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UK Government wants your crypto keys... by law.

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Carol Haynes:
Mine too - but in British law it is meaningless. The United Kingdom is based on a Constitutional Monarchy and the British people are subject to the Crown (ie. we are all literally owned by the Crown in serfdom).

It is also one of the reasons why it is not possible to take out a civil action against the Queen (or indeed the Armed Forces in the execution of their duty since they are her representatives) and why UK parliament cannot act without written consent from the Monarch.

Here is an article (abstract - I couldn't get the whole article) ...

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713658853~db=all

It is also interesting (if that is the right word) that no one in the UK owns land. You can own a freehold but that doesn't mean you actually own the land - ultimately it all belongs to the Crown and if a nutter came to the throne we could all be disenfranchised.

Here is an easy read description of the current UK constitutional situation:

http://www.art-science.com/president/constitution.html

And the government has the temerity to make the teaching of Citizenship compulsory in schools (ROFL hysterically).

Up the revolution - oops most countries have done that!

Jimdoria:
WARNING: Off topic alert (but I just had to respond to Carol)...

I've heard before about that obscure provision of UK law that all land ultimately belongs to the government (the Crown) and that no one can really "own" land.

I've also heard that this is also the case in the U.S., despite a general perception to the contrary, and I can't say I can find the flaw in this argument. In fact I'd say it's probably true in just about any civilized country, despite various legal fictions that disguise the fact.

It seems to me it all boils down to the ability to levy taxes on land. Once a government has this power, actual, private ownership of land becomes a legal fiction. Land that is subject to tax cannot be owned, because if you fail to pay the rent (oops, tax) on the land, government agents will come and put you off the land, seize it, and sell it to someone else.

When you own something, it belongs to you free and clear and cannot be taken away. Furthermore, when you own something, you no longer have to pay for it. Neither of these are true for land.

Carol Haynes:
When you own something, it belongs to you free and clear and cannot be taken away. Furthermore, when you own something, you no longer have to pay for it. Neither of these are true for land.
--- End quote ---

Can you think of anything where it is true - apart from picking fruit at the roadside ;)

I have just been watching "500 Nations" (history of Native North Americans before, during and after the struggle with colonisation). Interestingly one of the issues they genuinely couldn't get to grips with, and caused real conflict, was land ownership. Much like the Australian Aborigines they view people belonging to the land and not the land belonging to people.

I actually find this a much more pleasing (and thoroughly sensible) view which binds peoples together rather than allowing for conflict of land rights. Given the geological time scale of our planet and the insignificant periods of history and potential future of the human species it makes land ownership complete nonsense!

Darwin:
Sadly, cultures that have adopted a farming or animal rearing (or combination thereof) way of life tend to view the land that sustains them as belonging to them (as a group or to individuals within the group) and thus have a clear concept of "ownership" of the land. Rather than being in tune with, or part of, nature, they tend to see themselves as masters of nature (both subsistence patterns require extensive modification of the landscape). Unfortunately, it's a short intellectual leap from "mastering" nature to "mastering" other people...

Deozaan:
I know the USA isn't perfect and there are plenty of flaws with the government here, but I am so glad I am a US citizen!

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