Are your properties really yours? \ stacker news ~AskSN

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618 sats \ 26 comments \ @guerratotal 1 Jul AskSN

I was reflecting on this post today at lunchtime…!

And really: If I stop paying the road tax, the state will take my car. If I stop paying the tax on my house or apartment, even if I bought it with my own sweat equity, they can take it away too. Even if you own a piece of land in the middle of the countryside, paid for in cash, with no debt... you don't pay the tax: it's seized.

So, what's really yours?

A few days ago, I saw a video, and they said something like this: "If you have to keep paying to maintain something you bought, then it was never really yours." And that hit me hard. Today, with that post, I was reminded of it again.

I realized that the only thing I can truly call mine is Bitcoin. If I have my 12/24 words memorized, neither the government, nor a thief, nor a war, nor a move can take it away from me.

In fact, when I left Cuba for Brazil, my handful of satoshis went with me without anyone knowing.

In fact, they don't even have to know it exists. It goes with me to the grave if I want it to.

It's the closest I've ever been to true ownership. And that completely changes the way I see the world. I don't know if the same thing happens to you?

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105 sats \ 13 replies \ @LibertasBR 2 Jul

"If you have to keep paying to maintain something you bought, then it was never really yours."

Why this hit you hard? I don't want to belittle your feelings, I want to understand them. I understand that you pay for everything in this life, whether it's with money, energy, time, everything has a cost, so this didn't hit me as hard. I understand the core of the argument, but it's not that powerful if you think about it.

I realized that the only thing I can truly call mine is Bitcoin.

It's an excellent way to think if you follow your reasoning regarding ownership. However, I understand that the concept itself is more complex than that. Even though your words are only in your head, you have the means to validate the movement of bitcoins in a given wallet on the blockchain. Is that ownership? It's something to think about. If we're thinking philosophically about it, it's complex, but otherwise you're right in a way.

when I left Cuba for Brazil

you changed from one socialism to another

105 sats \ 12 replies \ @optimism 2 Jul

Even though your words are only in your head, you have the means to validate the movement of bitcoins in a given wallet on the blockchain. Is that ownership?

Could you elaborate this thought? What is the basis of ownership other than the sole right to make decisions about something's use and transfer of ownership?

you changed from one socialism to another

Is there any non-socialism though? I think there's only gradations of how "socialism" manifests, but it's not a distinct thing. It'd be interesting to find jurisdictions that are anti-social and see what problems they avoid, and what problems they have.

105 sats \ 11 replies \ @LibertasBR 2 Jul

A school of thought about property — which I don’t follow — argues that bitcoin isn’t property because it cannot be physically controlled. Your keys are, but they’re more like intellectual property — they can be copied, destroyed, or moved, and they’re what allow you to move the bitcoin. So, having the keys is equivalent to having possession, not ownership. Possession because you don’t actually own something that is digitally stored on a global ledger, even if it’s scarce and protected by cryptographic proof — and the keys themselves aren’t property either, since they can be easily reproduced.

I don’t agree with this line of thinking. As I said, my comment was more of a philosophical provocation. I leave the debate to the philosophers.

I think there's only gradations of how "socialism" manifests

In that sense, he traded one high gradation for another similar one.

111 sats \ 3 replies \ @guerratotal OP 2 Jul

Actually, we were preparing our exit while Bolsonaro was still in power. The elections came around and he lost, but we already had everything ready to leave, so we left anyway. It was really expensive for Europe, as well as for the United States, so the cheapest and least risky way to leave with my wife and one-year-old child was Brazil.

Even so, we had to leave for Venezuela and pay a coyote to bring us across the border to Brazil. Even so, when you experience the reality of a dictatorship like Cuba, living under that regime for 30 years, and you arrive in Brazil, you realize that there's still a long way to go. What really exists is massive corruption, driven by the progressive left-wing government.

105 sats \ 2 replies \ @LibertasBR 2 Jul

Don’t fall for that dichotomy—any government by itself is bad. They are mega-corporations run and maintained through coercion, no matter who’s in power or even which country it is.

130 sats \ 1 reply \ @guerratotal OP 2 Jul

I really don't care who's in power, except that you really have governments that are more oppressive than others, to the point of suffocating you.

Here I really found a little more freedom.

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26 sats \ 6 replies \ @optimism 2 Jul

Thanks! I get what you mean now! I think there's quite some merit to that thought, except maybe the reproduction mention: it's only easy to reproduce the key to a utxo if you know it or if you can break the cryptography.

In that sense, he traded one high gradation for another similar one.

Awesome. Would you say that in BR, the return of high-grade socialism is mostly a reaction to the alleged corruption of the previous lower-grade socialist regime?

105 sats \ 5 replies \ @LibertasBR 2 Jul

No, unfortunately people tend to forget history very easily. Since the republic was always pure socialism and statism, like every state everything is based on coercion and general control over the population. The degrees have always varied — there were two dictatorships if you don’t consider that we’re always under someone’s rule, dictatorships with complete and blatant restrictions of freedoms and natural rights. Seven or eight monetary standard changes. The only revolutions here that tried secession were always crushed with extreme violence — the most famous being Canudos.

What happens is that in recent years people have become more politically active, but tend to always go towards the statist and dichotomous side of things, only selling power alternation in the 21st century. No one here truly wants freedom — they want a state, a state with members from a political side they agree with.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @guerratotal OP 2 Jul

I've really noticed that here in Brazil: everyone is either a PT supporter or a Bolsonaro supporter.

And they care little for their freedom.

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0 sats \ 3 replies \ @optimism 2 Jul

I've felt like that for many decades now: come election time the choice always feels like evil vs different evil. The only exception I've seen, where there was an actual significantly lesser evil was the German branch of the Pirate Party to the EU. But iirc they got decimated last elections.

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17 sats \ 2 replies \ @klk 1 Jul

Couldn't relate more... I also came to the same conclusion.

If it's not going to be mine anyways, I'd rather rent and let someone else deal with the bureaucracy. If the government gets too greedy or annoying, it'll be easier to leave or avoid it.

I dream of being broke and unemployed 😉

29 sats \ 1 reply \ @guerratotal OP 1 Jul

Sometimes I think true freedom isn't having a lot of things, but having little that can be taken away. The fewer fiscal roots you have, the more easily you move. And yes… that dream of being "broke" but sovereign, and your dignity intact, sounds more tempting every day.

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @ivermectin 1 Jul outlawed

stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @denlillaapan 1 Jul

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @mo 2 Jul

No only when thou don't know how

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @ivermectin 1 Jul outlawed

stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @mo 2 Jul

there's a difference between believing-to-own and owning something

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @rootmachine 2 Jul

A few days ago, I saw a video, and they said something like this: "If you have to keep paying to maintain something you bought, then it was never really yours."

It does hit hard. Super hard.

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @_Bubble_2009 2 Jul

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @_Bubble_2009 2 Jul

I can understand what yimou say, but remember that Bitcoins are unconfiscated, but they could be stolen from you. On the other hand, if you hold gold, it is effectively yours, but in addition to being stolen, it can also be confiscated.

So yes, Bitcoins are yours, but even gold and diamonds could be truly yours, but every type of strategic reserve has its weak point.

Surely, nowadays, Bitcoin is one of the safest methods to create a strategic reserve.

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @260083b233 2 Jul freebie

@growthstarboard you can see that the duty of paying taxes is very important to maintain the state budget. From there, the community can be built stably. https://poor-bunny.com

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @81ef458b40 2 Jul freebie

Nothing is mine...