Issue #709: Why do I Bitcoin?

"This is why we Bitcoin, freaks" is a phrase you've probably seen around this rag from time to time if you're one of the masochists who has been subjecting themselves to this drivel for an extended period of time. The phrase is usually written to highlight instances in which bitcoin enables individuals to do something that is prohibited due to the limitations or centralization of the incumbent system.

Can't wire money to your relatives back home in Venezuela? This is why we Bitcoin.

Can't support your favorite content producer because they've been de-platformed by the payment processors? This is why we Bitcoin.

Can't cross a border with a bunch of cash in your car without it getting stolen from you by the police? This is why we Bitcoin.

Each example highlights a particular instance in which Bitcoin does a better job, but these isolated instances fail to highlight the crux of why I Bitcoin.

I have decided to dedicate my life to focusing on this nascent alien technology because I wholeheartedly believe that Liberty is in danger today. Human freedom is currently at stake. Without Liberty, life is not worth living. If I am unable to express free will and take agency over my own life, why wake up every morning? What's the point?

As I've grown into my late 20s I've witnessed the slow and steady erosion of Liberty in my home country and across the world. You can't walk through an airport without getting body scanned. You can't go through a toll without having a picture taken on your car. You can't say questionable things on certain websites without being banished. You can't start a small business without having to jump through hoops. You can't feed the homeless in public without a permit. You can't walk on the beach while the world freaks out over a virus.

I think it may be a product of growing up in Philadelphia, but I've always had a strong affinity for the Founding Fathers and the principles they stood for. Their hard fought victory for freedom and Liberty on the new frontier was awe inspiring and admirable. A group of strong principled individuals getting together and standing up against an Empire that seemed unstoppable at the time. They stood up for themselves, took agency over their futures, rallied a small percentage of their fellow countrymen, engaged in unorthodox war tactics and won a war which ensured they were able to live free.

History doesn't repeat itself exactly, but it certainly rhymes. Today, we find ourselves in a very similar predicament. The Common Man is being threatened by an Empire. However, this Empire has taken a different form. This Empire isn't as easily identifiable as the British Empire was in the late 1700s. It has many disparate parts that work together in a way that is not very obvious.

Today's Empire is able to divide and conquer by siloing people into mental pods that cause them to believe that one head of the Hydra is the sole source of their strife. When in reality, the combination of governments, corporations with perverse incentives, and a Central Banking system run amok working together in unison make up the Hydra of today's Empire. Focusing on one head of the Hydra is ineffective. If the Common Man is going to secure his Liberty in the Digital Age he must strike at the immortal head of the Hydra; money creation via central banking.

The ability to centrally control money, a tool that should be emergent in a truly free world, has provided the Empire with an insurmountable advantage... until Bitcoin was launched.

The emergence of Bitcoin has provided the Common Man with an opportunity to band together with his fellow commoners to stage an attack against the immortal head of the Hydra he is up against. Just like the founding fathers of America, the Common Man is now able to stand up for himself, rally his fellow countrymen (who now exists across the globe), engage in unorthodox war tactics on the digital battlefield and potentially win a war the will ensure Liberty in the Digital Age for his children and grandchildren.

The opportunity to congregate online, share ideas, and build out the system that will take down the Hydra in a decentralized fashion is an opportunity that cannot be squandered. The Common Man must strike while the iron is hot. For the first eleven years of its existence, it has become obvious to me that strong men have congregated around Bitcoin, striking the iron after it emerged from molten pit that was the mind of Satoshi Nakamoto, in an attempt to strengthen the tool that will decapitate the immortal head of the Hydra. As more men join the fight, the weapon gets stronger. This weapon may be our only chance at ensuring that we are able to wake up and live free.

This is why I Bitcoin.