---
title: Freedom of Monetary Transaction
date: 2022-07-19T19:59:00Z
slug: freedom-of-monetary-transaction
tags:
- bitcoin
- freedom
- blog
---


Wrote the following in the FOSS United Telegram group, might expand this later
as a blog post.

{{< aside >}}
#### Context 
Razorpay was put under scrutiny for accepting donation for
a news org (altnews I believe?) from foreign sources. The discussion in the group was
that whether or not it should have been allowed. I just chipped in.
{{< /aside >}}

But, is it right to curb the inflow of money from foreign sources in some cases
but allow it for others? Money should be free and neutral. It's a tool for
humans to use to communicate value, just like how data is used to communicate
information. If you believe humans should be free to communicate privately with
whomever they wish to, for any reason whatsoever, be it illegal or legal
(remember again, you can't be selective, either everyone has encrypted p2p
private communication or no one does), then why curb money? This goes with FOSS
as well, you should be free to use any software out there for whatever you want
-- only you will be liable for how you use it; the software itself doesn't care
and need not know what you are using it for. One could sell illicit goods using
magento and tor - none of those two pieces of software care about it, they are
neutral to the use case. If you believe the government has no business looking
into our chats then I fail to understand why most people here don't mind the
government having a tab on our financial activities. Richard Stallman himself
doesn't use a credit card nor does he have a bank account (might have one for
official use, cause he has no option), he likes cash, cause it's private. Also,
I am not a fan of today's "crypto", "web3" ecosystem either, most of it is just
ponzi and get rich quick schemes. Don't bash me for "supporting" it.

Reply to the above message by a member:

> I'm against exploring these
> questions. But as an organization working against the establishment for a
> clearly defined goals, you need to define your boundaries and working within
> the constraints imposed by the law. Otherwise you may spread yourself too
> thin fighting too many battles at the same time.

My reply: 

And I feel more people should explore these questions and ask it from a
perspective of fundamentals and freedom and have healthy discussions around it
instead of engaging in flame wars and relentlessly bashing "crypto" for this
and that. Remember that there is a core of truth in every economic bubble. For
the CIA, Snowden is a traitor and should be put behind bars, but, for freedom
activists, hackers and other tech people, he is a hero. Those boundaries that
you say should be defined start getting very blurry when the state becomes
overbearing on it's citizens; you need to keep them in check. Today they may
stop foreign payments to some organizations tomorrow they might even ban
domestic payments or a whole organization itself from transacting, and it
doesn't take a long time for certain ideologies and emotions to take over the
decisions of a state. But, the citizens must also be wary of the law and be
persecuted if they are found to engage in unlawful conducts, it's a balancing
act, and money and data (speech) are just tools for the conduct. Might as well
add "Freedom of Monetary Transaction" in the list of rights? no?


Kailash Nadh himself reacted with a "like" (thumbs up emoji) on the above message.