There are multiple systems of exchange commodities. The individual currencies are only a couple subsets.
There are currencies convertible and nonconvertible. You can convert even the nonconvertible ones if you spend sufficient effort and offer good enough exchange rate (which greatly helps in finding a willing merchant).
The hyperinflation period in between-wars Germany shown use of various commodities in place of a fiat currency, as a desperate plea for stability in at least the local scope, with varying success. But good as an example.
Deeper in history, wheat used to be a currency of sort too. And so on and on and on.
The āone system/schemeā is in fact a mesh of interrelated individual systems with different strengths and weaknesses. Bitcoin is one of them, one of many.
I agree, but on a micro-level nations seem to require most people to adopt one native currency for use in daily transactions. This tends to be what the population of people who arenāt specifically investing in currencies define as āthe real oneā. The problem is that the people who seem to understand the inter-relationships and use of different currencies are precisely those same people who are already doing this with fiat currencies. This seems to increase the challenge of using cryptocurrencies to empower the masses of people who would most stand to benefit from them.
I disagree. It is better to not offer oneās employment or services to groups who combat the activism which one feels has become necessary. Subordinating yourself to groups with destructive ideologies sounds counterproductive, to say the least.
There is no āreal oneā. If you travel a bit, or order things over the Net, you already juggle a couple of currencies with different properties and values. Bitcoin is not That Much Different, in principle.
The terms of employment you would be agreeing to, most likely.
Most businesses and governments appear to be staffed entirely by moles, since nobody ever seems to be clear on why they are there or what they should be doing. It might be efficient enough for some, anywayā¦
What I was trying to say was that Bitcoin was being pushed as an alternative to the state currencies and a fix to capitalism, but I believe that the problems with capitalism go much deeper and Bitcoin doesnāt address these problems. Some of my neighbours need to go to the food bank to feed their families. Bitcoin is completely useless to them, they canāt pay their rent or bills with it and they have no disposable income.
However, I am at the opposite end of the economic spectrum from the anarcho-capitalists and crypto-anarchists who favour cryptocurrencies.
I donāt think it was ever intended as a Big Fix. That was maybe the perception when at the soaring side of the Gartnerās hype curve. Itās also not a worthless toy, as the bottom of the curve says. Iād class it as a band-aid that addresses a small subset of the general problems, and my guess is that the steady-state end of the curve will be something about that.
[quote=āpopobawa4u, post:173, topic:50111ā]
ā¦ terms of employment you would be agreeing to, most likely. ā¦ since nobody ever seems to be clear on why they are there or what they should be doing
[/quote]You seem to think that you have quite a bit of insight into people youāve never met before in your life. You would seem a bit pseudo-intellectual and presumptuous to me if I didnāt know you so well from all those years we worked together in that dangerous coal mine in West Virginia. Iāll never forget that long night where I held you in my arms after Gus was taken by that methane gas leak. You cried and cried and cried. We bonded that night and we told each other our darkest secrets. No wonder we know each other so well today, most likely.
[quote=āthe_borderer, post:174, topic:50111ā]
What I was trying to say was that Bitcoin was being pushed as an alternative to the state currencies and a fix to capitalism
[/quote]No doubt there are the zealots who attach themselves to Bitcoin as some sort of neo-libertarian āfree marketā savior thatās going to eliminate traditional currency.
However, the people Iāve been associated with thought no such thing. Itās just been a form of crypto-currency (one of the weaker ones, but popular) that has better privacy functions than most traditional currency and is also a precarious investment opportunity (like many investments like stocks are).
Got in early with minimal investment and hardware, then watched it soar to an obvious bubble, and finally proceeded to sell it before the bottom dropped out. In the meantime, was able to use it as a anonymous payment system.
Like many other investments, good to get in earlyā¦ then get out while the getting is good. Buy low, sell high. Profit.
I believe that the problems with capitalism go much deeper and Bitcoin doesn't address these problems.
Agreed, crypto-currency is simply a tool and not much more than that. And, frankly, there's far more secure and interesting other forms of it outside of Bitcoin at this point.
Some of my neighbours need to go to the food bank to feed their families. Bitcoin is completely useless to them, they can't pay their rent or bills with it and they have no disposable income.
Perhaps it's useless to them, but then again that depends upon whether that food bank accepts Bitcoin donations or not.
I am at the opposite end of the economic spectrum from the anarcho-capitalists and crypto-anarchists who favour cryptocurrencies.
So are most people I know that favor crypto-currency. Then again, I'm not sure how you define "anarchist". Like Noam Chomsky or like Black bloc?
@OtherMichael, Donāt think I forgot about what you did for us that night. I remember how you held me tightly while I cried while at the same time I was holding the crying popobawa4u. A three-way cry-fest in the name of dead Gus. And, that God damn methane may have taken Gus away in body, but his crusty coal miner spirit lives on in our tears.
Thanks for being so emotionally open about that night, it sounds beautiful
@SteampunkBanana, you should have seen us. Under the burning glow of a methane gas fire we spoke of secrets that released our crying souls into a cavernous outreach of despairish liberation.
It was the impression I got pretty early on (2009-10? early enough that it was mostly graphics cards being used to mine).
And like most tools, I expect there are good uses for the technology outside of itās original intent.
No. I donāt know of any that do (in the UK at least, I havenāt looked anywhere else).
Thatās a good definition for myself (the anarcha-feminist flag in my profile picture is there for a reason), but I had already specified anarcho-capitalists and crypto-anarchists both of which are usually on the economic right. Iāll leave the debate about whether they are really anarchists and whether capitalism is intrinsically coercive for another time.
On the libertarian economic left some people have adopted the idea of crypto-currencies but others have rejected them. I canāt buy anything from Crimethinc or Freedom Press with Bitcoin, and the London Anarchist Bookfair (or any of the stalls there) didnāt accept them last year.
