Post 2 -

One of the first articles that popped up on my favorite app, Zite, was Bitcoin Money Laundering. Just days after discussing how Bitcoin can be abused and utilized in illegal sales, a CEO was arrested for selling Bitcoins for an invest firm named BitInstant. It is interesting that soon after a government crackdown on the Silkroad, the stem of the issue, Bitcoin, is now under fire.

Everyone uses their money in different ways. Some people are forced to pay off debts as soon as they receive a pay check, while others invest. What we buy, and how we buy also vary across the world, and even here in tiny Pullman. I would argue that the students consume much more than they produce in Pullman. Students spend most of their money on school itself as well as books, housing, food, and retail products. If we accept that a credit truly is a credit hour, and we're supposed to be studying outside class twice the amount of time spent in class, then we must recognize students do not have much time to contribute any labor to the Pullman economy. I work about fifteen hours a week, which is all I can manage coupled with nineteen credits. The true laborers of this town are in fact the professors, whose teaching lures in students and money. At Northwestern University, the athletes are seeking to form a union, The union would provide student athletes with medical insurance that extends into the future. The athletes have a solid case because they bring in more money to the University than people realize. At Northwestern, the football team alone earned over $3,000,000 from their 2013 season (Dochterman). Clearly student athletes are a source of labor for colleges as well.

http://thegazette.com/2013/10/25/sharing-gate-revenue-unique-vital-to-b1g-football/

Blog Post 1 -

Everyday in every corner of the world people lie, cheat, and steal to get more money. People may pocket a candy bar at Walmart, launder illegal money through business fronts, or straight up rob a bank. I'd be willing to wager some money of my own that over half our class has had some money stolen from them. Since I've been back at school someone stole a twenty dollar bill of mine off a friend's bed, my girlfriend had her credit card used in Katy, Texas (while she was here in class), and my older sister called me stressed out about having starting using a Target credit card about six months ago. People want money and unfortunately are willing to harm others in order to get some. The advent of Bitcoin, an untraceable form of money, only opened up more possibilities. I would argue Bitcoin was created to help foster illegal activity. Take the website "the silkroad" for example; you can't get there unless you have an encrypted browser, well you can but the government will be at your door within the week. That's because the silkroad is an eBay for illegal goods, mainly drugs. I learned about it this summer when a computer savvy acquaintance showed me all the illicit drugs on this website. It blew my mind. People were openly, yet hidden through encryption and Bitcoin, buying and selling hard drugs. The categories included, but were not limited to opiates, barbiturates, dissociatives, hallucinogens, amphetamines, and so on. It recently was shut down, but not before the drugs, which were coming from Europe, littered the states. These crimes manifested as a result of Bitcoin a new money. Money is about power, as Weatherford has told us, but the government will soon be powerless. The government is powerless if we switch to any form of technological or online currency because let's face it, the smartest computer minds do not answer to the government, just ask Edward Snowden and the thousands of Americans who got rich off the silk road.