I woke up today windering two things:
- What reasons do I have to be hopeful?
Sats for any answers that arent trite or cliche.
- Why are there so many people resisting bitcoin when it makes so much sense?
Double whammy. Answer one or both.
Merry Christmas, All.
11
Societal hope: self-interest biasing us to not letting the world fully burn and occasionally making it thrive.
Personal hope: I enjoy living whether my circumstances are good or bad. Having more time is all the reason I need.
22
Bitcoin isn't visible from the window of sense installed in most people's minds. That window moves slowly and often avoids ugly truths like those surrounding bitcoin.
Most people in bitcoin were acquainted with the ugly truths already or attracted by the seedy alleys adjacent or the flashing lights of nearby casinos. For the average westerner lacking morbid curiosity, contrariness, and all-or-nothing greed, why look upon bitcoin today?
Great answer, i zapped extra for your eloquence
The only reason I have is my faith in God. That’s why I’m hopeful for the future. I have no other source of hope to lean on. If God did not exist, I would be fucked up!
Humans could destroy this world without God’s intervention.
Marry Christmas!
People don't do things because they make intellectual sense. They do things because people they respect are doing them or they're an obvious solution to a major problem.
To this second point, do you think uncensorable payments in shadow-economies the only relevant solution bitcoin presents now?
Or does the store of value thesis hold up against the financial engineering of banks and treasury companies?
More or less. There are places/situation where bitcoin is the only practical means of making transactions. That's a huge solution to a real problem.
The issue with store of value isn't that it's incorrect, it's that it isn't salient enough. Most people aren't savers and those who are tend to be fairly comfortable with their current savings vehicles. Bitcoin will make inroads here, but I don't think it's the revolutionary thing.
I'd agree here. It seems real-estate is the choice store of value for most middle-class people with any real savings capacity. Those Gen Z with a more open-mind seem compelled by the prospect of choosing the 'right' crypto coins and hopefully reaping huge gains. Maybe these two factions eventually start to converge on bitcoin.
Was that true for you? It wasn't for me.
It's an interesting sociological point though, and if it's generally true then perhaps (a) our popular culture lacks respectable people or (b) the respectable people are not advocating for bitcoin, since my general sense is that most people I encounter are still pretty averse/closed minded to it.
No, but I'm aware of how strange I am.
I think your point (b) is the more relevant one. Many conscientious bitcoiners don't like revealing to people that they are bitcoiners, so the respect they've earned from others isn't moving the needle for bitcoin's respectability.
Hopefully this is true and there are many more respected people who are bitcoiners than those that are willing to be transparent about it.
But Bitcoin as I see it is a revolution-rebellion against the state and bankers power.
Most citizens still worship at the alter of the fiat debt based banking, financial and monetary system because that is portrayed and perceived as the centre of power and source of wealth.
Bitcoin is saying fuck the banks and government - its not about being respectable.
Once you lose hope you lose everything. If the sun rose, you woke up and are in reasonably good health, there is reason to be hopeful.
People don't understand Bitcoin. They still think it is like a high beta tech stock.
I truly with one thing only, to have, spend, trade, interact, live, love with ₿itcoin. Wherever I go!
Good morning! I find my hope in the attributes of God, and in particular his goodness and sovereignty. As A.W. Tozer once said, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."
Merry Christmas and may you find hope and joy in this season and tomorrow!
"Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God."
Thank you for the wishes.
Merry Christmas
You are blessed. Wishing you and yours a merry Christmas.
I sympathize there. I think, where I live as well, there is still a stigma attached to labeling oneself a bitcoiner. I once saw someone have a viseral reactions to the thought of it -- I guess they can have fun playing with their real-estate and other shitcoins.
Merry Christmas
Sats makes me very much hopeful regarding financial freedom.
And I think many people aren't sure about Bitcoin due to lack of knowledge and understanding.
Anyways merry Christmas to all and special one reading my comments.
My best shot
You’re right to frame Bitcoin’s primary utility today in terms of censorship resistant payments. That is where it solves an immediate and undeniable problem and those use cases tend to emerge where the traditional rails fail because of political instability capital controls or outright exclusion.
The store of value narrative often gets more attention from investors because it is neat and easy to compare with gold but your observation is important. Most people are not looking for long term hedges against monetary policy. They need a solution to the transaction problem before they care about protecting purchasing power.
That said the salience of the store of value function might change abruptly in environments where fiat inflation is both high and personal. Look at economies where even the middle class cannot trust the bank to preserve their wealth. In those cases Bitcoin becomes both a payment rail and a savings vehicle almost overnight.
In short censorship resistance is the here and now application. Store of value is latent utility that surfaces under stress. The revolutionary part may be that Bitcoin can switch between those roles instantly depending on the environment.
There is also institutional inertia. Banks governments and payment processors have built vast systems around control of money flows. Bitcoin strips away layers of that control and decentralizes it. That is a structural threat to entrenched interests and institutions rarely embrace technologies that reduce their own leverage.
And wishing everyone Merry Merry Christmas 🎄 Have a blast guys..
1- To be alive is a unique if often challenging opportunity you will never have again.
2-People are sheep.
For all the talk of freedom and individuality- humans are hugely dependent upon the community they live in and the quality of governance they live under.
The narrative is still strongly influenced by the fiat power brokers- banks and governments.
The wealth of nations and their citizens is hugely derivative of how well those governments organise and manage the resources and opportunities available.
Bitcoin and the cult of the sovereign individual assumes that the nation state is not important when it still is.
Bitcoin does have value and utility for individuals and can enable communities (like SNs) and can protect your capital from debasement but we are all still hugely reliant upon the quality of the governments we live under.