From: Petro <petro@playboy.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 1998 04:10:15 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Re: dbts: The Economic Cause of Privacy
In-Reply-To: <199810221225.OAA21798@replay.com>
Message-ID: <v04011702b25fb4bf73a5@[206.189.103.230]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



At 7:25 AM -0500 10/22/98, Anonymous wrote:
>>Remember, the reason we have no financial privacy these days is because we
>>have book-entry settlement, which relies on biometric identity, known
>>physical
>>location, and the force of a nation state as the ultimate "error-handler" to
>>prevent repudiation in the transaction protocol.
>Yes, and cars break down because there are service shops.
>Utter nonsense.
>There is no financial privacy because because those who would like such thing
>have less power (hired guns) than those who would not like it. And those with
>controlling interests in modern societies do not like it because control would
>be lost, and population harvesting (aka taxing) would have to be radically
>changed, and that is expensive. The system is self-supporting.
>
>Idea that somehow smart algorithms will bring financial privacy is a good
>starting
>point for cryptoaddict's wet dream, but in reality has the same chance of
>success as survival rate of armed citizens against the government. Zero.

	Afghanistan
	The french Revolution
	The "Revolutionary War"
	Several Countries in Eastern Europe.
>
>Use of government-controlled, issued and supervised payment
>methods/instruments
>is in place because it is proscribed, not because "money/checks, etc. exist".
                           ^^^^^^^^^^
	Prescribed. Proscribed means outlawed.

>Therefore constructing computer-assisted anon payment schemes "because it is
>cheaper that way" is pointless. Money is not there to make your life easier.
>Money exists so that you can be taxed and conditioned to desired behaviour at
>minimal cost.

	Money exists because it is easier to carry paper and coins than to
carry chickens. Taxes can occur without money.
--
"To sum up: The entire structure of antitrust statutes in this country is a
jumble of economic irrationality and ignorance. It is a product: (a) of a
gross misinterpretation of history, and (b) of rather nave, and certainly
unrealistic, economic theories." Alan Greenspan, "Anti-trust"
http://www.ecosystems.net/mgering/antitrust.html

Petro::E-Commerce Adminstrator::Playboy Ent. Inc.::petro@playboy.com