Bitcoin’s existence is a political paradox – Bitcoin Magazine
This is an opinion editorial by Andrew Keir, a writer of a daily newsletter, where he dives deep into the transformative nature of Bitcoin.
“Every time we witness an act that we feel is unjust and do not act, we become a party to injustice. Those who are repeatedly passive in the face of injustice soon find their character corroded into servility.” – Jullian Assange, “Conspiracy as Governance,” 2006
A deep irony exists when we live in a world that has become so deeply polarized and politicized. So much so that an unchanging, apolitical system of scarce information – of value – has manifested itself into existence.
As a protocol, Bitcoin is completely apolitical. It is indifferent to any political belief or ideology. It is decidedly neutral, which is a stark contrast to almost everything else in this clown world. Bitcoin is neutral to race, religion, ethnicity, gender, height, hair color, skin color, eye color, body type, body shape, name, language, location, wealth, or countless other identifying and distinguishing factors.
Bitcoin will process any transaction from any person and to any other person, regardless of anything else. The only exception is if you don’t comply with the rules of the network or if you don’t pay the necessary fees to process your transaction – which is essentially a free market bid to pay for the scarcity of space. Provided these two elements are met, your transaction will be processed.
Where the political paradox lies is in Bitcoin’s existence. That it has come to stay. Its existence implies that a group of individuals sought to create a technology with the same characteristics that Bitcoin has. Although the protocol itself is apolitical, this act of creation is deeply political.
When someone really sees Bitcoin for the first time, many things about our current system become illuminated that were previously invisible. Suddenly you can no longer see the world in the same way as before. Before the dawn of Bitcoin, we had no overall system or point of comparison, nothing that would highlight the broken nature of our system by providing an alternative perspective.
We now have something to compare the current system with. It seems that the creation of Bitcoin is the recognition that having a monetary system – a network of value – that is centralized and enables the weaponization of this network by those with administrative rights against those without (the users) is deeply flawed and immoral. This system of incentives that rewards people for playing political games, especially those who come closer to the center of this system by playing these games, disproportionately benefits those furthest away. The zero-sum nature of the current design may seem like another fundamental flaw in the code of the central banking system, but perhaps to those who designed the system it is a feature? This dynamic of inequality only accelerates over time as those at the center of the system continue to increase access to monetary units at the expense of large numbers of users on the network and ultimately to the downfall of the network itself.
The very creation of this technology we call “Bitcoin” is perhaps the most important political act of all time. It is a technology that is diametrically opposed to the current system and everything this current system stands for. The notion that someone should be able to come between two individual people and their right to trade with each other, or that any entity or group should have that power over another? Bitcoin rejects this. That you should be required to identify yourself to access the network for value transfer and be subject to surveillance and loss of privacy for that privilege? Bitcoin rejects this. That the imaginary borders formed by tribes of people should have any effect on our ability to trade with each other? Bitcoin rejects this. The current system claims that the right to act freely is not a fundamental human right. Bitcoin rejects this.
Bitcoin is a voice in opposition to the current system and the values this current system has tried to install in the minds of many. It is inherently political.
The beauty of Bitcoin is that it will never force you to use it, as the current system does. It will never impose its power on you or anyone else. It will simply offer superior incentives. And no one can ever control the network, therefore no one can capture this power. Bitcoin is an immaculate system of incentive design that allows the flow of pure information clarity from any node in the network to any other. A system owned by no one. Where no hierarchical structure exists and no imbalance in the distribution of this information gives any node power over another as a result.
It is impossible not to be completely in awe of its existence and to marvel at its nature.
An apolitical monetary protocol for humanity born into a world so deeply entangled and confused by a captive system of political power, influence and violence. As Jullian Assange suggested in the quote at the outset, when an injustice is brought to the forefront of our attention, we are offered a choice: Will we be passive and become party to the injustice—and in the process find our character corroded into servility—or will we take the necessary steps to act and oppose such injustice by joining the freedom network that is Bitcoin?
I know who gets my vote.
This is a guest post by Andrew Keir. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
