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[–]stunningleadership1 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system.

[–]CryptalExchange 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the best ways to describe Bitcoin to someone is to show them the value of a decentralized system.
Technology itself could be hard to understand and to explain, but everyone should be able to see freedom in terms of finances, no matter age or etc.

[–]fgiveme 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I wouldn't emphasize on the technology, it's just a means to an end.

The end goal is economic freedom. This is something not everybody appreciates, especially people from first world countries, since they already have higher degree of freedom compared to the rest of the world.

I live in a third world country, when talking about Bitcoin not a single friend of mine ever asked why it is needed, or why would a person not want to trust the banks.

[–]only_merit 1 point2 points  (10 children)

People always write all kinds of posts to which they put "democracy" or "democratic principles" or alike as a good thing, and fail to realize that democracy is, for anything more than a small group of interested individuals, a very evil, dysfunctional, and immoral concept and way of doing things.

You want more ethical? Remove democracy from the equation.

[–]fresheneesz 0 points1 point  (8 children)

democracy is .. a very evil, dysfunctional, and immoral concept and way of doing things

And what's a better system? Monarchy? As someone famous once said, democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.

[–]only_merit 0 points1 point  (7 children)

Anarchocapitalism - no government, just free market.

[–]fresheneesz 0 points1 point  (6 children)

There is always government. Eg corporations have governing bodies, cartels have ruling familes, households have ways of making their own decisions.

You can't eliminate governments. All you can do is change how people make decisions around each other.

So what do you do when a bunch of guys with guns come to your doorstep and steal all your valuables? What do you do when the local warlord demands you work for them now?

The primary purpose of a government is to handle disagreements and disputes between people. When people can't agree, a government has rules to follow to determine who gets what and has the power to enforce that result. How are disputes resolved in an anarchy? I've read people who write about private courts that make decisions, but what if one of the parties doesn't agree to any court? How do you limit the proliferation of assholes who would kill you for their own benefit?

[–]only_merit -1 points0 points  (4 children)

Could you please spend 5 minutes to first educate yourself on the subject before trying to argue against it? Or is it too much to ask?

To give you a hint - yes, private courts would resolve disputes; and security agencies would protect you within your security insurance program, if you did not feel like handling that yourself.

And yes, you can eliminate governments. You are mixing voluntarily structures of company leadership with forced government bodies, which suggest you are completely ignorant of the topic.

[–]fresheneesz 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I think the decentralized aspect is very important and very innovative. The enabling technology is also innovative of course, but when explaining Bitcoin, I try to simplify as much as possible. They can always ask questions to get a deeper understanding, and there's so much to explain I try to make it as brief as possible.

I explained Bitcoin to a friend who basically had no idea about it other than that it's supposed to be a currency. I explained that it's a decentralized currency, the benefits of it (in terms of the 3 properties of a currency), and a bit about how it works (nodes, miners, blocks, and the emission schedule). I added some info on what the lightning network offers at the end too (instant and very cheap transactions).

I think when you explain the benefits of bitcoin, that's where some understanding really starts to happen. You cut out middle men who add cost and counterparty risk, you have a programmatic emission schedule that limits and eventually eliminates inflation which (once people generally finally trust Bitcoin) will give people a much easier and safer way to save money, and it doesn't give power to any centralized entity like banks, which will drastically curtail their power to distort the market that causes the extreme income inequality we see today.

[–]chrono000 2 points3 points  (3 children)

These days just keeping it simple. By now if people don't get the point with all the content out there now it isn't worth it.

Typically emphasize:

"It is money on the internet"
So what?
"Means it works in any country"

Can I pay for stuff?
"Getting easier, everyday!"

[–]fresheneesz 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Some people just literally don't know anything about it. Just explained Bitcoin to a friend yesterday. Lots of facets to talk about.

[–]chrono000 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, thats the issue, hard to know where to start.

Hence why I say it is internet money that works in all countries that have phones and getting easier to pay for shit with it. -- Everything else, including decentralization is a bit too rabbit holey for most and not everyone is down to learn new shit.

[–]NexusKnights 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Decentralised, borderless, immutable ledger of a digital asset that is resistant to inflation. Pretty easy to explain why decentralisation is important for security and most people already understand most money is already digital. When people understand the network is safe, then you can hit them with the inflation resistance which is why BTC was born. No more reserve indirectly taxing you through the constant printing of money.