During my short but very profitable trip down the rabbit hole of Bitcoin, I have learned a few things, especially related to money and some economic concepts, which I still have half-tangled up.
I have learned about the emergence of money because barter was becoming less efficient in larger and more specialized economies, I have learned about inflation associated with two phenomena, on the one hand it can occur due to the scarcity of products and services, on the other there is the money printing machine. I have even read about how people get rid of excess money by spending. And this is where I thought:
WHY IF THERE IS INFLATION IN CUBA, DO I NOT HAVE EXTRA MONEY TO SPEND?
Then I begin to understand that there is a combined phenomenon here. On the one hand the state began to stop producing physical money so that everything is digital, magnetic cards. Here "they kill 3 birds with one shotgun"
1 They control your expenses and profits
2 They do not have to pay to print more money. They put numbers in the accounts and that's it.
3 They can confiscate ALL YOUR CAPITAL
As they can print or generate "money" out of nothing, INFLATION occurs. But there is the other phenomenon, THERE ARE NO PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, mainly products, which forces you to spend everything you have on basic needs and I'm talking about RICE, BEANS, SUGAR, OIL, EGGS; no MEAT BECAUSE THERE IS NONE AND WHEN IT APPEARS THE PRICE IS HOLD.
So an interesting phenomenon is occurring, RESURRECTION OF BARTER. Of course the economy is no longer so specialized or so large, we are bartering with basic products.
These phenomena are making it more difficult to accept and much less adopt Bitcoin.
It is incredible how economically you can be in this situation in the modern era. Therefore, if you who are reading this post live where there is inflation and you have money to spare or you have the opportunity to charge for your services in Bitcoin, do not miss that opportunity. Bitcoin is the solution to everything, but not everyone can have Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is scarce and there are some lost ones.
Have you read Nick Szabo's Shelling Out: The Origins of Money
I think you'd really enjoy it. It's about the history of money, how it distinguishes humans from other animals, and what people have used in earlier times for money.
What are people bartering with in Cuba? That "double coincidence of wants", that is the main problem with barter, has got to make it tough. Is there any one product that is taking the place of money?
I know in some early pioneer communities in the US, in the 1800's and earlier, before coins were widespread, certain commodities became a standard for money. For instance, sorghum syrup, by the quart, was a type of money in some areas.
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Thank you for your thoughtful message;
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We are early. You have to keep that in mind.
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Yes, but I understand what he means with those people using barter before BTC. I lived the same damn situation, when money, on any form, are not useful anymore. The survival is at such high limits that every day is like your last day. So you will exchange anything you have for anything you can find to survive.
Is a really bad situation that westerners cannot even imagine...
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Darth, Where are you living? The USA?
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btw the USA is a CORPORATION. Can you live inside a corporation? You can say, "I live in the North American continent..." that is totally another thing.
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You are right. Do you live in North America? I remember you said you dont pay taxes, must be nice.
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Only shitizens and slaves pay taxes. Sovereign individuals do not have to pay taxes to other nations. My own gov (aka me) declared taxes prohibited in my own country (my body).
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The USA?
Hell NO! That will be soon the new North Korea...
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Africa?
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Undefined location. Wherever I go I live in my own country and I do not give a shit about any political state. Nobody can deny your status when you position yourself as a true sovereign individual in his own nation. I live in my own body, my body is my own country, state, gov.
The Convention on the Rights and Duties of States is an international treaty signed in Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 26, 1933.
The convention establishes the definition of the State, its rights and obligations.
In Article 1 it establishes four characteristic criteria of a State that have become part of customary international law.
They have been recognized as confirmation in International Law, establishing that a State as a person of International Law must meet the following requirements:
ARTICLE 1
The State as a subject of International Law must meet the following requirements:
I. Permanent population
  • yes, is just me with myself
II. Determined territory
  • yes, is my own body, the external limits of my body are the boundaries of my territory. Any violation of these boundaries is a violation of my state.
III. Government
  • yes, is me, the whole government, I can govern myself, I do not need anybody to govern me, I am a grown up man
IV. Ability to enter into relations with other States
  • yes, I welcome anybody to enter in cordial relations with my "state".
Under these guidelines, any entity that meets these criteria can be considered a sovereign state under international law, whether or not it has been recognized by other states.
ARTICLE 3
The political existence of the state is independent of its recognition by other states.
Even before being recognized, the State has the right to defend its integrity and independence.
ARTICLE 7
The recognition of the State may be express or tacit. The latter results from any act that implies the intention to recognize the new State.
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Darth, Where are you living? The USA? I live in CUBA.
Only those who have suffered under shitty communism can understand what we experience here.
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You are in Cuba?
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Unfortunately I live in Cuba.
Right now in Cuba there are several currencies, CUP (OFFICIAL PAYMENT CURRENCY FOR WORKERS) MLC (ANOTHER CUBAN DIGITAL CURRENCY THAT THE GOVERNMENT SAYS IS BACKED BY FOREIGN CURRENCY)
RICE, SUGAR, BEANS, CLEANING PRODUCTS, to barter.
"Government money" has no value anymore.
Bitcoin is suffering here, but I'm not going to leave it.
Recently I didn't have fiat money to pay for products. I have SATs that I have stacked up, but I couldn't use them as a form of payment. Option? I HAD TO EXCHANGE MY SATS FOR CRAP TO PAY.
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In your shity situation, Bitcoin is very useful if you have to flee from that place. You just go with nothing on you, just 12 words. Bitcoin is literally "fuck you money".
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Bitcoin has always been "fuck you money." I always laugh when the airlines say $10,000 limit.
Lots of Cubans in Miami... just saying. Thank you for your post, you are very brave.
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Monetary inflation is only one particular form of demand driven price inflation. The other form would be people becoming more consumeristic. Either way, people are more willing to buy goods at a given nominal price.
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In 1990, an economic crisis occurred in Cuba following the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, on which Cuba depended 1000%. This caused a disappearance of products and therefore an increase in the prices of basic products. We are not talking about luxuries or consumerism, we are talking about what is necessary to survive. People kept low salaries but were willing to pay whatever for basic products. This was resolved when the products that the government had withheld began to appear.
Now the phenomenon is different. Salaries have risen and products disappear. There is no such thing as what is necessary to survive, so there is nothing left after paying what is necessary. The products ARE NOT THERE.
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I understand. I was just completing your set of ways that (price) inflation can occur.
Inflated prices due to rampant consumerism is definitely a thing in America.
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I get your point. The govs' in the third world countries have been doing this for a while now and the situation has deteriorated further than improving. However, it's not alone inflation for which we all need Bitcoin. To summarise, we need it to change the old corrupt order into New.
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