Today is American Independence Day, a celebration of our freedom from the British Empire and the tyranny of a bureaucracy that has been overtaken by thousands of miles of ocean that governs our lives. The Revolutionary War that allowed us to win that freedom is not something that happened overnight, nor something that arose because of a short-term event or circumstance, but rather was the result of more than a century of authoritarian government influence over the colonists residing in North America.
Similarly, Bitcoin was not born out of a singular event like the Great Financial Crisis. Just as colonists who had to deal with rising taxes, overbearing regulations, and general exploitation for over a century gave birth to the United States, decades of parasitic economic and financial actions gave birth to Bitcoin.
Whereas the United States and the struggles that led to its creation were based on a bureaucracy disconnected by physical distance, Bitcoin was born out of problems that were rooted in a disconnection more existential than physical space. In the same way that the King and his advisors in England had a disconnected and impersonal view of human beings across the Atlantic, bureaucrats today have a disconnected and mechanical view of the human beings they rule over despite the lack of physical distance.
Politicians, regulators, bureaucrats, financial executives – none of them see the people they govern, or make decisions that drastically alter the course of their lives or circumstances, as real people. They see numbers, they see statistics, they see stereotypes and generalizations. They see impersonal figures and patterns that someone seems to fit into on the surface, and they make decisions based on that.
They have no empathy, no understanding of an individual's personal circumstances, their situation in life, or the problems they face because of automated decision making in the halls of Congress, or in the SEC building, or in a bank.
Why, then, do we look to these people for approval, a path to success, or a glimmer of hope that they will come to understand? Imagine that, ten years after having achieved independence, the United States had turned to England for help in achieving success. Does that seem rational to you? Does that seem like a fruitful path to success and prosperity?
The answer should be a resounding no. They don't care about you or me or any of us.
So why do so many Bitcoiners seek salvation from these parasites and narcissists? It is a sign that the direction, the purpose for which Bitcoin was created, has been completely lost. In some ways, it is very similar to the current state of the United States as a nation, lost and disconnected from the purpose and ideals on which it was initially founded: freedom, self-determination, justice.
These people are not here to help us, they are not here to turn Bitcoin into a beacon of individual freedom. They are here to exploit, to subvert, to maintain the position they have in the world where they can remain cruelly disconnected from the rest of us in a position of security and luxury for themselves.
America was founded specifically because they realized that England would not give them self-determination or freedom. The founding fathers realized that and set out to achieve it on their own terms, building something new, something innovative that the world had never seen before.
Bitcoin is no different, but rather than holding on to those principles and ideals, Bitcoiners seem content to run back to England for permission to self-determination and achieve their freedom.
This is a mistake. Bitcoin was created to be this new, independent, innovative thing that the world had never seen before. It was built to stand on its own as a basis of sovereignty and self-determination. Not something that we ask permission to have, to develop, and to use.
We must hold on to that, not go begging politicians and regulators to give us an easy path to “success,” which is really just failure wrapped in a blanket of overcoming. Bitcoin is here, it was put here without asking permission, without begging the King to allow it, and here it will stay.
Whether it succeeds or fails is not up to politicians, or regulators, or Wall Street money, it's up to us.
Happy Fourth of July to those still seeking self-determination rather than permission.
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