Forbes has a fascinating interview with The Dread Pirate Roberts, the assumed name of the purported CEO of the Silk Road, a website for the anonymous sale of prohibited drugs and other contraband. Anonymity is the key, and the site relies upon the digital currency Bitcoin. The Dread Pirate Roberts argues that he is motivated by his libertarian philosophy to advance personal and economic freedom, and the opportunity to make what is probably millions of dollars.
The Pirate thinks he is going to change the world in favor of freedom. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is demanding that the government take down the Silk Road. As this anonymous commerce grows, it may become the alternative justification the NSA/DEA/CIA/FBI/IRS needs to justify to an angry public their massive invasions of privacy.
Take ten minutes and read this and think about the future, and the lessons of the past.
Kudos to Andy Greenberg of the Forbes staff.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Is the Silk Road the infrastructure of a Libertarian future?
Labels:
Andy Greenberg,
anonymity,
Bitcoin,
CIA,
DEA,
FBI,
Forbes,
IRS,
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NSA,
privacy,
Senator Schumer,
Silk Road,
The Dread Pirate Roberts,
war on drugs
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