Today is American Independence Day, a celebration of our freedom from the British Empire and the tyranny of a bureaucracy thousands of miles across the ocean that ruled our lives. The Revolutionary War that brought us this freedom was not something that happened overnight, or was simply sparked by a short-term event or circumstance, it was the result of over a century of authoritarian government influence over the colonists who resided in North America.
Similarly, Bitcoin was not born out of a singular event like the Great Financial Crisis. Just as settlers who faced over a century of ever-increasing taxes, excessive regulation, and widespread exploitation gave birth to the United States, decades of parasitic economic and financial actions gave birth to Bitcoin.
While America and the struggles that led to its creation were rooted in a bureaucracy disconnected by physical distance, Bitcoin was born out of problems rooted in a more existential disconnect rather than a disconnection from physical space. In the same way that the king and his advisors in England had a disconnected and impersonal view of the human beings across the Atlantic, today’s bureaucrats have a disconnected and mechanical view of the human beings they govern despite the absence of physical distance.
Politicians, regulators, bureaucrats, financial executives, none of them see the people they govern or who make decisions that radically change the course of their lives or circumstances as real people. They see numbers, statistics, stereotypes, and generalizations. They see impersonal figures and patterns that someone seems to fit at first glance, and they decide based on that.
They have no empathy, they don’t understand an individual’s personal circumstances, their situation in life or the problems they face because of an automaton making decisions in the halls of Congress, in the SEC building or in a bank.
So why do we expect these people to approve of us, to show us the path to success, or to show us a glimmer of hope that they will come to this understanding? Imagine that a decade after gaining independence, America turned to England for help in order to succeed. 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 turn to these parasites and narcissists for salvation? It’s a sign that they have completely lost the thread, the purpose for which Bitcoin was created. In some ways, it’s very similar to the current state of America as a nation, lost and disconnected from the purpose and ideals it was originally founded on. Freedom, self-determination, justice.
These people are not here to help us, they are not here to make Bitcoin a symbol of individual freedom. They are here to exploit, to subvert, to maintain the position they occupy in the world where they can remain ruthlessly disconnected from the rest of us, in a position of security and luxury for themselves.
America was founded precisely because it understood that England would not grant them self-determination or freedom. The Founding Fathers understood this, and so they decided to achieve it on their own terms, by building something new, something innovative, something the world had never seen before.
Bitcoin is no different, but rather than sticking to these principles and ideals, Bitcoiners seem content to return to England to ask for permission to self-determine. Ask for permission to obtain their freedom.
This is a mistake. Bitcoin was created to be this new, independent, innovative thing that the world has never seen before. It was built to be self-sufficient and to serve as a foundation for sovereignty and self-determination. It is not something we ask permission to have, to build, to use.
We need to stick with it, not beg politicians and regulators for an easy path to “success,” which is really just failure wrapped in a protective blanket. Bitcoin is there, it was put there without asking permission, without begging the King to let it be, and it will stay there.
Whether this succeeds or fails doesn’t depend on politicians, regulators or Wall Street money, it depends on us.
Happy 4th of July to those who still seek self-determination rather than permission.
