Thursday, January 23, 2014
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.
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I definitely agree with you on your blog post, people are hungry for money. At the end of the day it is what humans desire and what we essential live for. Without it, one just cannot simply survive. It also crazy to see how one website can disrupt so much damage upon us. I had no idea that just one website can do so much damage to our country but i am also assuming it is not the only one. This also relates to the Target scandal that just arose. People in the world can just hack into a multi-million dollar cooperation and take peoples credit card information. So much damage so that millions of people then had to change credit cards. This is off of just one individual who was consumed by money. I definitely agree with your blog though, interesting stuff!
ReplyDeleteThis was by far one of the most intriguing blog posts I have read. I appreciate your stand point of projecting Bitcoin as a form of currency that may open up doors for more harm than good. However, I have to wonder if your point at the end when you say the government is powerless if we switch to online currency is the only option for the government. Is it possible they might create their own enhanced form of Bitcoin and once again gain control of the monetary system? Or perhaps find a new way to control current personal Bitcoin/online currency exhanges in a way that benefits them? As much as I am hopeful that Bitcoin and other online currency sites would remain self-regulated I find it hard to believe the government would allow that to happen. Great post, definitely an interesting life story that is so applicable to the topic being covered!
ReplyDeleteStephen, I mean this as a friend to a friend, good article. I have heard many disturbing things about this drug trafficking website called “The Silkroad” but didn’t know much about it. With your spoken mind put into words on this essay, you spark a serious argument to a serious topic and got me intrigued as well. You put a harsh reality of some people wanting money and doing whatever it takes to get it on to everyone’s souls. I also liked how you went into great detail to even tell us what hard drugs were being sold for electronic money called bit coin which gave us an even harsher reality onto our souls. Although it is very sad how many Americans got rich off of this drug trade website, and the destruction to the United States it may have caused, its time that these things don’t go untold, and that, my friend, is something you did for us through this essay, but with passion.
ReplyDeleteA few things for improvement could be maybe go into a bit more detail. This was such an interesting topic I wanted to know more of! maybe you could be able to go into more detail next time by giving us links to articles that talks more about the encryptors people would use to access this website or even articles about Edward snowmen that relate most to this blog entry. Again, great job.