I always say that about real estate, you never really own it you're always renting it and still run the risk of losing it. My family had their homes forcibly taken from them in the in the 1950's and they always told me about it growing up, thats why I always saw the title to a home as nothing more than an empty promise
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is there anything other than an oral history of that experience? if it's not written down, have you considered that it could be good to get that recorded for educating future generations?
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No there are plenty of books on it too, it's called the "Group Areas Act" in South Africa, when governments felt certain areas were demarcated for "Whites Only" so if you didn't make the cut you were forced out into a area for "non-whites"
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Honestly getting pretty tired of the libertarian "tax is theft 🤬🤪" narrative that is pretty pervasive in large parts of the Bitcoin community.
Taxes are necessary for a society to function. There will always be a certain part of the population that won't be able to take care of themselves due to all sorts of reasons that are out of their control.
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If you live in a country where you have a say in how those taxes are spent (through representation or otherwise), then I agree, but in so much of the world governments are at best incompetent and at worst borderline evil.
For the people living under those governments, Bitcoin is a source of hope, a way to take back some power without having to resort to violence and turmoil.
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The problem is excessive taxing -- what is enough tax? It is my understanding that a big portion of US taxation for example is used to pay back piles of debt. For example, where I live you pay much less taxes (maybe 1/3 of the US) and we have incredible social security, probably top in the world. You seldom see homeless people. We are top 20 in exports.
We have our issues but I am proud of how much gets done with the amount of taxes paid -- highways, metros, most hospitals and education subsidized, etc.
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My view is that you have the natural right of property no matter what. If you own your body (which you do), you own the products of your labor. Anything you get in peaceful, consensual exchange you own.
What happens with taxes is that glorified armed robbers steal from you what is rightfully yours. In the case of property tax, if you don't let the armed robbers take your money, they'll come seize your land and house.
There are only three differences between the glorified armed robbers and the common thief/mugger/burglar.
  1. They seek to rule over you with the threat of violence "for your own good and the good of the people"
  2. They've brainwashed people into thinking they are necessary, inevitable, and justified.
  3. They send strongly worded letters and phone calls before they physically rob you (and probably kidnap you for non-compliance).
I'd rather deal with the mugger. At least when he steals from me, he doesn't try to convince me that its for the good of the people and myself.
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Anything you have is only yours for as long as you can enforce keeping it from being taken by others.
Even things that potentially only exist in your head, like your private keys, aren't 100% safe from forceful extraction.
As with just about everything in life, it's all about managing risk.
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True. Maybe I should contextualize it within the eyes of gov
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If you want to think like that, then real estate is the most risky investment anyone ever could make... Not only is it vulnerable to normal thieves, and not only could govt steal it from you citing imminent domain, but you have to pay the annual extortion fee throughout your whole life just to keep them from stealing all your real estate from you.
My private keys can hold a lot more value and have a far smaller attack surface.
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It depends on the track record of your government and the strength of your country's constitution how likely your private property is to be taken from you.
At least most countries do an ok job of protecting your property from being illegally seized by other parties.
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I once heard someone say that when you own your house, you have earned the right to only be renting it from the government.
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some people do not realize they are slaves...
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This may be unpopular but there is one thing that doesn't pay tax (and, which cannot be confiscated), but it's especially valuable for us who have very few assets:
Your Knowledge
And I don't mean your private keys.
First story, a man who fled communist China with absolutely nothing but his brains and his family, including his newborn son. He luckily knew English, and that let him land a job at a newspaper agency. Life was extremely tough, he held two jobs, but he made it through. That man was my grandfather.
The second, is a friend's father, who fled El Salvador when things were terribly bad. He was a doctor there, a good one (whom for his reputation started getting chased by the government -- governments often try to censor smart people first). He fled, arrived at a new country only to realize his education and diploma was worth nothing. He didn't give up, went back to school, got a medical degree (probably took him extra 8 years), and became a doctor again. He went on to be a prominent director for decades.
I know, if you lose your mind or a car hits you while you cross the road, you're done for. But other assets might be taken from you or lost anyway.
If you lose your mind whether you have a shitload of assets/money or not, probably won't make much difference. As an example, my grandma has had dementia for about 30 years now (she's +100 years old). Money thrown at the problem hasn't helped her at all.
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I'm gonna say no.
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Good point through the years government planted into our minds that taxes are necessary for the economy we lose sight on the main point of rule #1 look out for #1 being sovereign....now its for the greater good....lol words that are straight out the playbook forgot what I read but talks about all the quotes they use....creepy from years ago to see the slogans now a days resurfaced reused in a new way
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People don't realize that taxes on unrealized gains overstep a big big red line of one of the most fundamental rights.
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They’d really want the regular person out the game if something like that was ever passed.
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No, they want every person in the game.
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Could be but too many people are currently in the market compared to pre COVID and quite a few them are able to rally people and turn some tables. So, gotta make new rules…if so.
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I'm not sure what market you are talking about, but govs definitely want every person to participate in the game of slavery 😉
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If that’s your perspective, so be it.
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It's not really my perspective, it's just how things work. Most people just don't realize it yet.