Why We Fight
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[I’m moving my Q&A to Callin, a platform for live audio sessions. Happening live at 6PM ET Monday.]
Background
Why We Fight is a series of seven propaganda films produced by the US Department of War from 1942 to 1945, during World War II. It was originally written for American soldiers to help them understand why the United States was involved in the war, but US President Franklin Roosevelt ordered distribution for public viewing.
Today I’m using this term in the context of why we fight for Bitcoin to succeed.
What is our mission? Why should we care?
Why we fight
Bitcoin promises an alternative for citizens across the world to keep their savings in a form of money that can neither be confiscated nor diluted.
That right to store value and transact freely is a human rights issue. This is summed up nicely in a 2-minute video by Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation.
Bitcoin Fixes This
If Bitcoin becomes popular (aka becomes a world reserve currency/gold 2.0), it reduces the size and scope of governments since they can’t print money to fund their monopoly over violence and other socio-economic issues. This means:
Fewer wars
Funding wars would become impossible given governments can’t print money to fund them. Bitcoin drastically impacts the size of what wars can become given that it is very unprofitable to engage in them. In most recent news, this means that a war with Ukraine might have never happened.
"Whoever wants peace among nations must seek to limit the state and its influence most strictly.” -Ludwig Von Mises
Prosperity
With money being allocated more efficiently (due to the massive distortion of government intervention in the economy now removed), there is more abundance and resources for all.
Without governments wasting money on x/y/z activity, that money is instead allocated to more profitable enterprises (aka solves a problem for humans).
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Energy
Bitcoin’s proof of work incentive model is the buyer of last resort for all electricity, creating a floor that incentivizes the building of new energy-producing plants around disparate energy sources that would have otherwise been left untapped.
“This global energy net liberates stranded assets and makes new ones viable. Imagine a 3D topographic map of the world with cheap energy hotspots being lower and expensive energy being higher. I imagine Bitcoin mining being akin to a glass of water poured over the surface, settling in the nooks and crannies, and smoothing it out.” — Nic Carter
We’re seeing this happen with flared methane out in Texas which was formerly wasted in the production of natural gas/oil.
Bitcoin has been criticized for its energy consumption, but in reality, it consumes far less than the existing banking system which includes: banks, credit cards, gold mining, central banks, etc.
Fairness
Satoshi set out to design the fairest financial system possible. One where only through work (proof of work mining) or through buying Bitcoin could one own it. There was no way to circumvent that process.
“Bitcoin benefited from an extremely rare set of circumstances. Because it launched in a world where digital cash had no established value, they circulated freely. That can’t be recaptured today since everyone expects coins to have value. Not only was it fair, but it was historically unique in its fairness. The immaculate conception.” Nic Carter
Satoshi wanted to signal to everyone that Bitcoin wasn’t a scam. The conservative deescalation of his mining contributions, his departure from the community, never spending any of his coins, nor using his influence for any purpose, shows that he wanted the world to make up their own mind about his project and judge it on its own terms.
Unlike every other founder in history, Satoshi never cashed out.
Conclusion
I fight for Bitcoin because it gives us a more just world, a more free world, and a world with less bloodshed.
HODL!
Dan
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