LoriWong77A

Design

Anyone who is capable of logical thought and has seriously considered taxation in relation to other forms of theft will come to the conclusion that either taxation is theft or taxation is just some other thing that they refuse to call theft. A necessary evil. I'm not one of those people that just brings up this topic with people. It's usually brought up by them in the form of their displeasure in how the government is using money or resources. Or, sometimes how they are not using money or resources. When the topic comes up I express my opinion and conviction. Taxation is theft. Usually, they concede the point and end up saying, "Well, we have to have taxes? How would the government be funded." To which I reply, well we would have to find out. I mean, if you think the government should do x, then you send them your money to do that. Why should those that don't want x have to send their money? Don't we live in a democracy? I think most people are just uncomfortable questioning things we aren't supposed to question. Honestly, this sounds like Stockrom syndrome to me. 

Over the years, I've had people tease me about saying taxation is theft. And I've discovered that one reason they do this is because they don't really understand the worst part of taxation being theft. They seem to think its because I'm greedy. That's not it. It's not that my money is being taken from me. Don't get me wrong. This infuriates me. Its not only because it is my money and they steal it by force then they use it to provide services that I actually need. Its not even that they have a monopoly on many of these services but do a terrible job performing them. I am perfectly willing to pay for things that I use and things that I need. I'm not looking to have a free ride off the back of anyone else. So what is the worst part of taxation?

The worst thing about taxation is that my money is taken from me by force and used to do many things that I find morally or ethically repulsive. Your tax dollars are used to do things that you would never support. These things are different for each person. There's nothing wrong with that. Would you donate to fund the murder and slaughter of people you have never met in some foreign land? Would you pay your hard-earned money to keep a dictator in power just so some fat cat can have a sweet deal? Would you pay your hard-earned money to ensure that some bureaucrat who isn't qualified to manage anything mismanages things that are vital to human survival? Of course you wouldn't, and that is what is so despicable about taxes. The idea that paying taxes is patriotic, the idea that you are the bad person because you understand what is actually happening is truly infuriating. It is truly a psyop. 

Taxation is vital to the power of the state and the political classes. Without it they have very little reason to exist. We are in a time when most voters seem to be driven by stopping the government from doing something they don't like with tax money. Or, they are driven by using this stolen money to do what they desire. This is a key tool politicians use the gain and maintain power. Control over the stolen funds. Either to use or withhold it from a cause or imitative. Most people are so under the mind control of the system that they can't put themselves in the shoes of those they oppose. They only think about what they are told they want. But the few that do, if they are willing to think will come to the conclusion that the only solution to this stalemate is to withdraw. The state should withdraw and allow individuals to voluntarily fund what they believe should be funded. The reality is that the system for this already exists. Its called the free market. 

I usually get the response, "Well if you made taxes voluntarily no one would pay them". Of course this may be true, but what does that tell you? That tells me that people do not really support all these things they are told they support. There is a mirage of support for wars and government programs that does not exist. Another common reaction is, well who would take care of the poor? This one is easy. We would. There are many wealth and ordinary people that have compassion for the poor and needy. I have zero doubt that the free market would be more effective at helping those in need than any state actor. After all, it seems absurd for anyone to think that the government would provide better food than individuals working together. Have you had government food? The same goes for every industry. But I'm not even saying that we need to get rid of the state. Most people seem to assume that things would not work if taxation was voluntarily. When I started seeing this pattern it occurred to me that there are two types of people in this regard. Those that accept the truth that taxation is theft, and those that are in denial. Everyone functionally knows taxation is theft but most are afraid to admit it is true.



Taxation is theft is too weak. It's much worse than that

Music

Ethiopia has plunged into economic uncertainty, defaulting on a $33 million interest payment due on December 11. This setback follows the Tigray civil war, impacting investor sentiment and economic growth.

The Global Debt Crisis Unfolds

Ethiopia joins the ranks of nations like Sri Lanka and Lebanon, standing at the brink of a debt crisis. Over 70 low-income countries grapple with a colossal debt burden of $326 billion. China, the largest creditor, poses a significant challenge for debt servicing. A December 2023 World Bank report signals a 5% increase in debt servicing payments for developing countries, with Arab nations like Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon facing high-risk debt scenarios.

Challenges in Debt Restructuring

Ethiopia's debt crisis centers around a missed $33 million interest payment on a $1 billion bond from 2014. Despite ongoing restructuring talks, resolution proves elusive due to differences between China and Western countries and private lenders' reluctance. Ethiopia's debt to GDP ratio stands at 46.37, lower than Kenya's 67.94, yet liquidity issues persist. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-25/ethiopia-fails-to-pay-coupon-becoming-latest-african-defaulter

Global Debt Crisis: Ethiopia Defaults on $33 Million Debt Payment

charts

🏆 Top Builder: Final Round Teams Announced

SylviaPughH6Z

Beautiful analysis, well-articulated.  The sense of what it means to be a 'custodian' is going to permute in a million ways, using all the entities you listed already, and more that will be invented.  The gradient of custodianship and sovereignty will be broad and complicated.  There's no other way, and thinking it through is useful.

news

Discuss this Quote- John Adams

BillyHobbsK52

Bob Murphy had the best Austrian response to that Austrian hang up. Basically, he pointed out that it was moot to argue that Bitcoin violated the Regression Theorem, because the Regression Theorem is about how things become a medium of exchange and Bitcoin is already a medium of exchange.

What so many Austrians missed, is that the commodity value can originally be novelty, as was the case when buying those first two pizzas. Once that happened, the process of price formation was set in motion. It's incredibly ironic that Austrians missed that, since their whole thing is being dedicated to subjective utility theory.

Last Chance to apply for TopBuilder

TracyMcconnell9B4

I would also like pinned comments for posts... but I'm expanding scope. I should open a feature request.


health

This Day in Stacker News: June the 13th

SteveMalone8B5

https://mullvad.net any day no need to setup a account just a random number.

Also uses RAM servers.

You can also use bitcoin to pay!

bitcoin

Bisq 2 has just been released. I am a Bisq contributor AMA about Bisq or Bisq 2

DonnaJohnsF9K

BooksAndArticles

Taproot Didn't Cause Ordinals | sethforprivacy.com

I'm sure some of you stackers have felt this as well but for me, after being orange pilled, stacking sats, and lowering my time preference, time seems to flow differently compared to that of my peers who still operate within the fiat system. I feel more liberated and I no longer feel like "I never have time to do anything" and I don't ever use not having time or being too busy as an excuse anymore. In fact the opposite is now true, in that I have more free time than I know what to do with nowadays. 

Which leads me to this idea of free time vs freedom time. 

It's quite the simple concept. In my mind, free time is the time that we have to mess around and just relax, and have fun with no sort of direction or goal set in mind. Free time is what we are tricked into believing is the pinnacle goal of life, to retire and to enjoy our free time that we slaved our lives away in order to obtain. To be able to just sip on a pina colada at some beautiful beach somewhere and live in a resort where there's endless entertainment, food, and drinks. Or to live in some "American dream" mansion and ride luxurious cars and flaunt that you're retired until you die. 

Free time also has a bit of a negative image to it. Some view all forms of free time as time that could otherwise be used towards being busy and productive, and see free time as something exclusive to those who are lazy and unproductive. This is quite common in Asian culture, and I being Japanese can attest to the workaholic nature of the East, in which free time is labeled as utter nonsense and laziness. Work, work, work, work, pay bills, work, work, be productive, work, rinse and repeat. No free time whatsoever. 

However, after being able to store value and, therefore, store future time away for myself with Bitcoin, I have been able to buy myself a decent amount of free time, in which the time is not being allocated toward being busy bodied, working, and being productive for someone else. I now have this time, free time, that I can choose how to use for myself. 

So then what is the difference between free time and freedom time? This is an idea I kind of just came up with but in my mind, the main distinction is freedom time is free time but with clear goals, motivation, drive, and passion behind the usage of it. For instance, for my life, I use freedom time to improve my health and work towards optimizing my mental and physical health to it's full potential. I also use this newly obtained freedom time to become the best footballer I can become, which takes a lot of time to accomplish. Writing on stackernews and commenting on other stackers valuable posts I believe is an expression of my freedom time, as to me a goal of mine is to do my part in progressing the Bitcoin network forward in whatever way I can, and stackernews is a great place to learn, and to interact and share with the community. Spending as much time with friends and family, and truly listening and communicating with each and every one of them with an open mind and heart is something that I have been able to do with this freedom time as well. Whereas before, hanging out with friends fell under the scope of free time not freedom time, as I would be hanging out with friends but at the same time my mind would be occupied by work or some other fiat worry and I would not be fully present. 

This is why I know without a doubt in my mind, I will never be retired, in the sense that I no longer work towards something and just live a life stuck in free time, with no purpose or drive to do anything. I strive to maintain, cherish, and make the most of whatever freedom time I acquire, and to use that freedom time to it's maximum potential. 

With all that being said, I think the general progression goes like this. No time except fiat slavery time > stack some sats, store away some time for future you > acquire a bit of free time as a result of stacking sats > enjoy free time > learn to use free time more effectively, enter freedom time > utilize freedom time to live your best life. 

This post is very raw and honestly fresh off the top of my head but also thought was worth sharing. Do you feel time flows a bit differently compared to your nocoiner peers? What do you with your free time? What do you do with your freedom time? How has your usage of time changed after becoming a Bitcoiner? 

Free Time vs Freedom Time

Alright, although I'm agnostic, I don't quickly point fingers and say that something "paranormal" happened, but man: I just had something very strange happen, which sparked an even weirder sensation in me.

It's a little past 23:00, and I decided to go and have a look at the two windows in our basement, as I often do before I go to bed. 

I do this pretty much only during spring and summer, because it's the time when bigger insects, mice or frogs tend to fall down the roster and land on a pile of leaves before the window glass, where one can pick them up and put them in the yard again, which I happily do.

This time, it was a cute little youngster frog again. 

While I was clearing stuff out of the way to open the window and get the youngster frog, I was kinda talking, or thinking, "out loud" to myself about how I'd go on about continuing with my new hobby (sewing) and what parts and materials I'd soon order to increase the quality of the pouches I was experimenting with.

As I was doing this, I opened the window, managed to have the little frog jump into the box I held before him, put a lid on it, set him aside and closed the window.

While I was returning the items I cleared from before the window in order to open it, I was still deeply "focused" on my little self-talk session, when I reflectively looked toward our little storage room that's connected to our basement; I like to close the door whenever I'm there sewing, I don't know, it simply feels better.

The door was half open - somebody must've left it - and I saw some kind of flash, a "bolt of light"(?) flashing up slightly behind the door; I instantly froze as if something had "caught" me; I felt like I had trespassed someone's territory, and that I had to move *very* quick.

As I stood there, I instantly got goosebumps All. Over. My. Body, tip-to-toe, and my heart started pumping, it was wild, and I even started tearing up, and while it all unfolded, I was like: Yo, wtf?! What. The. Fuck is this shit? 

I felt some kind of "mild dread"(?) creeping up on me; I grabbed the frog and hauled my butt out of the basement **Mucho Pronto**, went outside, free'd the little frog and sat down for a bit.

It's almost an hour later and the goosebumps still keep flaring up, I keep tearing up and I don't fucking know why?

I went down with the sole intention to check on little insects or animals in need, while rambling aloud about my plans in regards to sewing stuff, and I returned a goosebumpy- and sobbing pile of shit, how?!

It's not even that it was something "out of the corner of my eye", because I was directly standing face-first towards the opening of said room, and saw it with "both" eyes, like wtf?!

I like to think that some synapses or nerves in my brain / eyes "overreacted", causing me to "see" said "spark", but how can this cause such an instant and "primal" level of fear? 

It felt a second like I wasn't the hunter anymore, but prey.
