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?
In my opinion, though, we are already seeing a shifting in the 'yuppie mindset. For example, notice the number of ETFs that have been submitted and are waiting for approval.
Big institutional money HAS noted there is a great deal of interest in BTC, so they are readying themselves to participate.
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
You are somewhere on the far right of that graph. You read that whole article, and still completely missed the point. You have perfectly encapsulated why Jesse is so confounded by this issue.
Quoted: “At the heart of liberalism is a belief that the system can work, if it could just be architected well enough and administered competently and compassionately. My personal journey to Bitcoin maximalism involved a painful dissociation from this fundamental worldview, specifically in the course of digging in to understand central banking monetary policy and the irresistible levers that come with it.”
To highlight this piece,
My emphasis and worldview is however that the mindset highlighted there will never work due to humans’ basic sinful nature (Christian Worldview).
In philosophy they would say that the nature of male and female with the propensity of the state to influence or corrupt that nature will never allow that system to function as it should.
You are right when you say it is not a left vs right problem as the church in its history is also riddled with injustices and corruption. A big portion of the Bible talks to addressing the corrupt church and bad moral reasoning.
From a Christian worldview perspective satan gravitates towards power structures and humans’ fallible sinful nature can’t resist that power and always-always gets corrupted.
Due to the above I am not a Bitcoin Maximalist that believes that Bitcoin will solve all fiat related problems. Where there are humans, humans will be corrupted by an established power structure.
The change has to be be as Jesus Christ called it “a circumcised heart” for true change to occur. Where God in his wisdom via the 10 commandments is the guide and superior moral law and ultimate just judge of all. Equal to that as Christ highlighted to the power structures of his day is that you have to love your neighbor as yourself. This is the whole of the law.
I am excited about Bitcoin, as for the first time in history, it truly will allow for the Bible’s views on interest, charity and community support to be applied biblically as there is no underlying erosion of the money supply or currency. That is why I lean more to Saifedean’s view of Bitcoin Standard and counter to Saylor’s view as capital that will generate yield. In fact allowing the banks to give yield on Bitcoin will create a greater wealth divide, as it will concentrate all Bitcoins into the hands of a very small minority via yield and create the perfect opportunity for government to confiscate and give the banks the same privileged power they have today.
In a world where Bitcoin is the norm, the "yield" will come form human ingenuity and productivity increasing the purchase power of the Bitcoin you earn. Bitcoin as economic currency and its limited supply increases your purchase power over time.
The reason we have fiat is due to the state being proposed as the answer to human problems like military, roads, charity and social support etc. etc.
For Bitcoin to succeed we need to get the state mindset out of people's heads and a mindset of self-sovereignty and charitable societal support to grow. This can happen via peaceful parenting and good moral emphasis (God), logic and reasoning. Not relativist thinking which always leads to bad philosophy and ideology. The Bible talks about a house built on sand vs stone. Relativism is a house built on sand, when the storms come it fails. Stone is fundamentals, principals and truths that are unshakable. People do not like principals as it calls into question and imprisons their bad reasoning and choices.
Bitcoin is the easy part of the solution!
The hard part is to change our hearts. To love God and His wisdom with all our hearts and equal to this, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is the whole of the law. “Jesus Christ”
Only, and only then will the Kingdom of God manifest and Bitcoin can be part of the tool-set as sound money.
The #Bible ironically talks about lending without expecting yield because you are doing it for the greater good. With Bitcoin this is actually possible as your greater good act will come back in more options, better purchase power and societal growth.
I hope Saylor reads this argument (Did send it to him) and that it forms part of his future opinion, he's done exceptional work and hope he grows even more.
The way I see things developing there will be a two tier system in the future. Countries or groupings built on sound moral foundational money, and another which will continue to entrench the systems of today. Bible prophecy calls this the beast system and many will fall for that system.
God bless and all the best.
Remember Bitcoin is good but not the Good News, The Good News is Jesus Christ and His resurrection for us all.
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....
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?
Good point about them controlling a ton of money.
In my opinion, though, we are already seeing a shifting in the 'yuppie mindset. For example, notice the number of ETFs that have been submitted and are waiting for approval.
Big institutional money HAS noted there is a great deal of interest in BTC, so they are readying themselves to participate.
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
You are somewhere on the far right of that graph. You read that whole article, and still completely missed the point. You have perfectly encapsulated why Jesse is so confounded by this issue.
Well said
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
Thank you for a wonderful read,
Quoted: “At the heart of liberalism is a belief that the system can work, if it could just be architected well enough and administered competently and compassionately. My personal journey to Bitcoin maximalism involved a painful dissociation from this fundamental worldview, specifically in the course of digging in to understand central banking monetary policy and the irresistible levers that come with it.”
To highlight this piece,
My emphasis and worldview is however that the mindset highlighted there will never work due to humans’ basic sinful nature (Christian Worldview).
In philosophy they would say that the nature of male and female with the propensity of the state to influence or corrupt that nature will never allow that system to function as it should.
You are right when you say it is not a left vs right problem as the church in its history is also riddled with injustices and corruption. A big portion of the Bible talks to addressing the corrupt church and bad moral reasoning.
From a Christian worldview perspective satan gravitates towards power structures and humans’ fallible sinful nature can’t resist that power and always-always gets corrupted.
Due to the above I am not a Bitcoin Maximalist that believes that Bitcoin will solve all fiat related problems. Where there are humans, humans will be corrupted by an established power structure.
The change has to be be as Jesus Christ called it “a circumcised heart” for true change to occur. Where God in his wisdom via the 10 commandments is the guide and superior moral law and ultimate just judge of all. Equal to that as Christ highlighted to the power structures of his day is that you have to love your neighbor as yourself. This is the whole of the law.
I am excited about Bitcoin, as for the first time in history, it truly will allow for the Bible’s views on interest, charity and community support to be applied biblically as there is no underlying erosion of the money supply or currency. That is why I lean more to Saifedean’s view of Bitcoin Standard and counter to Saylor’s view as capital that will generate yield. In fact allowing the banks to give yield on Bitcoin will create a greater wealth divide, as it will concentrate all Bitcoins into the hands of a very small minority via yield and create the perfect opportunity for government to confiscate and give the banks the same privileged power they have today.
In a world where Bitcoin is the norm, the "yield" will come form human ingenuity and productivity increasing the purchase power of the Bitcoin you earn. Bitcoin as economic currency and its limited supply increases your purchase power over time.
The reason we have fiat is due to the state being proposed as the answer to human problems like military, roads, charity and social support etc. etc.
For Bitcoin to succeed we need to get the state mindset out of people's heads and a mindset of self-sovereignty and charitable societal support to grow. This can happen via peaceful parenting and good moral emphasis (God), logic and reasoning. Not relativist thinking which always leads to bad philosophy and ideology. The Bible talks about a house built on sand vs stone. Relativism is a house built on sand, when the storms come it fails. Stone is fundamentals, principals and truths that are unshakable. People do not like principals as it calls into question and imprisons their bad reasoning and choices.
Bitcoin is the easy part of the solution!
The hard part is to change our hearts. To love God and His wisdom with all our hearts and equal to this, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is the whole of the law. “Jesus Christ”
Only, and only then will the Kingdom of God manifest and Bitcoin can be part of the tool-set as sound money.
The #Bible ironically talks about lending without expecting yield because you are doing it for the greater good. With Bitcoin this is actually possible as your greater good act will come back in more options, better purchase power and societal growth.
bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Interest
I hope Saylor reads this argument (Did send it to him) and that it forms part of his future opinion, he's done exceptional work and hope he grows even more.
The way I see things developing there will be a two tier system in the future. Countries or groupings built on sound moral foundational money, and another which will continue to entrench the systems of today. Bible prophecy calls this the beast system and many will fall for that system.
God bless and all the best.
Remember Bitcoin is good but not the Good News, The Good News is Jesus Christ and His resurrection for us all.
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.
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