This is an opinion editorial by Mickey Koss, a West Point graduate with a degree in economics. He spent four years in the infantry before transferring to the Finance Corps.
Whether it’s the Patriot Act, the COVID-19 measures or the proposed RESTRICT Act, it seems the only thing US politicians can agree on is that taking away liberties is important. It’s for your own safety, you see. And we can’t forget about security either. Who doesn’t want to be safe and secure?
The unilateral agreement around these measures makes the phrase “bipartisan” a warning sign in my eyes and I am increasingly concerned about the direction we are moving.
Bread, Circus And Conflict
NOSTR criticized me recently for covering the environmentalist Bitcoiners, the reason being that the environmentalist movement is a net negative for society. While I understand where this person criticizing me is coming from, I think there are some deeper concerns hidden behind their comments.
After some reflection, I realized: People really don’t care about the environmentalist movement. In fact, people don’t really care about politics. Most political disagreements are surface-level proxy wars for a deeper argument: the control argument.
Who is in control? What will they use it for? How will this affect my life?
As governments expand to raise rates, the fear of who is in control grows with it. I think this is the root of the polarization we see today. The real concern is about central planners and central planning. Everything else is a distraction. I think that’s the real psyop.
Bitcoin Rejects Central Planners
As more and more people adopt bitcoin as their savings vehicle, we can start to grow a similar economy and take the excessive privilege of printing money out of the hands of those who seek to abuse it.
By doing this, we can slowly but surely eliminate the central planners that many fear. By doing so, we can reduce the level of control that keeps us up at night. By doing this, we can reduce the amount of political polarization that seems to be destroying the country.
I think too many are fighting the wrong fight and missing the forest for the trees. If Bitcoin is truly incorruptible, then why do you care who chooses to support it? Why not give everyone a chance to have their egos and preconceptions about the world completely shattered by this permissionless monetary protocol.
Bitcoin is for everyone. We cannot allow the culture wars to maneuver us into friendly fire. We cannot allow political stories to co-opt Bitcoin into a weapon that politicians will use against us. It doesn’t matter if you win your little skirmish if the war engulfs you soon after.
The faster we get adoption, the faster we can all have these little irrelevant arguments. Once the central planners lose their ability to control, the vote of your neighbors is no longer a concern. Without the ability to print money, governments suddenly have to rethink trade offs. The reintroduction of a sound currency standard has cured political polarization.
This is a guest post by Mickey Koss. The opinions expressed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
