Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Bitcoin: The Tyranny Test

By Paul Rosenberg

An increasing number of people have complained about governments and central banks in recent years, even using the word "tyranny" to describe them. They are, of course, called names in the establishment press: conspiracy theorists, mainly.

Calling someone a name, however, does not erase their argument (at least not among rational people) and both the governments and the big banks stand accused.

Up till now, however, these accusations were never accepted by the general public. The average guy really didn't want to hear about the evils of government money. After all, that was the only thing he had ever used to buy food, clothes, gasoline, cars, and so on. He didn't want to acknowledge the accusations because he feared what might happen to him without his usual money.

Now, however, we have a brand new currency (called Bitcoin) available to us: something radically different. This gives us a new way to directly address the subject of monetary tyranny, providing a clear test for the governments and money masters of the world:
If they are truly NOT tyrannical, they will leave this new currency alone.
If they ARE tyrannical, they will attack the new currency because it eats into their scam.
In other words, Bitcoin is a test for "the powers that be." The way they deal with this new method of exchange will reveal their true nature.

If they ignore Bitcoin, they refute the charges of tyranny. If they attack it, they verify those charges.
After all, what honest reason could there be to attack an inherently peaceful tool for transferring value?

PROSPECTIVE REASONS

Reasons to attack Bitcoin have recently appeared in the "public square." Here are the three most popular ones, each followed with some analysis:
It can be used for money laundering. 
Of course it can be used for money laundering – ANY currency can be used for money laundering. Currencies are neutral – that is their purpose!Currencies are valuable precisely because they can be exchanged for anything else – that's why we use them!
Moreover, dollars and Euros and Pounds are used for money laundering every day. Consider the recent money laundering crimes of HSBC andWachovia/Wells Fargo. These banks laundered hundreds of billions of dollars for violent drug cartels. And consider that this amount of laundered money is several hundred times the value of every Bitcoin in existence.
No one from either bank went to jail. Neither bank was shut down. Neither bank suffered more than a minor fine. So, how much of a concern can money laundering really be to governments and banks? Clearly not much. 
But, since they accuse Bitcoin of being used for bad things, let's be clear about the situation:
  • Every mafioso uses government money.
  • Every drug smuggler uses government money.
  • Every terrorist uses government money.
  • Every pornographer uses government money.
  • Every criminal of every type uses government money.
They also use the telephone system and the mail and banks and a wide variety of government services. But government money is good and Bitcoin is bad?
Read the rest here.

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