Hi there. Let's get back to the basics and see if Bitcoin will do what it was made to do.
So what is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a digital token whose transactions are logged onto computers all over the world. The difference between Bitcoin and the tokens that you get on World of Warcraft is that Bitcoin's transactions are logged onto a technology called the "blockchain", whereas WoW coins are stored on a central server. WoW coins can be hacked, stolen, or glitched out, but Bitcoin transactions are stored practically forever on the network.
Where is the value of Bitcoin derived?
Bitcoin's value is derived purely off of speculation and the amount of money people have put into it. You do not need Bitcoin to have cryptocurrency, but Bitcoin is the most popularized one and most likely token to be exchanged for goods and services our of them all. Since Bitcoin has basically no ties to any real world object, and its value is determined by however many confidence-based fiat currency units the world has placed into it, there is no intrinsically real value in Bitcoin.
The mantra for Bitcoin is "In Code We Trust", meaning that the machine (or whoever controls the machine) has power over the economic system, and the only way to destroy Bitcoin would be to destroy all of the computers around the world that are mining it, or at the very least, the internet itself.
Can Bitcoin restore freedom to Humanity?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: In order to use Bitcoin, you need a digital device and an internet connections. Ignoring the electronic waves that cell phones and laptops emit that harm your body, the value of a Bitcoin can only be determined and told to you by the internet, the system. It's possible that with a "51% attack", the network can be overtaken and transactions changed or denied by the miners, and those with the most resources for mining are in fact proponents of the system humanity needs to escape -- government backed companies and state data centers. If any economic system were built onto Bitcoin, it would have to be one of slavery, and you would see yourself turning into a cyborg more and more every day.
But let's see why: Suppose that paper money was suddenly ruled to have no value, as they can do at any time. Your only options would be to turn your paper into resources, or turn them into digital tokens. You turn the majority of what you own into digital tokens, and use those tokens to buy resources when you need to.
How do you earn the tokens? By working for the economic system, much like how we do today with debt notes. Except every transaction you do has a mining fee (otherwise the miners wouldn't mine the coin). Whether the mining fee is 5 cents, 20 cents, 1 cent, it doesn't matter; most of these fees will gravitate towards those with most of the computing resources that are mining the coins -- government backed companies and state data centers.
You work for the system.
Your employer sends you 0.01 BTC + Fee.
You get 0.01 BTC.
Fee is sent to China and US data centers, and used to buy real resources.
Let's see how this feedback loop plays out over time, and over millions of people:
- Fees add up, allowing US and China data centers to extract more resources over time.
- You use Bitcoin to buy food, pay bills, entertainment, taxes.
- Resources pulled out eventually become scarce: natural gas, oil. Others become synthetic like food.
- Phones eventually become too inconvenient to use -> Let's use chips.
- Blacklist of BTC and ETH addresses comes out to "stop terrorism transactions". Businesses transacting with these addresses lose reputation.
- Scarce resources mean that people need to work harder for the system, and you cannot escape the system because it is everywhere, global. Furthermore, the real value of Bitcoin drops compared to those resources, so even those with 1-10 BTC could eventually feel a crunch.
- Government-operated places where you can convert digital tokens into real assets (like gold), which the bars have RFID chips on them to stop "money laundering".
And then you wake up one day, finding yourself in a very different world.
- The value that you place on things is dictated by the machine.
- You're eating synthetic food and being forced to work to get by.
- You cannot stop because the system is everywhere.
- You cannot speak out because your addresses can be blacklisted.
- Your friends are in the same boat and will not jump out.
- You slip up at your job and are replaced within a week.
- You vote somebody new in office, who tells you that everything is fine and we've revisited the moon again -- keep working to support your species.
- Technology progresses to be able to know your thoughts. If you think the "wrong" way, your addresses will be blacklisted.
- When enough resources are extracted, you will be dropped.
Yes, this becomes dystopian very fast. This is why you see mainstream outlets and apps like Snapchat promoting Bitcoin as a tool of freedom.
Is this future set in stone?
No future is set in stone.
But when you vote for cryptocurrencies, think about where you're placing your idea of the future. A global blockchain is a global system, which inspires global competition, which increases pressure for you to try and get by, especially since its value is divorced from any real object.
You vote for the machine and the machine will rule you. You vote for nobody and nobody will rule you. Israel really wanted a king even though they didn't need one.
But your action alone isn't going to stop the push into this system. Indeed I see even "truthers" moving into supporting cryptos like Bitcoin and Litecoin, and the propagation media is stacked against you. The news is stacked against you, your friends are likely stacked against you because of the idea of technological "progression" (as if we were destined to be on a digital currency system). The fact that you're reading this now suggests some prior excitement about cryptocurrencies, and look at how objectively meh Steemit turned out to be for the 99% who are waiting for STEEM to go back up to $5.00.
And even the Steemit front page is stacked against this idea. Those with the power to use votebots spread pro-crypto information to everyone that visits.
So I repeat: We are at a fork, my friends. The internet has been a tool of spying and control from the start, and it has presented the illusion of connection and illusion of progress. It's evident that people no longer talk to their neighbors like it used to be, and the separation and personalization of our experiences on these Black Mirrors can and will get far worse if we inject our real value and resources into this digital ether.
Had we stuck with analog technology, such as vacuum tubes and Tesla's machinery, we could've had true freedom: free energy, effortless and fast transport, and there would be no need for wars and famines to justify the "need" for a fully digital currency and merge with the true reality.
We don't need the internet to propagate information: You can propagate information.
We don't need the internet to make money: You create money.
My posts are dark, but I do so to spread the light in your own mind. I see no good coming out of this system, and others agree. The Greatest Truth Never Told on YouTube has an extensive playlist called the Sons of Liberty academy, and many others see this truth of why the world is so messed up through their own connecting the dots.
Stay tuned, and I will talk about why gold-backed cryptos CAN work, but not forever.