I agree that an emp would bring down civilization as we know it. At least if you owned a real item, like a house, gold, silver, a working farm, gun and ammo, and things like that, you could pull yourself up by the bootstraps and have some degree of survival. Bitcoin would be useless, as would bank account denominated in dollars.. The EMP scenario is not totally out of the question, but it would indeed take more than one of them to bring down the whole USA.

A powerful enough EMP (electromagnetic pulse) would likely bring down civilization as we know it. Under that circumstance, having some gold might be useful for short-term survival but would not be an adequate defense against a total breakdown of the social order.

Maybe my use of fiat was wrong. What bothers me is that all you hold is a digital number in a computer somewhere, there is nothing tangible behind thst digital number. Similar to the dollar that is a receipt for nothing. One good emp and bitcoin is instantly worthless like an account in dollars in an American bank. If a lot of people lose faith in bitcoin, what happens to the wealth you were hoping to preserve? Something like gold that you hold physically seems to me more dound

I never said or implied that “everything is fine”, I simply said that it’s not helpful to declare that our current circumstance is due to some powerful but undefined conspiracy. It isn’t, and claiming that it is will get us nowhere. What we really have is a bunch of control freaks in the political arena. taking tactical advantage of situations as they arise. “Never let a crisis go to waste.”

In most respects, things were much worse in the 1930s and 1940s than they are today. The U.S. government outlawed gold, attempted to impose corporate fascism on the economy, befriended and bailed out Stalin’s Soviet Union, and herded over 100,000 Japanese-American citizens into internment camps. We face a different set of threats today, but also have many advantages. People are much less trusting of government, and advocates of freedom can communicate much more easily with each other.

The real battleground is in the realm of ideas. At present, our public institutions, educational and political, are dominated by left wing ideologists. We need to overcome the domination of this mindset before we can hope to achieve a truly free society. Otherwise, even if we throw the current set of would-be dictators out of power, a new group, equally bad, will take over.

Yes. The 1964 harbingers of "The Marxists are going to take over America" seem to be right on, IMHO. It's been a slow cook, but the Overton Window has been moving steadily socialist totalitarian since then. Fascist and communist alike - they are two sides of the same coin.

I agree, although in both 1964 and today the media messages are lies.
In 1964 the media were only screaming 'wolf' because they were intent on stopping Goldwater
because he appeared to have integrity and respect for the People. The media was lying and
the only danger was that the People might have a defender in office who could have uncovered
and exposed the actual assassins of JFK. The murdering scum couldn't take a chance of that
happening, so the propaganda was Goldwater would cause WW3. (Kind of like the lies of the
media about Trump, when the truth was LBJ and Buydem were the ones who wanted war.)
Today the media are screaming "All is Well! Be Happy, Go Shopping!" and the country is
actually on the verge of default (that will cut buying power of the People by at least 50%.)
The bus out of financial Armageddon has already left the station, but there is a chance to
restore individual liberty instead of serfdom. I don't think that will happen peacefully.
I suspect either 300+ million will be serfs or millions will die in revolution (with no guarantees of
success.)

I switched in 2020 from a position where you are at to a position where these theories are facts. I watched the virus make its way here from China, I bought provisions for a true pandemic, then I witnessed the media pushing various agendas. There was direction, intent in leading the populous to a conclusion what was faults. Then the vaccine and the hype to “force” people to take it. My eyes are open, I see the orchestration and the fact that these conspiracy theories are in fact true conspiracies and are being orchestrated at such a high level that now, I question everything.

I'm not trying to be rude, but this is nothing like 1964; we are driving the car off the cliff. The kids are still in the back seat, and no one has a seat belt on. I don’t understand how you could say everything is fine. It’s obvious that it’s not and that we are approaching the end. I find this conversation very interesting as I can’t understand how you can have the opinion that “everything is fine”.

Now combine unfettered AI with the emergence of quantum computers and how long do you think crypto currency passwords, no matter how well encrypted, will last?

Stronger passwords will evolve along with quantum computing. Quantum-safe cryptography has been around for some time, and is being further refined and strengthened. See:
https://www.ibm.com/topics/quantum-sa...
https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/...
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news...

Quantum-safe cryptography has been around for some time, and is being further refined and strengthened. See:
https://www.ibm.com/topics/quantum-sa...
https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/...
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news...

I was hearing the same arguments 60 years ago, when presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was, in the words of one doomsayer, “the last bus out” before Armageddon. The circumstances and some of the players have changed, but the mantra is the same. “Our freedoms are at stake and tyranny is at our doorstep.” Somehow “they” are all part of a grand conspiracy, and “they” have seemingly unlimited power and a master plan to take over the world. “They” will succeed unless we all suddenly “wake up”. These assertions were not credible to the general public in 1964 and aren’t credible now. Promoting such theories will do nothing to advance the cause of individual liberty, and will likely turn off many people who might otherwise be our allies.

I recently saw my first Bitcoin ATM.
All arguments aside, this is a huge advance in Bitcoin proliferation and acceptance.

Anything that relies on advanced technology to function properly (or at all) is subject to manipulation, seizure, cancelation...
Precious metals have stood the test of time.
When we arrive at the point where precious metals are essentially worthless, stick a fork in humanity, we're done.

Very good point about the near fatal flaw of crypto, the encryption will soon be easy to break.

“They” have remained anonymous, but I believe “they” are the collective of the following groups – United Nations, World Economic Forum, Bill Gates, Goerge Soros, United States Government, and many other entities. I can listen to what “they” have said and then witness the changes I have seen to surmise the responsible parties. All civilizations fall, mostly due to the civilization itself, I think these entities above know this and are ushering us into a single worldwide government. Our freedoms are at stake and tyranny is at our doorstep. The agenda 2030 as published by the UN is what is happening right now, I live near Boise, ID, the liberal major has approved and funded these new apartments with business underneath, so the inhabitants don’t need cars. The proof is right in front of you if you open your eyes and look around. Our way of life is being setup to take a fall, guaranteed they will blame capitalism and the majority of the uneducated populus will shallow that explanation for a bed and a meal from the mother government. The writing is on the wall, I see it, don’t you?

I understand but speculation is all we have. They being banks/mega corporations/ the "elite".

I did my part presenting what I can, "proof" being not so easy to find these days. I posted two links to password cracking, one specifically for crypto. Perhaps the "respect" for the subject will be more evident should you look at those two, particularly the quantum computers ability to crack the strongest encryption on earth.

A college degree is not a store of value. What is of value is the knowledge hopefully acquired and youur ability and willingness to use that knowledge to benefit others. It is not the degree itself that is worth anything in itself.

Bitcoin is a medium of exchange as is the dollar. It is not a store of wealth since a good EMP could eradicate its value instantly.

Bank deposits aren’t a store of wealth either as we find out when a bank fails. The dollar isn’t a store of wealth either.

Gold isn’t really a store of value in itself either unless you can use it for your own life. It’s value, like with bitcoin lies in what value others see in it

On the other hand, a house that you live in is a store of wealth for your own life and for those you leave it to -assuming government doesn’t
Take it from you

Sorry but I'm having trouble making any sense out of your post. Sentiments, projections, an amorphous "they" who "fostered the environment"?

Can you lay out a logical case for your theories, one that identifies the supposed perpetrators, what they plan to do, how they plan to do it, and some actual evidence to back up your theories?

CBJ in 1991 I was part of a group called the network professionals association which met monthly in downtown Phoenix in either Microsoft’s, Novell’s or Xeroxes office. At that time US West, today centurylink, boasted how they projected $100/mo per house and $200/mo per business for communications. They called everything we see today and got their money.

The same sentiments and projections are being used for digital currency. Crypto is just the tool that will be used. The trouble is the control given.

Wuhan was funded, tech shared and released globally. Media, governments, and society in general pushed poison based on the knee jerk hype. Millions have died BECAUSE they allowed it, made it so, fostered the environment.

Do you really think governments could plan out the crossover to digital currency by helping it establish a toehold?

This theory does not compute. If bitcoin could be easily hacked, the baddies would have been all over it, whether "allowed" or "not allowed". Phones and TV were manipulated from the start, phones were a government-enforced monopoly and TV networks were uniformly left wing apologists for the government. There's far more access to real information today, and more distrust of government - which, incidentally, is attempting to undermine bitcoin and other cryptos as much as possible.

A few AI’s have been set free to explore the web and collect data. Consequence: there has been a steep increase in spam, malicious spam, and assaults on my firewalls. Fact.
Now combine unfettered AI with the emergence of quantum computers and how long do you think crypto currency passwords, no matter how well encrypted, will last?
Who owns the AI? Who owns the quantum servers? Not you or me?

As suggested before, take advantage of crypto rage, profit off it and jump ship before the hammer falls.

It was allowed to in order to facilitate acceptance of electronic currency and rid the world of paper and coin. Like phones and broadcast TV were analog and frequency based, converting them to digital allowed them to be micromanaged and folks charged for every kilobit of use. Why? It can be regulated, manipulated, and/or turned off.

Once we’re are dependent on crypto, rules and conditions will be made and nonconformity will get you cut off.

”You are trusting that the developers have not provided a backdoor into the blockchain for the government.”

Bitcoin is open source. The code is out there. If there is a “backdoor”, why wasn't it discovered long ago?

https://www.coindesk.com/learn/open-s...

”Bitcoin is fiat, just like the dollar . . . “

Bitcoin is not fiat. According to http://dictionary.com, "Fiat: an arbitrary decree or pronouncement, especially by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it."

If bitcoin is so easily hacked, how was it able to get off the ground in the first place, let alone become so valuable?

According to dictionary.com, "Fiat: an arbitrary decree or pronouncement, especially by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it." Being intangible does not make it fiat.

Bitcoin is not a fiat currency. Its use as money is not created, nor is its use enforced, by a government authority.

According to dictionary.com, "Fiat: an arbitrary decree or pronouncement, especially by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it."

Unlike gold, bitcoin is intangible. So is a degree from a prestigious university, but people are willing to exchange a lot of money (and work) for it, and its value in the marketplace is derived from its recognized usefulness to a sufficiently wide group of people. Same with bitcoin, even though the reason for its usefulness is different.