Bitcoin Not Bombs

[Eugen Leitl]

http://dailyanarchist.com/2012/12/04/bitcoin-not-bombs/

Bitcoin Not Bombs

December 4th, 2012   Submitted by Davi Barker

A handful of articles have entered my head this week, and as we speak they
are mixing together like volatile chemicals about to explode. Ibve been on
the Bitcoin bandwagon for less than a year, but I am constantly blown away by
the innovations made possible by what is fundamentally a very simple idea. In
the beginning I pretty much only used it to buy baklava. Now Ibm buying gold
and silver bullion with Bitcoin, and accepting it as payment for the various
things that I sell. So, I have a pretty good sense of how the system works
and Ibm just starting to really get the economic ramifications of a digital
peer-to-peer currency. I theoretically understand the impact it could have
politically, at least domestically, but Ibm just starting to get the first
inkling of what the international political ramifications of Bitcoin might
be.

This rabbit hole begins with US sanctions against Iran.

The people who argue in favor of sanctions against Iran usually strike me as
economic buffoons. The same person who tells me the US needs to prevent Iran
from engaging in international trade to weaken their economy will usually
also tell me the US needs to stop engaging in international trade to
strengthen its own economy. So this is where our journey begins.

Last month Turkeybs Deputy Prime Minister and top economic policy maker Ali
Babacan confirmed that Turkey was circumventing sanctions by trading Iranian
crude oil for Turkish gold instead of dollars. In fact, in the last nine
months Turkey, ostensibly a strong ally of the US, has tripled its
pre-sanctions exports to Iran. Itbs essentially a thumb in the eye to US
legitimacy, and the global banking system.

Good for them, I thought. Itbs a powerful proof of concept for the efficacy
of alternative currency. But then I remembered another recent story about
gold in Iran. In October hundreds of currency protesters gathered in Tehranbs
historic Grand Bazaar outraged over the plunging Iranian rial. In response
hundreds of riot police stormed Tehranbs currency exchange district arresting
billegal money changers.b Imagine that. It is a crime for honest merchants to
exchange one baseless paper note for another baseless paper note because the
sociocrats that issue those notes donbt get along. Whatbs interesting is that
the 80% drop in the rialbs value was largely blamed on sanctions, but the
head of the national police said that people holding stashes of gold was
bperturbing the currency market.b

So, itbs perfectly fine for States to use gold to protect themselves from
economic sanctions, but not for the lowly civilians. But more importantly,
holding stashes of precious metals may be an adequate protection against
foreign sanctions, but not against your own State. Well, what are the Iranian
people to do? I found the answer. Iranian Musician Mohammad Rafigh has
translated some Bitcoin software into Farsi and is talking up Bitcoin in
Iran. Rafigh accepted Bitcoin for his latest album. He wrote bI wish the
culture of using digital money spreads all over the world, because it does
not have any dependency on anything like politics.b

Using Bitcoin Iranians living abroad can send money to their families, or
exchange them for rials or dollars. It allows them to store their wealth
digitally where the currency police canbt seize it, and most importantly it
allows the people of Iran, at the individual level, to skirt US sanctions and
maintain an economic connection to the outside world. When US sanction
against Iraq killed an estimated 1 million innocent civilians in the 90s itbs
easy to see how important that is.

All the pieces came together when I read that AntiWar.com now accepts Bitcoin
donations. PayPal and many credit card companies block access in over 60
countries for largely political reasons. Bitcoin offers what no other
currency can. Access to everyone, everywhere.

AntiWar.com was launched in 1995, to oppose the Bosnian war under the Clinton
administration, but as wars have escalated so has apposition to war. Today
the site is the leading hub of anti-war news and activism in the liberty
movement, devoted not only to opposing war, but also the assaults on freedom
that result from it. Bitcoin was created in 2009 by an infamous programmer
names Satoshi Nakamoto, but it is unlike any other currency in the world in
that it is not issued by any central bank or ruling State. In fact, itbs
incredibly difficult if not impossible to track, regulate or block.

What this means is that right now, in the world we live in, it is possible
for civilians living in Iran to donate to the anti-war movement in the US,
and it is possible for civilians in the US to donate to the relief efforts in
the countries the US bombs. People can now cooperate across national
boundaries, and there is virtually nothing that States can do to prevent it.

Bitcoin has already changed the world, and it will continue to do so in
fantastic and unpredictable ways. Given that wars must be funded by taxes,
national debt or currency debasement, all of which can be protected against
with Bitcoin, itbs going to be increasingly difficult for imperial powers to
fund their military budgets.

French economist Frederic Bastiat once said, bIf goods don t cross borders,
armies will.b I suggest that when States can no longer prevent goods from
crossing borders, armies wonbt.

The AntiWar.com donation address is: 1M87hiTAa49enJKVeT9gzLjYmJoYh9V98

Tags: AntiWar.com, Bitcoin, Iran, Iran Sanctions, Mohammad Rafigh