrepreneurship and all they need is a computer. Computers are becoming more and more accessible (Raspery Pi's, $100 laptops etc). Now people in poverty stricken countries can establish their own businesses and trade on a world wide scale. No bank accounts needed. Ability to accept micro payments without abhorent fees. > Bitcoin seems to be a very good way of creating a new "club" of a small number of bitcoin-wealthy at the expense of everyone else Currently we live in a society where wealth disparity has reached sickening levels. Bitcoin will significantly reward those who take the risk from an early stage if it does take off. The difference being that Bitcoin is not a fundamentally rigged system.

XorNot 13y ago
> The difference being that Bitcoin is not a fundamentally rigged system. A fundamentally rigged system is any system which doesn't reward merit. That's BitCoin - it doesn't reward merit. Those who got in first, benefit if they convince everyone else to use it. But those they convince do not benefit the same.
- jondtaylor 13y ago
  Not necessarily. The fractional reserve system is rigged in the sense that to use it you must borrow at interest where the interest can not be paid back resulting in assets transferred to the creators of the currency. Bitcoin does not have this property. In my opinion the system of Bitcoin isn't rewarding certain people over others, that is a property of the market.
- snitko 13y ago
  And what is merit? Does Satoshi who created it have merit? Or do those who started mining it back then because they recognized the true potential have merit? Or those who bought it at $2 and then a $10 and then at $100 have merit, because they understand why Bitcoin is important and what it can do to the world? It's not like those who got in are random people. They had some knowledge and experience that allowed them to understand Bitcoin, while everyone else was running around screaming "ponzi scheme"
pjc50 13y ago
I reccomend the work of Hernando de Soto on extralegality: http://www.amazon.com/Other-Path-Hernando-Soto/dp/0465016103/ref=la_B001HMNIIG_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383055367&sr=1-2 http://www.amazon.com/Other-Path-Hernando-Soto/dp/0465016103... In a country (Peru) where formal legal systems functioned extremely badly, there was a huge extralegal economy: houses, businesses, transport, etc all of which didn't officially exist and had no legal protection. Providing a route into the legitimate system provided a huge economic benefit for a lot of people and reduced Maoist terrorism. Bad legal system < Lawlessness / Extralegality < Good legal system.
- TomGullen 13y ago
  Thanks looks interesting, have ordered it.

XorNot 13y ago

> The difference being that Bitcoin is not a fundamentally rigged system. A fundamentally rigged system is any system which doesn't reward merit. That's BitCoin - it doesn't reward merit. Those who got in first, benefit if they convince everyone else to use it. But those they convince do not benefit the same.

jondtaylor 13y ago
Not necessarily. The fractional reserve system is rigged in the sense that to use it you must borrow at interest where the interest can not be paid back resulting in assets transferred to the creators of the currency. Bitcoin does not have this property. In my opinion the system of Bitcoin isn't rewarding certain people over others, that is a property of the market.
snitko 13y ago
And what is merit? Does Satoshi who created it have merit? Or do those who started mining it back then because they recognized the true potential have merit? Or those who bought it at $2 and then a $10 and then at $100 have merit, because they understand why Bitcoin is important and what it can do to the world? It's not like those who got in are random people. They had some knowledge and experience that allowed them to understand Bitcoin, while everyone else was running around screaming "ponzi scheme"

pjc50 13y ago

I reccomend the work of Hernando de Soto on extralegality: http://www.amazon.com/Other-Path-Hernando-Soto/dp/0465016103/ref=la_B001HMNIIG_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383055367&sr=1-2 http://www.amazon.com/Other-Path-Hernando-Soto/dp/0465016103... In a country (Peru) where formal legal systems functioned extremely badly, there was a huge extralegal economy: houses, businesses, transport, etc all of which didn't officially exist and had no legal protection. Providing a route into the legitimate system provided a huge economic benefit for a lot of people and reduced Maoist terrorism. Bad legal system < Lawlessness / Extralegality < Good legal system.

TomGullen 13y ago
Thanks looks interesting, have ordered it.