I'd support the Libra currency. Here's why:

[Brickjectivity]

Facebook has been criticized and questioned by US Congress over its proposal to create an international currency called Libra. There are many valid criticisms to be leveled at this idea, however its still superior to the fiat currencies we already use.

Fiat Money

I came to this conclusion after watching a bunch of youtube videos about it and through some understanding of digital currencies. You may have other resources, experience and knowledge to lean upon, and so feel free to peddle them.

• Libra is a fiat currency not like bitcoin, however it is not an attack upon bitcoin or other block chain currencies. It can co-exist with them. Its competition is government fiat currency.
• Libra is not government controlled and is controlled through an association of large businesses, but its still likely to be more stable than government currencies.
• Libra can help if one or more world currencies fails (which seems likely).
• Is it creepy? Yes, but its no more creepy than government currencies; and it doesn't rule out the use of other more private commodities. Also there are potentially ways of using it privately though not at first.
• Do we need it? Probably. We probably do need it or something like it. The sooner we get a global currency that is indendent of government whims the better.
• Money transfers are free. You can transfer money to anyone, anywhere for free.

 

[JustGeorge]

Seems a little exclusionary. I fear if it really took on, it may do away with other currencies, leaving those without Facebook accounts in the dust.

Facebook has already gotten out of hand as it is.

 

[Tambourine]

Yea, we really need to give corporations even more power over our lives.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

An exploitive data selling website turned international banker. Sounds legit.

 

[MNoBody]

money in hand in some tangible form allows one to retain their position of control....
digital currency...you could be frozen out and have no recourse.
So, what fool would think any scheme that gives others power over your assets and the ability to plunder you with zero recourse....even if you had some remedy, you would then have to fight to get back what they could easily steal.
How does that get rationalized away.... as it is a deal breaker of a problem.

 

[Ratt Blastard]

What is going to stop other corporations from creating their own currency? I can imagine Amazon doing exactly that.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Seems a little exclusionary. I fear if it really took on, it may do away with other currencies, leaving those without Facebook accounts in the dust.

Facebook has already gotten out of hand as it is.

Great points, and I don't think it will take off unless a major currency fails in the next two years. If that happens and people are desperate some currency will be needed to fill in the gap. Of course everybody feels a little strange about it coming from facebook, yes; yet these same people have facebook apps. They are already tracked everywhere they go on the internet by facebook, and they also use credit cards and smart phones. Facebook knows when they take a crap, and already the monetary system is controlled by the banks. This would be more of the same but without the failed government currency. What I mean is...everyone has already sold their souls to facebook, and I don't see a difference.

Yea, we really need to give corporations even more power over our lives.

It would also raise awareness and use of genuine crypto currencies. Having an alternative fiat currency that is associated with block chain (though not a block chain currency) would improve the use of and facility of crypto currencies....probably I think. It could work in favor of getting you out from under the corporations. Just having more diversity in currency might help.

An exploitive data selling website turned international banker. Sounds legit.

Global government has failed. Nationalism and populism are on the rise. Currencies are stretched thin. Do you remember what happend to Greece when its currency failed? It was nasty. What's keeping the US dollar afloat? Letting Libra simply exist isn't going to hurt anything, and if the dollar fails (or the Yen or the Euro) then we'll need every currency we can get.

money in hand in some tangible form allows one to retain their position of control....
digital currency...you could be frozen out and have no recourse.
So, what fool would think any scheme that gives others power over your assets and the ability to plunder you with zero recourse....even if you had some remedy, you would then have to fight to get back what they could easily steal.
How does that get rationalized away.... as it is a deal breaker of a problem.

There is always gold, whisky and guns; but you can't easily send gold to pay a debt. You can also use genuine digital currencies which are not fiat, but their values fluctuate too quickly. Genuine digital currencies work provided the computers keep running throughout the world. If all the computers fail at once then, yes, that currency is gone.

 

[JustGeorge]

Great points, and I don't think it will take off unless a major currency fails in the next two years. If that happens and people are desperate some currency will be needed to fill in the gap. Of course everybody feels a little strange about it coming from facebook, yes; yet these same people have facebook apps. They are already tracked everywhere they go on the internet by facebook, and they also use credit cards and smart phones. Facebook knows when they take a crap, and already the monetary system is controlled by the banks. This would be more of the same but without the failed government currency. What I mean is...everyone has already sold their souls to facebook, and I don't see a difference.

Would this is turn trigger a new currency amongst people that did not use Facebook? I know, it seems odd, but we're out there. (I don't use Facebook, and many of my older relatives, especially those in rural areas, do not use it either.) I wonder how two competing monetary systems would further divide society.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Would this is turn trigger a new currency amongst people that did not use Facebook? I know, it seems odd, but we're out there. (I don't use Facebook, and many of my older relatives, especially those in rural areas, do not use it either.) I wonder how two competing monetary systems would further divide society.

What it could do and might do is spur a more reputable resource to try the same thing. For example suppose that New Zealand offered something like this, making its currency digital but backed by New Zealand. Then it would be New Zealand rather than Facebook, and it could well become the default currency around the world for paying debts and making purchases, or better yet what if all of the most stable states got together and did this? Say..the commonwealth states plus the nordic states. I might buy some of that currency.

 

[MNoBody]

Genuine digital currencies work provided the computers keep running throughout the world. If all the computers fail at once then, yes, that currency is gone.

yup...one good solar flare from toast.... no wonder they "spray" so much aloft....a little digital security net against EM party crashers.

 

[exchemist]

Facebook has been criticized and questioned by US Congress over its proposal to create an international currency called Libra. There are many valid criticisms to be leveled at this idea, however its still superior to the fiat currencies we already use.

Fiat Money

I came to this conclusion after watching a bunch of youtube videos about it and through some understanding of digital currencies. You may have other resources, experience and knowledge to lean upon, and so feel free to peddle them.

• Libra is a fiat currency not like bitcoin, however it is not an attack upon bitcoin or other block chain currencies. It can co-exist with them. Its competition is government fiat currency.
• Libra is not government controlled and is controlled through an association of large businesses, but its still likely to be more stable than government currencies.
• Libra can help if one or more world currencies fails (which seems likely).
• Is it creepy? Yes, but its no more creepy than government currencies; and it doesn't rule out the use of other more private commodities. Also there are potentially ways of using it privately though not at first.
• Do we need it? Probably. We probably do need it or something like it. The sooner we get a global currency that is indendent of government whims the better.
• Money transfers are free. You can transfer money to anyone, anywhere for free.

The Sage of Omaha described Bitcoin as "rat poison, squared". I am going to treat any other IT-based currency the same way.

 

[Brickjectivity]

yup...one good solar flare from toast.... no wonder they "spray" so much aloft....a little digital security net against EM party crashers.

Solar flares! When somebody has to bring solar flares into the conversation I know we're pushing boundaries. I can see that I've almost got you converted. Fine. Hide behind your 'Solar flares'.

 

[Brickjectivity]

The Sage of Omaha described Bitcoin as "rat poison, squared". I am going to treat any other IT-based currency the same way.

His opposition to bitcoin is well known, but he hasn't commented on Libra which works differently from bitcoin. It would be backed by companies and multiple international currencies. Bitcoin is only based on bitmining. Libra only uses the bitmining to secure transactions not to set the value of the currency.

Would some more technobabble change your mind?

 

[MNoBody]

Solar flares! When somebody has to bring solar flares into the conversation I know we're pushing boundaries. I can see that I've almost got you converted. Fine. Hide behind your 'Solar flares'.

EM is just an ever present condition, kind of a side note really considering the trust factor eroded long ago, which has never been resolved.

 

[exchemist]

His opposition to bitcoin is well known, but he hasn't commented on Libra which works differently from bitcoin. It would be backed by companies and multiple international currencies. Bitcoin is only based on bitmining. Libra only uses the bitmining to secure transactions not to set the value of the currency.

Would some more technobabble change your mind?

Thanks but no. The bankruptcy courts are littered with smartarses who got into something they didn't understand properly.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Global government has failed. Nationalism and populism are on the rise. Currencies are stretched thin. Do you remember what happend to Greece when its currency failed? It was nasty. What's keeping the US dollar afloat? Letting Libra simply exist isn't going to hurt anything, and if the dollar fails (or the Yen or the Euro) then we'll need every currency we can get.

Meanwhile not being an e-prepper, I don't trust proven untrustworthy corporations handling my emergency resources any more than the government. Less, even, as a democratic government has at least some transparency.

 

[Stevicus]

Facebook has been criticized and questioned by US Congress over its proposal to create an international currency called Libra. There are many valid criticisms to be leveled at this idea, however its still superior to the fiat currencies we already use.

Fiat Money

I came to this conclusion after watching a bunch of youtube videos about it and through some understanding of digital currencies. You may have other resources, experience and knowledge to lean upon, and so feel free to peddle them.

• Libra is a fiat currency not like bitcoin, however it is not an attack upon bitcoin or other block chain currencies. It can co-exist with them. Its competition is government fiat currency.
• Libra is not government controlled and is controlled through an association of large businesses, but its still likely to be more stable than government currencies.
• Libra can help if one or more world currencies fails (which seems likely).
• Is it creepy? Yes, but its no more creepy than government currencies; and it doesn't rule out the use of other more private commodities. Also there are potentially ways of using it privately though not at first.
• Do we need it? Probably. We probably do need it or something like it. The sooner we get a global currency that is indendent of government whims the better.
• Money transfers are free. You can transfer money to anyone, anywhere for free.

Libra? Why not Capricorn?

 

[Tambourine]

you remember what happend to Greece when its currency failed?

Greece's currency is the Euro, the same currency that the rest of the Eurozone uses, and it wasn't the currency that "failed", it was the Greek government's ability to pay back its debts (which had been previously undervalued by creditors specifically because of the Eurozone's unprecedented economic stability). Digital scrib won't prevent you from taking on debts you can't afford to pay back.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Greece's currency is the Euro, the same currency that the rest of the Eurozone uses, and it wasn't the currency that "failed", it was the Greek government's ability to pay back its debts (which had been previously undervalued by creditors specifically because of the Eurozone's unprecedented economic stability). Digital scrib won't prevent you from taking on debts you can't afford to pay back.

Sorry I should have specified the drachma. This went into deadly inflation twice before the Euro, and Greece was devastated. A drachma just didn't buy anything. The same could happen to the dollar if people stopped accepting it as payment, because it is a fiat currency.

Another example is Zimbabwe's currency which failed several years ago. Towards the end Zimbabwe was issuing trillion dollar bills, and even these couldn't buy anything.

 

[Tambourine]

Sorry I should have specified the drachma. This went into deadly inflation twice before the Euro, and Greece was devastated. A drachma just didn't buy anything. The same could happen to the dollar if people stopped accepting it as payment, because it is a fiat currency.

Another example is Zimbabwe's currency which failed several years ago. Towards the end Zimbabwe was issuing trillion dollar bills, and even these couldn't buy anything.

Another example is the numerous company scrip that was popular in US mining towns, which rapidly lost in value when the US government started enforcing the dollar as standard currency, plunging many company towns into desolation.