The Face Behind Bitcoin?

Re:The Face Behind Bitcoin? by rayiner on Thursday March 06, 2014 @09:54AM (#7353954)

Rhetoric aside, I've met almost no libertarians of the anarchist persuasive in D.C., the kind who reject the existence of government. There are a lot of small government conservatives, though, but I think they object more to the 60% of the budget that is comprised of transfer payments and aid to states than the 5-10% of the budget is comprised of federal payroll. More generally, compartmentalization isn't hypocrisy. Everyone has the programs that they like and the ones they don't. People deeply opposed to defense spending or the drug war still justify working for e.g. the EPA.

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Re:The Face Behind Bitcoin? by bane on Thursday March 06, 2014 @10:46AM (#7354367)

> I've met almost no libertarians of the anarchist persuasive in D.C.

Anecdotal I know, but quite a few of my friends are former military of some type and their facebook feeds are jam pack full of libertarian group reposts.

> Everyone has the programs that they like and the ones they don't.

It's too bad that the rhetoric is "shrink government" not "I don't like this specific program". Because the former statement creates hypocrisy when a program they like is shrunk, but of course picking and choosing individual programs to shrink/cut requires actually knowing what's going on above and beyond catchy political slogans and reposting a repost from a Fox news article who's headline ended in a question mark.

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Re:The Face Behind Bitcoin? by TDL on Thursday March 06, 2014 @11:49AM (#7354829)

Have you ever considered the fact that former military personnel harbor some anti-government sentiments because of the experience with military? They have lived a fairly authoritarian lifestyle for an extended period of time, it's understandable that they develop a distaste for govenrment.

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Re:The Face Behind Bitcoin? by bane on Thursday March 06, 2014 @01:05PM (#7355444)

Yes.

Again, growing up and living in the D.C. area, I think everybody in these parts has distaste for government in some way.

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Re:The Face Behind Bitcoin? by TDL on Thursday March 06, 2014 @02:36PM (#7356042)

I suppose that is probably a fair assessment. That is my impression of the few people I know who have worked for the USG or grew up in the D.C. area.

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Re:The Face Behind Bitcoin? by rayiner on Thursday March 06, 2014 @02:39PM (#7356068)

I dunno. My parents have been living in the D.C. area for about 25 years and my dad loves government, at least as long as there's a Democrat in the White House. I mean, he thinks we spend too much on defense, but doesn't everyone dislike some of the "other side's" policies? I think you meet a lot more "true believers in government" in D.C. than anywhere else in the country.

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