[deleted]
GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
51–60 of 188 posts
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Regardless of the type of tax, roads have been built by governments using tax revenue since history began. [1] Is your grievance with personal income tax in particular or taxes in general? Because for taxes to work at all, there needs to be some way for governments to have some visibility on the flow of cash in the economy, right? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road#History
roads have been built by governments using tax revenue since history began Some roads have been built by government... not all where, and not all are even now. I'll posit that a significant number of Americans drive on at least one private road every single day. Chances are, if you live in any kind of suburban housing subdivision, the road right in front of your house actually wasn't created, and isn't maintained, by…
It may be that the disagreement you're encountering is based on your acceptance of the premise that taxes are collected at gunpoint. It's extending a principle to an extreme logical conclusion and appealing to a formulaic interpretation of the world. It is divorced from the real world and makes the perfect the enemy of the good.
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
It goes both ways: it prevents a corrupt government from trying to overtax you by just saying you made more than you did, and it could prevent corporations from evading taxes.
You do realize that governments make the laws, and that they can just raise taxes rather than try to dispute your tax report?
But then they can't lie about it, at least not as easily. And if they were better able to collect from tax-evading corporations, maybe they wouldn't need to tax individuals as much.
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
We never had roads before the 19th century when personal income tax was introduced.
Regardless of the type of tax, roads have been built by governments using tax revenue since history began. [1] Is your grievance with personal income tax in particular or taxes in general? Because for taxes to work at all, there needs to be some way for governments to have some visibility on the flow of cash in the economy, right? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road#History
Thieves seem to manage without having a detailed list of assets, I'm sure government can too.
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#55[deleted]
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#56[deleted]
> The bank, government and mint will also never learn how you spent your electronic money. However, you can prove that you paid in court if necessary.
> With Taler, the receiver of any form of payment is known, and the payment information comes attached with some details about what the payment was made for (but not the identity of the customer). Thus, governments can use this data to tax buisnesses and individuals based on their income
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#57> Taler ensures that governments can easily track their citizen's income So exactly why would I want to use this?
Because unless the government can track citizen's income it cannot tax it, and without taxes modern society cannot function at all. Technologies like this would be a boon to many developing countries like mine where tax evasion and corruption is rampant. It would enable the government to collect funds for infrastructure, education, environmental protection and healthcare (and yes, I am a progressive liberal who would…
> Because unless the government can track citizen's income it cannot tax it.
That's simply not true. When I do my taxes I have to report my yearly income. The kind of system where a government can monitor all of my transactions in real time is without any court involvement is insane.
You might as well use your bank card as at least those require a warrant or subpoena to acquire.
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#58[deleted]
According to [0]: "2-2015: Taler becomes an official GNU package ... Taler was accepted into the GNU project today. GNU will offer advice, advocacy and cooperation --- and host our official public mailinglist taler@gnu.org."
Also, RMS is listed on the About page [1], though it doesn't say in what capacity (unless "Ethics enthusiast" is a job title).
Edit: fixed reference to footnote
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because unless the government can track citizen's income it cannot tax it, and without taxes modern society cannot function at all. Technologies like this would be a boon to many developing countries like mine where tax evasion and corruption is rampant. It would enable the government to collect funds for infrastructure, education, environmental protection and healthcare (and yes, I am a progressive liberal who would…
The question remains, why would anyone choose to use a system like this? Wealthy individuals and companies (aka those with most of the money) have a vested interest in having their transactions not easily tracked by the government.
Simple: this aims for regulatory support. If Taler (or a system like Taler) is embraced by governments, and is therefore given the full support of the financial system, Bitcoin could be permanently relegated to black-market-only use.
Re: GNU Taler – Electronic payments for a liberal society
#60[deleted]
I've recently been at an event where Richard Stallman was promoting this. I'm pretty sure it's part of the GNU Project.