As I type this I have my crypto tracking app, Blockfolio, open on my iPhone and I’m watching the crypto markets climbing higher and higher with no end in sight. This week Steem was over $2: Steem Dollars broke all-time records.
There are many untold millionaires and, even a couple of billionaires, being made during this recent meteoric explosion in the crypto market.
This all has me reflecting about how this influx of newfound wealth might change us as a people. Thankfully, the younger generations don’t seem to be as caught up in as many of the material trappings of previous generations -- Rolexes, flashy cars (okay, maybe the occasional Lambo), mansions, etc. I don’t think there will be an explosion of materialism.
The millennials, and the generation that is coming after, seem more enamored with experiences, greater freedom, and doing what they can to fix our broken world. This gives me so much hope for a kind of bloodless revolution. I’m part of Generation X but share much of the philosophy of the younger generations. I bearing witness to scores of wealthy people being made around me and I think to myself…I’m at ground zero of one of the most amazing events in centuries!
An interesting observation is this newfound wealth doesn’t make most people all that much different from how they were before. It does tend to magnify qualities that person already possessed.
I believe that with wealth comes a great responsibility. For me, money equates to nothing more than energy. This energy can be put to work to do some amazing things in this world, like creating the HardFork Film Series or raising the standard of living in developing countries.
Wealth is a way to make dreams come true, it gives us the ability to live life in a way we wish, to experience the world. Most importantly, it allows us have to put up with far less of the things we don’t want to do. Many more people now have the power to say “no” and “yes” to things they we wish. This, in my eyes, is the epitome of freedom.
Still, almost everyone I’ve met that is involved in crypto-currency harbors a quiet fear that they try their best to tuck away and forget about. I count myself among them. The fear is that those in power will begin to try to thwart cryptocurrency.
On the flipside, those whose profit and power base comes from the status quo are even more frightened. Actually, the negative propaganda campaign against the sector has already begun. Although recent news stories show how some large institutions are a adopting the “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach and finding ways they can profit from blockchain and cryptocurrency.
What will the future hold?
No one really knows, but I do know that this moment is an amazing time to be alive. It’s so empowering to acknowledge this fact and hold it in our consciousness. We are right on the cusp of massive social change that will likely restructure our entire society. In fact, the change has already been unleashed.
I’ll continue to watch it all unfold through my optimistic lens. I’m very confident that we’ll all, one day, be bragging to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren that we were the pioneers...among the first to use technology instead of weapons and violence to create a better world.
This past year we were relentlessly and continuously pummeled with images of death and destruction in the mainstream media. The only death in this revolution will be to antiquated ideas, despair, and inequality. There's so much truth to that old saying, "The darkest hour is just before dawn."
Yours In The Chain,
Eric
(Gif compliments of Giphy.com)
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
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