Bitcoin is the only path that has a chance of righting the wrongs committed by statism/fiat. Other paths exist, but they all fall short. Bitcoin is it.
But that doesn't mean we get to control how the state responds. The state exists for the sake of power. Everything else is just advertising - power is the point. They won't relinquish power willingly.
When enough people understand that bitcoin makes them uncontrollable and use it in a sovereign way, the state will respond by using force in a concentrated manner - as it always does. It can't strike millions of dispersed individuals. It will look to infrastructure. It will say you can't receive a payment from employment unless its to a registered wallet, and it will require association of biometrics with a registered wallet (they'll require submission of an xpub or whatever equivalent on a second layer). Then it will mandate that point of sales transactions be done via software that they approve, which will only allow biometrically registered customers to buy, while sending taxes automatically. Then it will criminalize unregistered wallets.
This is one of the ways we could get the mark of the beast. A cbdc would be more direct, but we could still get it even if bitcoin succeeds in every imaginable way.
I'm not saying it has to play out like this - only that this is a predictable response. We will need a lot of people in useful positions to avoid it. States will have to assert their sovereignty. There's hope... Personally, I'm hoping one of the Eurasian empires goes full cbdc before hyperbitcoinization - that would give the US something external to oppose, using our judiciary to full effect to keep us away from that crap.
It does though. It can be avoided, and this is the only path available, but success as we imagine it is not guaranteed.
Even bitcoin leads to digital IDs and biometrics.
Success 🛍
Like the name - nymph, hehe
Yrsh I think I've heard of that. Early computer stuff is wild. Like, supposedly some early computer genius was inspired by the hexagrams in the Dao de Jing
Tried "Gestalt," now "von Neumann"
Trying to think of a new name for the new year. Kinda tired of being knockoff Saint Germain
By far, the best channel on YouTube. Just binge this channel until you get it. Well... This is nostr, so maybe not *you* guys...
How do you respond when people say the Bible is the word of God?
A good debunking of the claim that #Christmas is pagan in origin:
Why does it matter if its pagan in origin?
Add dogs in, and it goes to zero
All true, and I'd simplify it to just - property rights. The more inviolable property rights are, the better for everyone.
Cities can be just as good as rural land, imo, if the city is run well. But they're a wild card - while growing, there's opportunity for everyone ; but let the socialists get into policy and it stops growing and is only good for oligarchs. So in Asian cities, which are growing and don't allow unions or protests, it works really well and you can save money and then go buy land somewhere. But western cities turn into festering shitholes because they let socialists run the show. So Asian society can trend towards freedom, and western society trends towards oppression. Social enantiodromia.
I do think protests should be legal and unmolested. But I also think they're fighting over scraps. With better property rights, there would be no need. They're fighting the wrong fight...
Its power and narrative. The communist ideals are just propaganda - and I'm pretty sure its always been that way. There's a hammer and sickle sign on most roads and all government buildings, and police can be everywhere all at once when something is happening. To balance that, every police I've talked to in China was very nice - not the aggressive dangerous people the US uses for police - and I am saying that after being extorted on one occasion and having to talk to 5 police that cane to my work to ask me why Trump was starting a trade war. Even after that, they're still nicer people and less threatening than American cops.
Oh, I was explaining communism... Power and narrative. Any narrative will do, as the mainstream media here proves... People don't think critically enough for it to matter. What matters is that there's a narrative at all. Narrative excuses power. Communism is two things - the narrative that westerners talk about ; and the real thing, which is power. Like Mao said, "power grows out of the barrel of a gun." All that reorganization of production - the narrative made it easier, but it was only ever about power. For example, taking farmland from wealthy families put those families out of power and built up state power. And that's all it is, and in the end its the only thing that matters. They retain the right and ability and narrative control to do it again anytime they want. And they do, for no reason other than to keep the power.
The US is the same. Our government maintains an illusion of freedom, and I appreciate having that even if I think the illusion is wearing thin, but they can and do do anything they want. A business in the US can be shut down any time, and is actually very likely to be shut down if its something like a bank - that's too close to how power works here. We also have put so much regulation over everything, that if you want to start a business, the best strategy is to be connected politically so that exceptions can be made for you. That's power.
Anyways, I'm an anarcho capitalist, meaning basically I think power should be as decentralized as possible.
It seemed well researched. You should go see China.
But I'd push back on China only being communist in name. That's not the case. But there's nuance, and its still probably a better place for business than the US.
I lived in China for 3 years. I felt more free there than in the US, which is where I'm from. Of course there's nuance... There's no denying the government has all the power and they display that from time to time. But in the US, its more like a constant grip - not impressive displays, but constant tightening grip. Here, we're harassed over everything. Anything you can imagine being harassed about, we're being harassed, either by government or by social groups trying to exert government level power. And we can't afford anything, and jobs are scarce and getting scarcer.
So... China's a one party commie empire, and we're a two fake parties banker empire... And I'm an anarcho capitalist... But I know I had more freedom in China.
Potassium is probably part of it for me. I usually feel better after high K foods
I just realized... I can't hear or feel my heart thudding. For this moment in time, I feel okay. This is because of that workout and celery smoothie yesterday.