Introducing RoadCoin!
Due to the unfortunate number of statists on /r/bitcoin who advocate continuing to fund the state through taxes and thereby eliminating many of the benefits of a decentralized pseudonymous digital currency, I am proposing a new bitcoin fork.
If people were advocating paying taxes on bitcoin transactions on the basis of fear of taxing agencies, that would be one thing. However, the thread appears to be more of an Oliver Wendell Holmes circle jerk; taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.
Ok, I'll bite but let's look at what things taxes pay for which are decidedly uncivilized (I can only speak for the U.S.):
What most people want is some semblance of safety and convenience. That means roads, a court system, and police, fire, and military protection. Throw in some genuine welfare for people who clearly need it and for whom private charity isn't enough so no one is starving on the street. Maybe throw in some standards so people don't get rat heads in their soda.
Let's pretend that compulsory taxes are the only reasonable way to produce these public goods (they're not). Even with that assumption, most of those goods are paid for by local property taxes (and, in some states, other local taxes). At the federal level, maybe 7% of income and corporate taxes pay for those things.
There was an individual who posted a pro-bitcoin-tax thread due to fear about tax evasion damaging the dollar value of his bitcoin portfolio. His friggin' portfolio! Yes, I hold bitcoin speculatively, but I'd sooner its exchange rate drop to almost zero if it meant that it became a tool to increase human goal actualization. That's the price I'd pay for a civilized society.
Anyways, here's the solution - fork the chain to create RoadCoin. RoadCoin is almost exactly like bitcoin with one fundamental difference. Every transaction (including newly minted coins) has a percentage sent to various well-known addresses belonging to paving and bridge construction companies thereby allowing roads to still be built despite not explicitly paying taxes. Viola! Everyone should be happy.
Furthermore, RoadCoin can be split into two subchains: FlatRoadCoin and ProgressiveRoadCoin. FlatRoadCoin takes a simple flat percentage of every transaction. ProgressiveRoadCoin uses chain analysis to estimate how many coins one is holding and charges individuals with more coins a higher percentage.
Thanks to throwahoymatie for the idea.
If people were advocating paying taxes on bitcoin transactions on the basis of fear of taxing agencies, that would be one thing. However, the thread appears to be more of an Oliver Wendell Holmes circle jerk; taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.
Ok, I'll bite but let's look at what things taxes pay for which are decidedly uncivilized (I can only speak for the U.S.):
- Warfare
- Meddling in other countries
- Propping up banks and big corporations
- Interest on debt
- The drug war
- Militarizing police
- Wealth transfers and other forced charity
- Bloated healthcare (basically related to #3)
- Bloated education system (also related to #3)
What most people want is some semblance of safety and convenience. That means roads, a court system, and police, fire, and military protection. Throw in some genuine welfare for people who clearly need it and for whom private charity isn't enough so no one is starving on the street. Maybe throw in some standards so people don't get rat heads in their soda.
Let's pretend that compulsory taxes are the only reasonable way to produce these public goods (they're not). Even with that assumption, most of those goods are paid for by local property taxes (and, in some states, other local taxes). At the federal level, maybe 7% of income and corporate taxes pay for those things.
There was an individual who posted a pro-bitcoin-tax thread due to fear about tax evasion damaging the dollar value of his bitcoin portfolio. His friggin' portfolio! Yes, I hold bitcoin speculatively, but I'd sooner its exchange rate drop to almost zero if it meant that it became a tool to increase human goal actualization. That's the price I'd pay for a civilized society.
Anyways, here's the solution - fork the chain to create RoadCoin. RoadCoin is almost exactly like bitcoin with one fundamental difference. Every transaction (including newly minted coins) has a percentage sent to various well-known addresses belonging to paving and bridge construction companies thereby allowing roads to still be built despite not explicitly paying taxes. Viola! Everyone should be happy.
Furthermore, RoadCoin can be split into two subchains: FlatRoadCoin and ProgressiveRoadCoin. FlatRoadCoin takes a simple flat percentage of every transaction. ProgressiveRoadCoin uses chain analysis to estimate how many coins one is holding and charges individuals with more coins a higher percentage.
Thanks to throwahoymatie for the idea.
