You don't need to hold bitcoin long, to use them to get your money out.
Without arguing any particular case, capital controls usually exist for a reason and every country has them to some degree or another. To escape a repressive or incompetent regime (say Venezuela) I have no quarrel with someone using bitcoin to do what they need to do. But that is a tiny fraction of what is happening with bitcoin and its certainly a poor argument against governments in general.
_All_ currencies have invariably been disastrous 'sooner or later'. You just don't want the blame landing where it belongs.
Demonstrably untrue. Currencies that lack the mechanisms to adapt to changing needs are disastrous. Had the dollar stayed on the gold standard, that would have been a disaster. That's not a trivial distinction and it's unclear that bitcoin has any such flexibility baked in.
Right now, Chinese investors are legally trapped in the Chinese bubble (unless related to someone powerful), thank dog for bitcoin.
I think you have a more negative view of China than the reality of the situation for most people. It's a more complicated situation than you are framing it to be. Every major economy has capital controls to one degree or another. At least some of the reasons for China's currency controls actually aren't evil. I traveled to China during grad school to study this very issue. Without getting into the weeds it's safe to say it is a complicated issue. Bitcoin won't be the solution to them.
_All_ currencies have invariably been disastrous 'sooner or later'. You just don't want the blame landing where it belongs.
I'm not the one with a fixation on hating governments. Show me real evidence to believe that crypto-currencies will fix everything and I'll join the bandwagon enthusiastically. As it is I think bitcoin is hugely flawed and those promoting it are mostly doing so with absurd, ideological, and/or naive arguments.
There is no inherent reason that governments should issue currency.
There is also no inherent reason that governments shouldn't issue currency. What exactly is your point? Furthermore I can't think of any non-governmental entity I would trust with the responsibility of managing currency more than a government. (or in the case of the US the Fed which is overseen by the government) At least with a government we collectively get a say in matters and there are mechanisms of accountability. Not so with something like bitcoin. There is zero accountability in bitcoin or anything like it.
The point is to take away the printing press, not give one to every little stain of a government.
You seem to have a fixation with the premise that governments are inherently a bad thing. Frankly I don't buy that premise as any sort of general proposition. The ability to "print money" isn't inherently evil. It's just something to be cautious about but useful under some circumstances.
Doesn't really matter unless Apple copies what Microsoft did. The idea of apps that work across different devices with common development underpinnings is a very reasonable one. It's just not super easy to pull off. But the first company to do it well will probably make some serious bank so it's worth working on. And frankly Microsoft, Google and Apple are all working towards harmonized apps in one way or another and have been for a long time.
Maybe it is the RULES themselves that need changing...break the monopolies that the taxi companies have had all these years, and force the entrenched companies to compete, and perhaps we'd see marked improvement on the taxis that are available.....
Maybe they do need to change. Uber doesn't get the right to decide that unilaterally. You don't tear down a fence unless you understand why it was built in the first place. If Uber wants to lobby to change the laws to something (hopefully) better I have no problem with that.
I mean because right now, a taxi cannot compete on cleanliness, promptness or price with Uber. They have no incentive to at this time.
Uber is losing money a breathtaking pace (hundreds of millions per month) so let's not pretend that Uber is selling their services for more than they actually cost to provide. I can provide great service for a while at less than it costs but sooner or later that has to end. Uber is well funded but it's not clear they are actually more economically efficient.
Bitcoin's main service to humanity is avoiding capital controls, it does that well.
You seem to have forgotten that whenever we've tried poorly regulated currencies on any sort of meaningful scale the results have invariably been disastrous sooner or later. We have capital controls because not having them is worse. Read a history book sometime. Good economic policy requires good governance - not too much and not too little.
Here is the argument for bitcoin: It is mathematically finite and thus cannot be externally inflated away in value. Thus it makes an ideal currency.
You can still have inflation with a fixed money supply. In fact you can even contract the money supply and still have inflation in some circumstances. Furthermore bitcoin is already experiencing fairly rapid deflation which is possibly worse if anything.
Bitcoin is growing almost entirely due to speculation and its utility for illicit transactions. This has nothing to do with some abstract confidence in computer code. This is people who are greedy looking to make a fast buck. The simplest explanation is the correct one here and that is greed.
When all you have is a libertarian hammer, every problem looks like a government nail.
Truer words have rarely been said. The notion of keeping government out of things were it isn't competent or helpful is a very reasonable principle. Problem is that like everything else some people take it too far - basically to the point of being a religion.
Governments are not always bad nor are they always good Governments can be a force for positive change if carefully watched Governments will be a force for terrible things if not carefully watched There are some things governments do better than the private sector and vice versa The government is necessary and competent for FAR more than just policing and contract enforcement The private sector is generally terrible at doing anything that does not or should not involve a short term profit motive Raising taxes is sometimes necessary and proper and beneficial to society. To pretend otherwise is just naked greed. Freedom doesn't mean the absence of government.
In other words....government finds a way to get in and mess up something that has been innovative, proven popular and successful.
You mean a company that has been losing money at a clip of $500 million every month with no signs of profitability even in the face of ignoring the law to save money and grow. Yeah, SUPER successful... [/sarcasm]
Good thing govt wasn't this bad a 100 or so years ago....we'd otherwise still have a thriving buggy whip industry.
Peculiar view of how wonderful the world was 100 years ago. 100 years women weren't allowed to vote, minorities (particularly blacks) were subject to Jim Crow laws which wouldn't end for another 50 years, the Fair Labor Standards Act wouldn't be passed for another 20 years, etc.
This notion that government is always bad is in stark denial of reality.
However, I've never really had anybody defend that position with actual quotes, taken in context about some topic that's actually material to the governing of the country.
Then you haven't bothered to look. 20 seconds on google would get you endless lists of his lies documented and refuted or explained. Serious news organization are keeping track of them.
I get that he's abrasive and spouts off stuff of questionable sources at times, but I don't see him as the kind that just lies to hear himself speak, or lies for political advantage like some from the other side of the isle have in the past.
Then you are truly a clueless idiot.
"Tapped my wires" tweet which was widely condemned as a lie but was pretty much true looking back on what we know now.
I don't know where you get your information but it was a lie then and it is a lie now. There is no evidence for this claim.
This is probably nothing more than a pump and dump scheme in action. They happen all the time and they tend to happen a lot during bubbles. The dotcom bubble was positively loaded with them.
Where I'm not going to claim that Trump hasn't contributed to his approval ratings, I am going to point out that a lot of this is a product of a lot of negative press coverage, much of which doesn't seem to be warranted when you look back on it.
Trump hasn't gotten as much negative coverage as he deserves. The press frankly has been WAY too soft on him. The man is a carnival barker given actual power. He tells transparent and ridiculous lies with breathtaking frequency. He completely lacks the competence and dignity that the office of president requires. If you think the negative coverage of Trump isn't warranted I frankly question your sanity and/or integrity.
We are living in strange times when we call The White House "Not trustworthy".
The reason we have separation of power is precisely because we don't trust people with power as a fundamental principle in the US. We particularly should not trust people who lie as transparently and frequently and maliciously as Trump. Not trusting the White House should be routine. What makes the times strange is who is in charge of it at the moment.
Fintech plus cryptocurrency equals about $7 billion. That's how much the value of LongFin surged to after the microcap's stock rocketed by as much as 2,600 percent since debuting Wednesday.
Wow, it feels like the dotcom boom all over again. Companies with shitty business models getting astronomical valuations because they put.com after the name of the company. Too many greedy people chasing too few real businesses. If you need evidence that there is a bubble, here you have it. Only question is when will it pop.
But I think the Trump era has really put on full display the fact that the Republicans really only care about power. Literally everything else is secondary.
I would say they only care about power and money. Kind of hard to argue that republicans aren't profit motivated. But to your basic point I agree.
Why are companies allowed to prevent their employees from going to the court? Corporate law trumps state law?
Contract law is what we are talking about and companies are forcing employees to sign forced arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. State law is typically mute on the subject so because it isn't prohibited it is permitted. Naturally forced arbitration tends to heavily favor the companies which is a huge problem. Once enough companies insist on such clauses employees don't really have the option to seek employment elsewhere under less oppressive terms.
Personally I think forced arbitration as a condition of employment is a reprehensible practice that should as a general proposition be illegal.
Bitcoin offers no way for them to print money, so as their nation switches away from the old coin, government income will dwindle to nothing.
Stupid statement #1. The problems of Venezuela are not rooted in them printing money. The problems are far more diverse and numerous.
They will be left with a valueless coin, and therefore without the means to effectively control their country.
Stupid statement #2. Even if they cannot revive the bolivar they can simply use another fiat currency like the dollar or the euro. Countries experiencing hyperinflation do this commonly for periods of time. It isn't a cure all but sometimes it is a useful tool.
And Venezuela is only the first country to go down this road.
Stupid statement #3. Venezuela is not the first country to experience hyperinflation and bitcoin will not save their economy.
Eventually _all_ nations will end up in the same spot, as people will generally prefer bitcoin (which is free from inflation) over whatever local currency they are now stuck with.
Stupid statement #4. "free from inflation"? Umm.... no. Just no. No all nations will not end up like Venezuela and bitcoin is not likely to become a preferred currency. You are demonstrating a profound ignorance by stating that bitcoin is free from inflation. NO asset is free from inflation including bitcoin. You seem to not understand what inflation is or how it is caused.
Seriously, you post has to win the award for dumbest post I've read on slashdot this week. You are either young and naive or a bitcoin fanboi but either way you don't understand currencies and economics at all.
If Trump were you or me there is a non-trivial chance our accounts would get suspended. He's rich and famous so the rules of common decency do not appear to apply to him.
It's adorable watching the Trump minions with mod points trying desperately to mod down any posts that point out the screamingly obvious fact that the guy is a bully, a liar, and a jerk even towards his ersatz supporters. Heaven forbid anyone criticize Saint Trump or his disciples.
If Trump were you or me there is a non-trivial chance our accounts would get suspended. He's rich and famous so the rules of common decency do not appear to apply to him.
Referring to 40 MW as "backup power" is a bit ridiculous. That's a whole new powerplant right there.
What's your point? A major transportation hub like Atlanta easily does enough commerce to justify a standby power plant. Heck, power companies maintain these already for times of need. Wouldn't be hard to work out a deal to share the cost.
Anyway, it looks like there was a fire which not only cut power but also damaged some of the backup systems.
If one fire can damage the backup systems then they weren't really backup systems now were they?
Slashdot Mirror
You don't need to hold bitcoin long, to use them to get your money out.
Without arguing any particular case, capital controls usually exist for a reason and every country has them to some degree or another. To escape a repressive or incompetent regime (say Venezuela) I have no quarrel with someone using bitcoin to do what they need to do. But that is a tiny fraction of what is happening with bitcoin and its certainly a poor argument against governments in general.
_All_ currencies have invariably been disastrous 'sooner or later'. You just don't want the blame landing where it belongs.
Demonstrably untrue. Currencies that lack the mechanisms to adapt to changing needs are disastrous. Had the dollar stayed on the gold standard, that would have been a disaster. That's not a trivial distinction and it's unclear that bitcoin has any such flexibility baked in.
Right now, Chinese investors are legally trapped in the Chinese bubble (unless related to someone powerful), thank dog for bitcoin.
I think you have a more negative view of China than the reality of the situation for most people. It's a more complicated situation than you are framing it to be. Every major economy has capital controls to one degree or another. At least some of the reasons for China's currency controls actually aren't evil. I traveled to China during grad school to study this very issue. Without getting into the weeds it's safe to say it is a complicated issue. Bitcoin won't be the solution to them.
_All_ currencies have invariably been disastrous 'sooner or later'. You just don't want the blame landing where it belongs.
I'm not the one with a fixation on hating governments. Show me real evidence to believe that crypto-currencies will fix everything and I'll join the bandwagon enthusiastically. As it is I think bitcoin is hugely flawed and those promoting it are mostly doing so with absurd, ideological, and/or naive arguments.
There is no inherent reason that governments should issue currency.
There is also no inherent reason that governments shouldn't issue currency. What exactly is your point? Furthermore I can't think of any non-governmental entity I would trust with the responsibility of managing currency more than a government. (or in the case of the US the Fed which is overseen by the government) At least with a government we collectively get a say in matters and there are mechanisms of accountability. Not so with something like bitcoin. There is zero accountability in bitcoin or anything like it.
The point is to take away the printing press, not give one to every little stain of a government.
You seem to have a fixation with the premise that governments are inherently a bad thing. Frankly I don't buy that premise as any sort of general proposition. The ability to "print money" isn't inherently evil. It's just something to be cautious about but useful under some circumstances.
So how has this worked out for Windows so far?
Doesn't really matter unless Apple copies what Microsoft did. The idea of apps that work across different devices with common development underpinnings is a very reasonable one. It's just not super easy to pull off. But the first company to do it well will probably make some serious bank so it's worth working on. And frankly Microsoft, Google and Apple are all working towards harmonized apps in one way or another and have been for a long time.
Maybe it is the RULES themselves that need changing...break the monopolies that the taxi companies have had all these years, and force the entrenched companies to compete, and perhaps we'd see marked improvement on the taxis that are available.....
Maybe they do need to change. Uber doesn't get the right to decide that unilaterally. You don't tear down a fence unless you understand why it was built in the first place. If Uber wants to lobby to change the laws to something (hopefully) better I have no problem with that.
I mean because right now, a taxi cannot compete on cleanliness, promptness or price with Uber. They have no incentive to at this time.
Uber is losing money a breathtaking pace (hundreds of millions per month) so let's not pretend that Uber is selling their services for more than they actually cost to provide. I can provide great service for a while at less than it costs but sooner or later that has to end. Uber is well funded but it's not clear they are actually more economically efficient.
Bitcoin's main service to humanity is avoiding capital controls, it does that well.
You seem to have forgotten that whenever we've tried poorly regulated currencies on any sort of meaningful scale the results have invariably been disastrous sooner or later. We have capital controls because not having them is worse. Read a history book sometime. Good economic policy requires good governance - not too much and not too little.
Fuck the governments.
What an eloquent argument.
Here is the argument for bitcoin: It is mathematically finite and thus cannot be externally inflated away in value. Thus it makes an ideal currency.
You can still have inflation with a fixed money supply. In fact you can even contract the money supply and still have inflation in some circumstances. Furthermore bitcoin is already experiencing fairly rapid deflation which is possibly worse if anything.
Bitcoin is growing almost entirely due to speculation and its utility for illicit transactions. This has nothing to do with some abstract confidence in computer code. This is people who are greedy looking to make a fast buck. The simplest explanation is the correct one here and that is greed.
When all you have is a libertarian hammer, every problem looks like a government nail.
Truer words have rarely been said. The notion of keeping government out of things were it isn't competent or helpful is a very reasonable principle. Problem is that like everything else some people take it too far - basically to the point of being a religion.
Governments are not always bad nor are they always good
Governments can be a force for positive change if carefully watched
Governments will be a force for terrible things if not carefully watched
There are some things governments do better than the private sector and vice versa
The government is necessary and competent for FAR more than just policing and contract enforcement
The private sector is generally terrible at doing anything that does not or should not involve a short term profit motive
Raising taxes is sometimes necessary and proper and beneficial to society. To pretend otherwise is just naked greed.
Freedom doesn't mean the absence of government.
In other words....government finds a way to get in and mess up something that has been innovative, proven popular and successful.
You mean a company that has been losing money at a clip of $500 million every month with no signs of profitability even in the face of ignoring the law to save money and grow. Yeah, SUPER successful... [/sarcasm]
Good thing govt wasn't this bad a 100 or so years ago....we'd otherwise still have a thriving buggy whip industry.
Peculiar view of how wonderful the world was 100 years ago. 100 years women weren't allowed to vote, minorities (particularly blacks) were subject to Jim Crow laws which wouldn't end for another 50 years, the Fair Labor Standards Act wouldn't be passed for another 20 years, etc.
This notion that government is always bad is in stark denial of reality.
Businesses don't tend to last very long paying more than necessary in wages or taxes.
That's not a valid excuse for paying less than required/necessary.
NYT, politifact and Washington post articles? Nope.. You won't accept my Fox News reference for similar reasons...
Facts don't depend on whether you like who brings them to your attention.
How about picking your favorite lie and let's discuss it...
Nope. Go do the research fanboi. I've provided you countless examples of verified and checked statements. Do with them what you will.
Remember, a LIE is when you are leading someone to believe something you KNOW is false. It's about what you know to be true and what your intent is.
If Trump doesn't know he is lying then if anything that means he is delusional which is possibly worse. So which is it? Is he a liar or is he crazy?
However, I've never really had anybody defend that position with actual quotes, taken in context about some topic that's actually material to the governing of the country.
Then you haven't bothered to look. 20 seconds on google would get you endless lists of his lies documented and refuted or explained. Serious news organization are keeping track of them.
I get that he's abrasive and spouts off stuff of questionable sources at times, but I don't see him as the kind that just lies to hear himself speak, or lies for political advantage like some from the other side of the isle have in the past.
Then you are truly a clueless idiot.
"Tapped my wires" tweet which was widely condemned as a lie but was pretty much true looking back on what we know now.
I don't know where you get your information but it was a lie then and it is a lie now. There is no evidence for this claim.
I think you nailed it.
You keep saying that and I keep making money..
Sure you do. We'll all pretend we believe you are getting rich.
Litecoin is going to break $500 by the end of the week.
You sound like all the fanbois on yahoo finance message boards shouting "to the moon!" trying to pump up their investment.
This is probably nothing more than a pump and dump scheme in action. They happen all the time and they tend to happen a lot during bubbles. The dotcom bubble was positively loaded with them.
Where I'm not going to claim that Trump hasn't contributed to his approval ratings, I am going to point out that a lot of this is a product of a lot of negative press coverage, much of which doesn't seem to be warranted when you look back on it.
Trump hasn't gotten as much negative coverage as he deserves. The press frankly has been WAY too soft on him. The man is a carnival barker given actual power. He tells transparent and ridiculous lies with breathtaking frequency. He completely lacks the competence and dignity that the office of president requires. If you think the negative coverage of Trump isn't warranted I frankly question your sanity and/or integrity.
We are living in strange times when we call The White House "Not trustworthy".
The reason we have separation of power is precisely because we don't trust people with power as a fundamental principle in the US. We particularly should not trust people who lie as transparently and frequently and maliciously as Trump. Not trusting the White House should be routine. What makes the times strange is who is in charge of it at the moment.
Fintech plus cryptocurrency equals about $7 billion. That's how much the value of LongFin surged to after the microcap's stock rocketed by as much as 2,600 percent since debuting Wednesday.
Wow, it feels like the dotcom boom all over again. Companies with shitty business models getting astronomical valuations because they put .com after the name of the company. Too many greedy people chasing too few real businesses. If you need evidence that there is a bubble, here you have it. Only question is when will it pop.
That's a lot of words for saying "scientists want to have truth, everyone else just wants to be right".
You forgot the air quotes around "right".
But I think the Trump era has really put on full display the fact that the Republicans really only care about power. Literally everything else is secondary.
I would say they only care about power and money. Kind of hard to argue that republicans aren't profit motivated. But to your basic point I agree.
Why are companies allowed to prevent their employees from going to the court? Corporate law trumps state law?
Contract law is what we are talking about and companies are forcing employees to sign forced arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. State law is typically mute on the subject so because it isn't prohibited it is permitted. Naturally forced arbitration tends to heavily favor the companies which is a huge problem. Once enough companies insist on such clauses employees don't really have the option to seek employment elsewhere under less oppressive terms.
Personally I think forced arbitration as a condition of employment is a reprehensible practice that should as a general proposition be illegal.
Bitcoin offers no way for them to print money, so as their nation switches away from the old coin, government income will dwindle to nothing.
Stupid statement #1. The problems of Venezuela are not rooted in them printing money. The problems are far more diverse and numerous.
They will be left with a valueless coin, and therefore without the means to effectively control their country.
Stupid statement #2. Even if they cannot revive the bolivar they can simply use another fiat currency like the dollar or the euro. Countries experiencing hyperinflation do this commonly for periods of time. It isn't a cure all but sometimes it is a useful tool.
And Venezuela is only the first country to go down this road.
Stupid statement #3. Venezuela is not the first country to experience hyperinflation and bitcoin will not save their economy.
Eventually _all_ nations will end up in the same spot, as people will generally prefer bitcoin (which is free from inflation) over whatever local currency they are now stuck with.
Stupid statement #4. "free from inflation"? Umm.... no. Just no. No all nations will not end up like Venezuela and bitcoin is not likely to become a preferred currency. You are demonstrating a profound ignorance by stating that bitcoin is free from inflation. NO asset is free from inflation including bitcoin. You seem to not understand what inflation is or how it is caused.
Seriously, you post has to win the award for dumbest post I've read on slashdot this week. You are either young and naive or a bitcoin fanboi but either way you don't understand currencies and economics at all.
If Trump were you or me there is a non-trivial chance our accounts would get suspended. He's rich and famous so the rules of common decency do not appear to apply to him.
Aww the little Trump fans can't handle the truth.
It's adorable watching the Trump minions with mod points trying desperately to mod down any posts that point out the screamingly obvious fact that the guy is a bully, a liar, and a jerk even towards his ersatz supporters. Heaven forbid anyone criticize Saint Trump or his disciples.
If Trump were you or me there is a non-trivial chance our accounts would get suspended. He's rich and famous so the rules of common decency do not appear to apply to him.
Twitter has begun enforcing stricter policies on violent and abusive content....
Baloney. If this were actually true Trump's account would get suspended immediately. He abuses people routinely and is clearly a bully.
Referring to 40 MW as "backup power" is a bit ridiculous. That's a whole new powerplant right there.
What's your point? A major transportation hub like Atlanta easily does enough commerce to justify a standby power plant. Heck, power companies maintain these already for times of need. Wouldn't be hard to work out a deal to share the cost.
Anyway, it looks like there was a fire which not only cut power but also damaged some of the backup systems.
If one fire can damage the backup systems then they weren't really backup systems now were they?