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85 sats \ 13 replies \ @DarthCoin 4 Dec 2022 \ on: Best methods for onboarding small town to parallel Lightning economy ? bitcoin
This is a very good question. Not easy to achieve.
Why?
Because even if is a small town (I live in a small town too), each family / individual have different needs and views. And there's a lot of envy between them. Is really hard to find a small town where everybody loves each others.
So I would go for an approach that makes them to compete between each others in this matter.
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Individual education or in small groups. Meetups. Not about the technicalities of Bitcoin, but about how to use it, even with small games or contests. Enough to make them comfortable to use it. Treat them as individual cases. Each one will see Bitcoin in its own way. So ask them first what are their real issues in life right now and how they deal with. Then find the right place for Bitcoin in those problems.
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Separate education for merchants. Yes, they are the engine of a Bitcoin adoption. If there's no merchant to accept BTC in that town, absolutely NOBODY will be interested into using it. I wrote several guides about how to help merchant to use Bitcoin (see my substack, now in many languages. In special the guides about LNbits and wallets. Businesses must consider Bitcoin as cash. There's no "asset", there's no "bitcoin tax". Bitcoin is just money. In all their accounting Bitcoin must treated as cash. No more no less.
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Once you have at least 10% of the people using BTC, go for public large groups education, with deeper knowledge and details. Now is time to show them the real power of Bitcoin. Why? Because these 10% of "new bitcoiners" will start spreading your word and teachings.
NO fucking way!
Bitcoin IS PERMISSIONLESS!
There's no need for any law or regulation to tell you "you must use Bitcoin".
Bitcoin is for everybody and each individual must choose to use it.
Businesses must consider Bitcoin as cash. There's no "asset", there's no "bitcoin tax". Bitcoin is just money. In all their accounting Bitcoin must treated as cash. No more no less.
That's not how it works. Businesses must either do funny stuff or do accounting according to the law. If the law says it's an asset, then the accountants will treat it as such whether you think it's conceptually wrong or not. In countries where all farmers at a farmers' market have a cash register there's little choice.
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What is "law"?
Who have any authority over my own money and my labor?
Did I consent that authority over my money and my labor to somebody else, is there any evidence or document where I gave that authority to somebody else?
If I want to sell my products and services for pink shells, is my own damn business why I want to accept pink shells.
People today make the big confusion between money and legal tender, thinking that are the same thing.
IT IS NOT!
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If you want to sell your products and services for pink shells while ignoring pesky things such as laws and taxes, you might get away with it personally. But if you would convince every merchant in your town to do the same then your local tax office would notice. Then some unpleasant people might pop up demonstrating the evidence that they do in fact have some de facto authority over you without your consent.
But since every merchant in your town knows how this ends very well, you won't convince them in the first place, unless you live in US in 18th century.
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what about beta stage immediate fiat conversion for the merchants ? half-way is something isnt it ?
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Again, the question of legality. The EU approach is that whoever is facilitating the conversion is a VASP and has to KYC the buyer. This is not acceptable. Paying with sats without conversion is actually better in this case.
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Ok.
You sell your trinkets for pink shells, but then how are you going to buy the materials to create these trinkets if no one accepts pink shells?
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Convince the supplier to accept the pink shells.
If not, then go to another supplier that accept your pink shells.
In the end the one that didn't accept, will think about and will come back to you to ask for your pink shells.
Somebody have to start this circular economy, otherwise you will be trapped endlessly into fiat world.
Step out and be free, don't be complacent and just wait for others to do it for you.
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statism much?
Please, govern me harder...
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I assume you wanted to reply to me.
I'm not saying here that the government is the force for good. Far from it. I'm just saying that if you defy it at the scale of a small town then it will come looking and you won't like it. Desire for liberty is noble but unfortunately doesn't make one bulletproof.
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you're not making sense
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Yes, that's the problem, the chicken and egg problem.
You kind of need to start from scratch, for example, with food. Create small self sustaining circles and then expand.
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If problems arise though , would this not potentially be a legal matter for people involved ? After all , the residents and businesses are all wound up in the LOCAL (a distinction I think worth making here , in the US particularly) government's argument that the locals are in contract with them and partake of their "services"...
Theoretically(constitutionally), local governments should be able to declare it a legitimate local currency , no ?
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thanks man
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