I know this is a repeat post and I have it flagged for re-reading. I am a liberal and my friends are the “yuppies” you describe. I am a very earnest person who acts and organizes and leads on behalf of her convictions. I therefore think that my interest in Bitcoin gives most of my friends at least a small pause, since I would never willingly act or support something out of integrity with my values.
There’s not really a point there; just an “I hear you.”
Also, on trust: your captain example reminded me of what feels, to me, incredibly fertile about Bitcoin: the possible return of real trust-based relationships. I happen to be blowing off intellectual steam (look at how defensive I am Lol) re-watching outlander, and I’m truly struck by the depth of trust among Highland clansmen. Outside of the military, with which I have zero experience, there is no corollary in modern society.
Your friend believed you bc he wasn’t clouded by twenty one million layers of rational thought. He just deeply knows and trusts you.
I do believe that once we’re no longer on financial quicksand, we might once again steady ourselves with a hand on the shoulder of a trusted friend.
What neither the yuppies nor the moon bois understand is that the conviction of the maximalists together with the way bitcoin operates is what MAKES bitcoin succeed. The moon bois might quit when the price falls but that only moves coins into the maximalists hands. Maximalists would only ever leave for something that serves bitcoins functions better than bitcoin. Lots of maximalists know other maximalists and their reasons for staying with bitcoin. As long as the maximalists have their reasons unshaken and know lots of other maximalists whose reasons remain unshaken, their network won't be broken.
The point about seeing red flags and going no further is a good one. All these elites can see is that "anonymity" means crime and money laundering, and "decentralized" means no one is in charge. You've got to have someone in charge! "Global" bypasses the nation state, upon which many of elites have built their careers. As Btc price rises, confusion that they are wrong will lead some to continue a painful rejection, while the smarter ones will give in and start doing real research
Trust is the yuppie's achilles heel. Distrust is a maximalist superpower.
Another thing that I would consider about the yuppie class, is that because they trust the system, they only look for solutions within the system. My brother and sister in-law are great examples of this - although not yuppies. The system has served them relatively well in life. They live in Australia, are well educated and work in director level jobs for the semi-state bodies.
She takes great pride in using vouchers & gift booklets to save a few dollars, they use the latest grants to their advantage, talking fondly of superannuation.. But when i talk about the declining value of their bank account and the need for Bitcoin, it's like talking to a brick wall. In my opinion, Bitcoin is outside the system (of trust), and because of they can't make that mental leap.
A good read and could be equally applicable at nation state level, providing argumentation for Bitcoin having potential to flip the world around as game theory plays out....
However, the yuppie elite surely control a ton of money. Many, if not most, of them will never buy BTC because of their stubbornness and ego. Isn't this a problem?
Very interesting read, saved for later consideration as well. I wonder how much "trust" in the system also is attributed to peoples lot in life. People who are born into the wealthier class must trust the system more because the system mostly WORKS for them, rather then the opposite...
The fact that it’s used primarily by criminal organizations, tracked by the FBI and apparently very hard to keep or use without being ripping off makes it likely to be made completely illegal. Many countries have outlawed this and for good reason. Why can’t they ever seem to find crypto that’s been stolen? Could you trust any exchange not to rip you off at some point? ie FX
If you don’t believe in Bitcoin it is mostly because you don’t understand decentralization, the last hand on the bat theory of systems, or the power of transparency over systems.
Bitcoin isn’t just an investment. It is a protest to the current corrupted systems that govern over us all.
The answer to a corrupted computer system isn’t to argue over what programs work best on it. No. The answer is to build a plug in that fixes the corruption. In our case that is a whole new system.
We are building Bitcoin swarms and new decentralized network states that run as swarms. This is going to be called Swarm Academy. We would doubt that any of your yuppy friends could come through it and not come out with the realization of the truth. We can have better systems. And that starts with transparency, decentralization, and a way to aggregate answers as groups - or swarms.
Not sure what Swarm Theory or Human Swarm Intelligence is? Start with the basics here:
I know this is a repeat post and I have it flagged for re-reading. I am a liberal and my friends are the “yuppies” you describe. I am a very earnest person who acts and organizes and leads on behalf of her convictions. I therefore think that my interest in Bitcoin gives most of my friends at least a small pause, since I would never willingly act or support something out of integrity with my values.
There’s not really a point there; just an “I hear you.”
Also, on trust: your captain example reminded me of what feels, to me, incredibly fertile about Bitcoin: the possible return of real trust-based relationships. I happen to be blowing off intellectual steam (look at how defensive I am Lol) re-watching outlander, and I’m truly struck by the depth of trust among Highland clansmen. Outside of the military, with which I have zero experience, there is no corollary in modern society.
Your friend believed you bc he wasn’t clouded by twenty one million layers of rational thought. He just deeply knows and trusts you.
I do believe that once we’re no longer on financial quicksand, we might once again steady ourselves with a hand on the shoulder of a trusted friend.
What neither the yuppies nor the moon bois understand is that the conviction of the maximalists together with the way bitcoin operates is what MAKES bitcoin succeed. The moon bois might quit when the price falls but that only moves coins into the maximalists hands. Maximalists would only ever leave for something that serves bitcoins functions better than bitcoin. Lots of maximalists know other maximalists and their reasons for staying with bitcoin. As long as the maximalists have their reasons unshaken and know lots of other maximalists whose reasons remain unshaken, their network won't be broken.
The point about seeing red flags and going no further is a good one. All these elites can see is that "anonymity" means crime and money laundering, and "decentralized" means no one is in charge. You've got to have someone in charge! "Global" bypasses the nation state, upon which many of elites have built their careers. As Btc price rises, confusion that they are wrong will lead some to continue a painful rejection, while the smarter ones will give in and start doing real research
I love your definition of a MAXI.
Trust is the yuppie's achilles heel. Distrust is a maximalist superpower.
Another thing that I would consider about the yuppie class, is that because they trust the system, they only look for solutions within the system. My brother and sister in-law are great examples of this - although not yuppies. The system has served them relatively well in life. They live in Australia, are well educated and work in director level jobs for the semi-state bodies.
She takes great pride in using vouchers & gift booklets to save a few dollars, they use the latest grants to their advantage, talking fondly of superannuation.. But when i talk about the declining value of their bank account and the need for Bitcoin, it's like talking to a brick wall. In my opinion, Bitcoin is outside the system (of trust), and because of they can't make that mental leap.
A good read and could be equally applicable at nation state level, providing argumentation for Bitcoin having potential to flip the world around as game theory plays out....
It reminds me of the great quote by psychiatrist Thomas Szasz:
"Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.”
Many people find it more difficult to acknowledge something than to understand it.
Excellent article. Thank you Jesse!
Very interesting piece. This not only applies to Bitcoin but also explains why sometimes very intelligent and successful people are so wrong...
I agree wholeheartedly with this article.
However, the yuppie elite surely control a ton of money. Many, if not most, of them will never buy BTC because of their stubbornness and ego. Isn't this a problem?
Very interesting read, saved for later consideration as well. I wonder how much "trust" in the system also is attributed to peoples lot in life. People who are born into the wealthier class must trust the system more because the system mostly WORKS for them, rather then the opposite...
Yuppie arrogance.
The fact that it’s used primarily by criminal organizations, tracked by the FBI and apparently very hard to keep or use without being ripping off makes it likely to be made completely illegal. Many countries have outlawed this and for good reason. Why can’t they ever seem to find crypto that’s been stolen? Could you trust any exchange not to rip you off at some point? ie FX
I wonder if your yuppy friends understand the history of Bitcoin, like so:
https://open.substack.com/pub/joshketry/p/satoshi-lives-an-exclusive-interview?r=7oa9d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
If you don’t believe in Bitcoin it is mostly because you don’t understand decentralization, the last hand on the bat theory of systems, or the power of transparency over systems.
Bitcoin isn’t just an investment. It is a protest to the current corrupted systems that govern over us all.
The answer to a corrupted computer system isn’t to argue over what programs work best on it. No. The answer is to build a plug in that fixes the corruption. In our case that is a whole new system.
We are building Bitcoin swarms and new decentralized network states that run as swarms. This is going to be called Swarm Academy. We would doubt that any of your yuppy friends could come through it and not come out with the realization of the truth. We can have better systems. And that starts with transparency, decentralization, and a way to aggregate answers as groups - or swarms.
Not sure what Swarm Theory or Human Swarm Intelligence is? Start with the basics here:
https://joshketry.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/135934928