Why does everyone insist on drawing a distinction between money supplied by the government and money supplied by the people. They are the same. The government, in it's current condition is supposed to be the people.
"Whoa - all that "national" stuff is paid for, either directly by taxpayers, or indirectly through bond-holders, or as "consumers." There is no
such thing as "government-paid" anything - it all ends up coming out of your pockets, or your kids pockets."
The fact that MMO servers rely on subsidized power and roads and protection is a fact, and money comes from the government, and thus from the people.
"In other words, taxing transactions that don't involve the exchange of legal tender - you know - REAL money - is pure BS, because nothing or REAL
value has changed hands. Or will the IRS start accepting payment in Linden Dollars and WoW points?
Certainly the IRS won't except Gold of Linden Dollars, but do you think that American Dollars actually have REAL value? All investing is a zero-sum game, no wealth is created from trading, it simply mutually improves the position of the parties involved. The dollar has value because we think it does. If everyone played WoW and all the servers had the same exchange rate to the dollar, WoW gold could reach the same perceived value as any other currency. It is not BS that the IRS tax commercial activities in the online realm. If I own a store and I sell WoW trading cards....should I not be taxed because the cards have no money? The fact is people are receiving American dollars for their sweat equity in the online world, which is no different from any other entrepreneurial activity.
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Why does everyone insist on drawing a distinction between money supplied by the government and money supplied by the people. They are the same. The government, in it's current condition is supposed to be the people.
"Whoa - all that "national" stuff is paid for, either directly by taxpayers, or indirectly through bond-holders, or as "consumers." There is no
such thing as "government-paid" anything - it all ends up coming out of your pockets, or your kids pockets."
The fact that MMO servers rely on subsidized power and roads and protection is a fact, and money comes from the government, and thus from the people.
"In other words, taxing transactions that don't involve the exchange of legal tender - you know - REAL money - is pure BS, because nothing or REAL
value has changed hands. Or will the IRS start accepting payment in Linden Dollars and WoW points?
Certainly the IRS won't except Gold of Linden Dollars, but do you think that American Dollars actually have REAL value? All investing is a zero-sum game, no wealth is created from trading, it simply mutually improves the position of the parties involved. The dollar has value because we think it does. If everyone played WoW and all the servers had the same exchange rate to the dollar, WoW gold could reach the same perceived value as any other currency. It is not BS that the IRS tax commercial activities in the online realm. If I own a store and I sell WoW trading cards....should I not be taxed because the cards have no money? The fact is people are receiving American dollars for their sweat equity in the online world, which is no different from any other entrepreneurial activity.