This just boils down to

to have a cryptocurrency you need something that guarantees transactions are valid

little it matters who you phylosophically think should get the fresh coins: in order to go beyond the pure-fluff stage, you need to answer this question: what secures the network? Bitcoin accomplishes it with mining.

Create a client that reliably validates the transactions using a different method that pleases more your human heart, and you'll have something to propose a Bitcoin 2.0. Until then, we'll stick to big heartless machines, since they are the ones that do work at the moment.

@matthew: use LETS networks to create bitcoin descendents.

I understand even less. Even assuming you can find a concrete way to design a currency working how you wish, what have you accomplished then? Technological unemployment is a big problem at least since steam engine in late '700, but in general is an unavoidable symptom of a growing society; more efficiency means less work. The solution is creating new efficient jobs for the ones that have lost their old one; another solution would be lower the number of hours worked per person, but apparently our society isn't ready yet for this.

Sure the solution isn't creating money. I hope you realize anytime you create money, existing money loses a corresponding amount of value -since the total value of currencies is limited by the total value of goods that can be purchased. We bitcoiners have found a way to make a huge profit out of the shift from fiat currency to a different system (and to suffer proportionally huge losses if this process fails, ther's no free lunch); there will be a gain for the community, of course, if the new currency is better than the previous as a medium of exchange, but the money generation process is just a transfer of wealth, that lasts as long as the currency shift lasts, and doesn't solve anything.

(also because, if the money is generated by trades, doesn't this mean the wealthiests, who can perform more trades, will also get more coins?)

Um roughly 100K BTC change hands on the market everday and another 50K BTC or more are involved in transactions.  There certainly is a very real will to share.

Oh you mean just give them away?  LOLZ.

BTW Bitcoin is democratic.  Miners vote on tx by hashing power.  Nobody can be forced to accept a Bitcoin, nobody can be forced to sell a Bitcoin.  The entire process is completely voluntary.  Kinda hard to get more democratic than that.

You seem to continually conflate wealth generation with minting.  They aren't the same thing.  If you want to mint coins well you need to be a miner however if you wish to store wealth in Bitcoins you simply need to trade something (anything) someone else may want for coins.  There are even girls who trade naughty pics for Bitcoins.  They certainly aren't miners but they have acquired coins.  They are free to hold them, or trade them ("selling" Bitcoins for USD/EUR is simply another form of trade).

The idea that a farmer, or lawyers, or architect couldn't participate in the Bitcoin economy without being a miner is simplistic.  By that logic the only persons who got wealthy when currencies were in precious metals were miners, an obvious fallacy.

"BTW Bitcoin is democratic". 

ok... i'm still following...

"Miners vote on tx by hashing power".



and, um, what is the majority of the global population doing while this is going on? fighting austerity measures.

i do agree "miners don't get rich". that's an absurd thought. mining companies do.

@death.

your pointless remarks about strippers and my lack of coherence are adding nothing to this conversation which i started with a good intention to see where cryptographic currencies may go next. please may i request you take your learned but limited opinion elsewhere as its not particularly valued here.

Its a simple and obvious historical fact that those who create currency or control mining commodities end up with huge concentrations of wealth. My interest is the evolution of this technology, not the next gold rush, nor to get caught up in the hype. 

I think maybe you are blinkered by the technology and don't really have a grasp of the language your trusted currency is written in nor what it is capable of.

However, thank you for your time and opinions.

D&T is pretty heavily ingrained in the bitcoin sycophant army. Again I'll refer you to my sig for my proposal for Decrits. Miners don't control the currency because by them creating new currency, much more currency is given away freely to the network, so they are working against their own best interest unless it is profitable to mine. Interested coders are certainly welcome.

Security is entirely provided by share holders and does not require massive amounts of energy or hardware.