I think you may be falling victim to the, "How things are is how they are always going to be," and the, "Nothing can change," false paradigms.
What you focus on (pay attention to) is what becomes bigger in your consciousness, and then the belief system that composes what you're focusing on becomes your belief system.
I think what you may be facing is the inertia of human fiat civilization.
As you probably know, for thousands and thousands of years, humanity has faced the problem of money, that is, money has historically emerged from communities large and small of people who wanted to trade more efficiently and effectively. But then untrustworthy bad actors have taken advantage of the physical nature of community emergent money to print/debase it's value away to practically zero.
This has happened over and over and over again, maybe 10,000 times throughout history and humanity. Using sound money is a civilizing force, but then printing/debasing money is a civilization disintegrating and destroying force, and if you look at this downward trend as you've articulated, " I see people giving away their data to Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, X" you are observing this downward, civilizational trend based on debasing currency, in real time.
So in some sense you're right. The fiat system looks hopeless, because it is largely hopeless. Without Bitcoin, truth money, that historic and human civilizing then de-civilizing cycle could continue forever. If you continue to put your focus into that system, you are going to experience the hopelessness of that system, and therefore be empowering it with your energy, and reaping the "rewards" of focusing on that system, which will be feelings and beliefs and thoughts of hopelessness, fear, anxiety, worry, insecurity, and possibly suicide. If you continue to focus on it, it will destroy you and your life, because that's what it's designed to do.
That system is designed to enslave you and your life in a perpetual zero sum game that thinks of you as an object, not as a son of God with eternal value, which is who you really are.
But, there is a better game in existence that's been alive since 2009. If you look at the people who are living in and building in the Bitcoin world, you are observing the VERY early stages of the civilizing force of the incentives and constraints of the Bitcoin system.
Bitcoiners value babies, where fiatlanders abort them. Bitcoiners value autonomy and homesteading and creating products and services that materially contribute to the well being of other people, where fiatlanders ("I see people giving away their data to Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, X") are the product being harvested.
Bitcoiners value the pursuit and implementing the truth in finances, in their intimate relationships, in their careers. Is it messy? Sure, but it's real.
The world of Bitcoiners is in it's ascent towards community integration, what we call civilization, while we're seeing fiat land crash and burn.
Which world do you want to focus on?
Which world do you want to help build?
Which group do you want to be a part of?
Which belief system do you want to adopt?
Bitcoin separates bad actors from their ability to print/debase our sound money, so the core civilizing force of the incentives and constraints of Bitcoin, truth money that operates in something like perfect information, will necessarily continue integrating communities of people around the world, forever.
Far from being hopium, the vision I put forth in Benefits of Bitcoin is based on the first principles of reality itself, and as you may know, "You don't break the law (of reality). The law (of reality) breaks you."
Yes, there will continue to be people who forever try to game the system, trying to perpetuate the ways of the fiat cycle, but they will simply shatter themselves against it as they are doing now. And they will either change and follow the way of truth, including Bitcoin, or they will die, one way or another. But we don't need to live in their world.
Benefits of Bitcoin isn't a vision that's optional. It's a vision that's being imposed on every single person in humanity right now, hastening the downfall of the fiat system and everyone in it, and hasting the rise of the people who live in the Bitcoin system.
You can decide to remain hopeless if you want to, remain in their system if you want to, but it will only kill you, whether slowly or quickly.
Either way, the civilizing force of Bitcoin (and Reality) will continue operating one block at a time. You can get on this train, or not, but no one can stop it.
One side of my book is meant to inspire hope, based on truth.
But, arguably another side of my book is a warning.
What I've written in my book is basically going to happen whether you like it or not.
I hope you join us in the future we're building, but it's your choice.
I hope you choose the way of life and ignore the lies of fiat.
But the choice is yours to make.
