Your critique seems to tilt in favor of eliminating government schools entirely, and allowing responsible individuals decide exactly how and when, and if they send their kids to school. The fact that government schools have become de facto babysitting centers leads me to believe that if we're going to run them that way, we should just build them to that specification - eliminate any pretense at curriculum, and just hire babysitters to keep law and order amongst the inmates.

A compelling illusion, but an illusion nonetheless. The metadata generated by even the most privacy conscious individual leaves a mark, and given the resources of an interested government, only the most dedicated living off the grid can escape their view.

The only thing we have going for us, is that the vast majority of us won't raise the eyebrows of any government employees in our lifetimes. The sad part is that a lonely few will, and they'll be dealt with unfairly and harshly.

The general masses don't have much to fear, but anyone who raises the ire of a nameless bureaucrat will.

...doesn't really seem like a tangible promise :)

That *definitely* sounds like "because I say so".

"full faith and credit" is not the same as "gold, silver, oil, sheep"

Fiat is backed by something imaginary ("full faith and credit").

Non-fiat is backed by something real (gold, silver, oil, sheep).

Ecuador has neither.

Depends on what those liquid assets are. Backed by another fiat currency? Still a fiat currency. Backed by a gold backed currency? Sure, it's not a fiat currency anymore.

That being said, I'm not convinced Ecuador has either.

EPS, I get - like you said, there are already banks using phones like credit cards. Centralized banking, based on existing currencies, using cell phones for electronic payment is trivial and common.

The "digital currency" device - that's something a bit tricker, especially given the double (or more) spend problem from truly decentralized digital cash.

That being said, the whole "digital currency" bit being sold here is just the buzzword on top of "we're offering a new fiat currency".

You're mistaken.

If it is backed by a government with real assets (gold, silver, oil, sheep), it's not a fiat currency.

If it is backed by a government "full faith and credit", it's a fiat currency.

Ecuador cannot possibly hope to convince the world of *either*.

Because, of course, every last man, woman, and child in Ecuador has a PC or other digital currency device, right?

Ignoring the red herring of "digital", this is a bankrupt country trying to build a fiat currency that nobody is going to trust.

...heavily regulated/subsidized/driven by municipalities?

LA DWP, for example, essentially has the backstop of ratepayers/taxpayers for whatever financial missteps or misfortunes they might suffer.

Hard to go out of business when you're not driven by market forces.

...the more star systems will slip through your fingers.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki...

...called a forklift?

Yes, we use tools to move things that we can't - is an exoskeleton that has a 3 hour battery life really more effective than your plain old forklift?