I guess we are now arguing 'Austrian Economics' vs. 'Keynesian Economics'... This is a fair simplification. As long as you hold real assets to protect your wealth, the government's debasement of the currency (modest inflation) is of no concern.
Clearly, when a person lives from paycheck to paycheck the only concern is "Can I buy food next week?" and "Can I pay the rent on the 1st?". Wealth preservation and modest inflation is not on the radar. However, it is still hurting the man that earns $12/hr, no matter the modesty of the inflation.
Just look around right now. Is the current inflation rate modest? Did everyone get a raise to account for the CPI going up? Will everyone get an 8.5% raise next year?
In my opinion decoupling the currency from anyone's "control" is the key idea behind Bitcoin.
If it becomes a reserve currency governments and the very wealthy will still hold the vast majority and thus maintain control right?
If you want to learn more about the history of the German economy between 1900-1945, the authority on the subject is the British historian Adam Tooze. He has a couple of books on the subject, listed on Wikipedia if you want to check them out.
No. It is clear that both hyper-inflation and deflation are bad for the citizenry. However, modest inflation is generally a net positive.
"yet [inflation] has been done throughout the ages by every dying civilization." Do you have any real data for this? Sounds like bullshit to me.
Also, it seems preferable that government be in control of the currency rather than random speculators. Controlling the currency can be a useful tool if used responsibly. If you have bad government, then bitcoin isn't going to save you.