I have a lot of respect for your persistence here. That bit about "rejecting needless control" is right on, but also tricky to put into practice.

Careful thinking of small details to guard against collecting unnecessary data, deciding when to preserve user sovereignty even at the expense of ux -- these sorts of things are a constant negotiation and require vigilance. It is easier to just be a zealot.

The zealotry in Bitcoin is where my heart is. But I think we never will get very far with the masses with Bitcoin zealotry (eg not your keys, not your coins). On the other hand:

That Gandalf quote is one of my favorites.

Thinking of zealotry, there is another story that comes to my mind: Paul Atreides in Dune can gain power if he turns his followers into zealots, but in so doing he will lose control of them and loose a very destructive force on the galaxy.

This may not seem connected, but I think Bitcoin may either need to vastly reduce the zealotry I'm Bitcoin...or vastly increase it. Either Bitcoin will overtake the world via the sly roundabout path...or it may need to turn into a much more disruptive revolution. Something that people can become excited about giving their life to.

This sounds a little absurd to my ear. Maybe it is just the thing that Jesus said: be ye hot or be ye cold, but if you are Luke warm I shall spit you out.

Gandalf hoped to topple the ruler and they did. But I bet in the future history of middle earth it wasn't long before there was a new Sauron.