This is an opinion editorial by Dan Weintraub, an author and high school teacher who first became interested in Bitcoin while teaching economics.
I recently watched with bewildered indifference at CNN’s Donald Trump town hall charade, another in an endless list of terrible political and social zombie dances.
The truth is, I don’t care at all about party politics, about the upcoming presidential election cycle, about the supposedly sincere and sincere liberal and conservative political expressions within American politics, about the hand- wringing surrounding the bleak future of the American people. Democracy, etc. What I ACT The concern, however, is how easily people can be manipulated, into believing lies.
It’s us all sheep — blind followers with little sense of identity — we are all completely programmable and completely influenced. History may not repeat itself, but as an endless record of followers-people following leader-people off the proverbial cliff appears (and for no other reason than the leaders-people / really skilled liars), it really feels like. déjà vu again.
Don’t worry! This is not an article about Trump or about ideological disillusionment. Trump is just one person in a human melodrama that will last for millennia. The focus of this piece is about the role Bitcoin can play in restoring faith and ending human somnambulance; it’s about how we disempower the disinformationalists. And this is a warning, for those in power at any time to maintain their hypnotic grip on the people.
Why Governments Are Afraid of Bitcoin
So, the first question we need to examine is this: Why do governments seem so afraid of Bitcoin? Interestingly, this is not only because Bitcoin has the potential to end governments’ monopoly on money (which is admittedly a big deal in and of itself). No. The underlying reason actually reflects something more fundamental: Governments are afraid of Bitcoin as a construct because governments can only govern through fraud and dishonesty.
You see, the most powerful and successful governments throughout history were (and remain) the most skilled and accomplished at lying. The government of the United States, that bastion of supposed democratic righteousness, is indeed a compelling example of this principle. From Vietnam to Iraq, Joseph McCarthy to Lyndon Johnson to Jerome Powell and beyond, US history is filled with examples of the power of lies, and of the rashness of the minds of well-intentioned, patriotic, innocent, hopeful, lost citizens.
Bitcoin Outs The Lies
Back to Trump for a moment. This is from the BBC:
“Mr. Trump has questioned the legitimacy of the election process in a series of tweets, the latest of which said on Monday: ‘Of course there was massive voter fraud going on on and before election day… Naive very much!’ ”
The quote above is not from the fall of 2020. This is from 2016, when then-candidate Trump faced former candidate Hilary Clinton in the general election. Lest we forget, Trump has been claiming licked elections for years. A masterful and, indeed, quite sophisticated practitioner of the art of exploiting human neurological weakness, Trump skillfully used (and continues to use) his skills as a purveyor of disinformation. In fact, tens of millions of Americans continue to believe that Trump’s claims of fraud in the 2020 election are correct, and that the presidency was stolen from him and from his followers.
I find it absolutely fascinating and terrifying at the same time.
The point is not whether Trump’s claims are accurate. And, if I’m being honest, I have to admit that there is no way of knowing whether or not Trump’s claims are true. (The truth is, if I reject his claims, I may simply be choosing to believe the narrative given by the other side. Both sides stick to their data. Both sides live in rooms in the echo that reinforces their narratives. Both sides suffer from the anti-intellectual effects caused by the weaknesses of human neuroplasticity. And both sides are made up of millions of human followers, who unaware of the power that the leader-man wields through their manipulations, through their theatrics, through their deceptions.)
The point here is that, without the capacity to verify Trump’s claims, we are all potentially prey; without the ability to know without a doubt what actually happened in the last election cycle, there is no way to trust the election results — indeed, there is no way to trust our election process politics.
Bitcoin And Neuroplasticity
Neuroscience 101: Hear enough and you’ll believe it’s true. Kneel down and pray to God every day for an hour, and within months, maybe weeks, even dyed-in-the-wool atheists will believe in God. Just read the articles on Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit, just listen to the Tucker Carlson and Glenn Beck podcasts, and you will, without a doubt in your mind, believe that the election was stolen. Just read the articles in Mother Jones and HuffPost and Slate Magazine, and you will believe without a doubt in your mind that the election was valid. Just listen to YouTube channels broadcasting the views of Michael Saylor, Balaji Srinivasan, Mark Moss and Jeff Booth and you will believe that bitcoin to $1 million dollars is inevitable, that hyperinflation is coming and that all that banks collapse. Just listen to the YouTube channels that express the views of Warren Buffet and Peter Schiff and you will believe that Bitcoin is a ponzi scheme and a scam.
Humans are sheep because we are wired to be sheep. We believe we are critical thinkers and good discerners of truth, but we all absorb and internalize the narratives we hear, over and over again.
Without verification, we all become victims of lies told by those in power.
Again, enter Bitcoin.
As I stated in my previous article, we must have imagination. We must be prepared to see that, eventually, the Bitcoin network can act as the foundational layer of all digital interactions. And over time, there is every possibility that such a network will have the capacity to verify beyond any possible doubt every transaction, every interaction, every news story, every government claim, every tweets, etc.
But here’s the thing: We really do not there should be a lot of imagination at all to recognize that the election and blockchain technology are present tense, not future tense, considerations.
Consider a system where each ballot is printed with a digital private key/signature. All voting records reside in an immutable ledger. While this will not disempower those who use lies and disinformation as a means of manipulating the neurologically vulnerable, it will move us in a direction where claims of voter fraud, such as Trump’s preferred , without teeth. And perhaps over time, as Bitcoin and the Bitcoin network evolve, more forms of verification will have the potential to bring down the superpower of liars.
I know that IT At the time, Bitcoin was feared more for its ability to escape currency controls than for its inherently honest nature. US leaders fear the possibility of the dollar losing its status as the world’s reserve currency, and because of this, they will do anything to question and undermine the legitimacy and accessibility of anything that adds to the as a possibility. (For example, today we hear more about the evils of China and the RNB ascendancy than about Bitcoin.)
but Can you see, in a possible future where lying becomes more difficult, why our leaders might be so afraid of Bitcoin? And do you see why our leaders will do anything to stop the rise of truth and verification? I have little doubt that, as the Bitcoin network becomes more capable of verifying any and all forms of data, verifying any and all forms and claiming the truth, that the leaders all over the world will do everything – everyone! — in their power to destroy this network — because without the ability to lie, to manipulate the sheep, all governments, all centralized power brokers, must by their very nature fail.
Over time, Bitcoin will become more than just a monetary network. It can be more than just a store with value for money. It can be more than property. Over time, The Bitcoin protocol and Bitcoin network will become the thing that those in power fear the most: the truth.
Where there is truth, the sheep are awakened.
Trumpets Of The World Should Be Considered
As I said at the beginning of this piece, this is not a political screed. Politicians lie, regardless of ideology. Leaders on the left are just as apt, as adept, at using disinformation and dishonesty as those on the right. The point is, without the ability to objectively verify the truth, people will continue to throw their mindless selves into chaos, believing to their core the lies offered by those who benefit from such deception.
I know that many of you reading this will see my views about the evolution of the Bitcoin network as the stuff of fantasy. Let me ask you: Throughout human history, hasn’t every development at one time been considered extraordinary? Bitcoin is just getting started. Once our leaders realize that, in the not too distant future, the Bitcoin network and protocol will morph into a global and inviolable lie detector, they will go to any length to kill it. Because they are only as powerful as the believability of the lies they tell.
This is a guest post by Dan Weintraub. The opinions expressed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.