A friend of mine was going to buy a PC from Onixstyle.com, but it turns out they only accept e-Gold payments. He asked me if I knew anything about it; I told him all I knew was a few years back I wanted to buy some book from some European libertarians, and they insisted I use a stupid e-Gold account. I assume the guys at Onixstyle are also pro-gold libertarians. Now I like pro-gold libertarians, of course, but these guys who insist on a ridiculous, gimmicky, and inconvenient payment method are mixing business with their pet political views. I told my friend about my experience: I went thru the hassle of opening the stupid e-Gold account; finally got it done; then ordered the book; there was a tiny bit of gold left over, not enough to hassle with getting out, so now every fricking week for the last 4-5 years I get stupid e-Gold emails begging me to take care of it. What a hassle. My friend decided not to order from them even though they had a very good price. What is wrong with libertarians?Addenda: Someone wrote me this, in response to this post:
3:10 pm on December 20, 2005These guys are canoeing upstream without a paddle against Gresham’s Law. Why would I trade away something as valuable as gold for a PC when I can trade away paper money for those goods. Besides, currently the transaction costs (which include hassle) of using fiat money is far lower than using gold, e-gold, norfeds, etc. One day gold may become generally accepted as exchange medium, but not now.
I think the problem with a lot of libertarians is that they’re just dorks, plain and simple. I used to chide [certain free market think tank interns I know], “you love to talk about free markets, but if you were thrown in the middle of one you wouldn’t last 10 seconds.” Many libertarians like this just lack street smarts and any kind of work ethic.
