That video is a great introduction, and it contains a subtle reference to Nostr š
Discussion
Thanks š
Yeah, I noticed that. But then... where is he? too busy to nerd it up with us on Nostr I guess
Have to admit my instinctive reaction is very negative on the guy and the āBitcoin is a weaponā take. Not sure I can ever come to terms with that viewpoint. Bitcoin is voluntary and peaceful and I see any narrative to the contrary as harmful.
Bitcoin is power. Monetary power, projected into the anarchic global space. Weapons are power, and we project them into the anarchic global space. Equivalence is not equality. Bitcoin is like raw physical violence. It is not violence.
It can perform the same permissionless trustless function of resisting the exploitation of a belief or code system, run by some admins or leaders, but uniquely it is entirely peaceful in doing it.
I donāt get the fundamental premise.
What exactly does USG projecting high hashrate achieve versus say China? It prevents China from double spending US bitcoin?
nah nah... he's just talking their language, to orange pill the military and the deep state of national security wonks.
As another poster said, the play is to adopt Bitcoin as a tool in the arsenal, as we would any good weapon to use in our interest to prevent someone taking advantage of us.
Might makes right (in these circles of military philosophy)
We should use every tool to prevent the global legal/faith based money system from exploiting America. It won't be dollars forever and even dollars are exploited by the euro-dollar shadow banking, the Saudi's who extract so much in exchange for dollar oil market making, etc.
Interesting, will watch the video and give it another chance. Definitely a lot of people i respect seem to have bought into it.
I bet they're anarchists. This is basic crypto-anarchist philosophy said using words that military academies use to teach the officer core.
Thatās what seems an anomaly though. Anarchists are fundamental anti-State ā itās the idea that Bitcoin separates State and money thereby effectively ultimately destroying the State. Ie the view that the State is the enemy, regardless of whether itās the USG or PRC etc.
But the Softwar thesis seems this weird notion of USG somehow using Bitcoin to defend against other nations by projecting hashpower rather than military power? I donāt get that at allā¦ but I admit Iāve not tried hard enough to study it.
Anarchy is a broad term, but most Anarchist thinkers aren't naĆÆve enough to suggest there would be no states or corporations or religions.
Most would agree, Anarchism is the suggestion that all organizations and individuals are equals. Churches, Nations, Corporations, Coops and Individuals are all equal unto the true nature of their environment. Anarchy is the environment. Raw physical power is all you have. If you depend upon another for that power, you're not free.
Anarchy is the playing field. Anarchists want to be as free as individuals as possible, and to do this they must reject the state's claims upon their body and assets.
The USG is not anarchIST, obviously, but they can't deny the environment. They must operate in the real global space of agents and organizations.
You can think of encryption as raw physical power in the sense that you impose a cost (billions of years) on reading your encrypted message.
The capabilities of raw physical power, he's saying, in the video, represents a cost you impose on an enemy for making a claim into your sovereign territory, be that a state machine running globally or your own encrypted networks or on your borders.
"If you want peace, prepare for war." - Plato, I think
Ok, but whatās the practical implication of this abstraction? Hash power replaces military power? China can take your Bitcoin by putting a gun to your head and demanding your private keys! Hashpower is irrelevant there! And you canāt really claim a boating accident and then live off your Bitcoin if the PRC is standing over you and monitoring your every move.
Bitcoin is just another tool in the full suite of necessary defense capabilities. You're exactly right. You need to prepare for physical violence too. You still exist in meat space. However, you will notice, you still have to choose to agree with them (China or whoever wants to possess your Bitcoin).
They can't take your Bitcoin. They can only punish you for not agreeing that they can take your Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is a way to teleport real resources into places it's very difficult to get other weapons, cash or gold. It can't be confiscated quite so easily, it's trivial to claim it doesn't exist when it's in your head.
It can be used very effectively by oppressed people, to resist their regimes. They still need to put themselves at physical risk, and physically liberate themselves across borders, etc. but they will have something they didn't have before. Money. Some assets to bring along, to get settled to make it somewhere without starving.
On the national level, it's more about the monetary fuckery of debasement and hypothetical gold reserves or other shadow banking and sanction evasion. But the idea is the same. Bitcoin is a physical power to resist corruption and oppression by undemocratic or foreign agents.
Nothing in here I donāt agree with š¤