Contributors’ Convictions: A Bitcoin Legacy Letter
Why spend scarce and irreplaceable time toward building and bettering Bitcoin?
What convinces us that Bitcoin is the exit strategy against the existing fiat scheme?
Who benefits from a decentralized, immutably hard monetary system?
Why bother?
These are inevitable inquiries we can expect from our children, grandchildren and future questioning generations. An earthling from 2100 will struggle to relate to our bygone era. A legacy letter allows oneself to establish an everlasting connection with future distant contemporaries so they may empathize with the present and gain wisdom from our generation’s missteps.
Legacy letters foster future reader introspection and provide a time capsule of lessons learned. History has been (and will always continue to be) our most reliable oracle. The ultimate low time preference investment we can make is in educating and preparing opportunities for our species moving forward.
What draws you to Bitcoin?
Your response is a reflection of what you perceive to be the cornerstone of Bitcoin’s philosophy. This is an open-ended question for any and all to contribute. Tweet @BitcoinMagazine your #BitcoinLegacy to define why you are adamant about financial and individual sovereignty in your own words!
In your response, you will unwittingly unveil your areas of expertise and specific interests across the blockchain spectrum. Some with technical backgrounds emphasize Bitcoin’s mathematically secured, open-source protocol. Persons with economic backgrounds might stress the importance of scarce money backed by proof of work. Others with political science backgrounds may underscore Bitcoin’s decentralized governance model. Persecuted groups facing human rights challenges would tout Bitcoin’s seizure resistance. Anyone with any background can provide insight as to how Bitcoin benefits them — yes, especially us plebs!
Compiled below are personal convictions from Bitcoin Magazine contributors as to what brings us all to invest finite time toward this monetary protest, and why we find Bitcoin to be the lifeblood of the future. It is normal to observe repetition of core thematic elements underlying Bitcoin’s fundamental ideology. No two responses will be the same, but all will be equal in their conviction of a common goal toward furthering Bitcoin’s mission.
The following responses are intended to be mulled over by future readers and ourselves as a reference point in time for our collective, but independently unique, perspectives. An informal ode to Bitcoin, if you will.
Now I will shut up and let the gang do the heavy lifting.
BitcoinActuary
There are so many layers of depth to Bitcoin, but I’ll focus on two. Firstly, for each individual, it’s simply about sound money. We know how many bitcoin there will be in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time but can’t say the same of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet.
See past the short-term volatility. View Bitcoin as an economic battery, fluctuating with adoption. In the long run, and in an increasingly chaotic world, it gives each participant the best chance of preserving value across time.
There is no better option.
On the broader macroeconomic level, it is Jeff Booth who, for me, is posing the ultimate question for our times:
“How is it possible to tackle climate change with an economic system that requires inflation?
Instead of embracing the technology gains that naturally bring deflation and broader based abundance, monetary policy (globally) is fighting it — keeping society on a treadmill of ever higher prices and needing more consumption and more production … Forever.”
Bitcoin fixes this, changing the mindset and reducing the time preference of every participant. I believe history will judge it as the most significant development of this century.
Econoalchemist
What binds my conviction in Bitcoin?
Plain and simple, the asymmetric advantage afforded to the individual. Free and open for anyone to opt-in, permissionless, neutral and borderless, with no barriers to entry, pre-qualifications, credentials or identifying documents necessary. The ability to instantly interact economically on a global scale that has been unleashed and decoupled from the central control of gatekeeping permission granters and legacy financial institutions.
Now the weaponization of money by the few against the many, wielded as an implement of tyranny and control, has been disrupted by a decentralized, unstoppable, peer-to-peer protocol. The rent-seeking, parasitic leeching that has siphoned generational wealth and value from the energy expended by hardworking individuals for centuries has been severed. The unwavering, impenetrable security enforced by the inflexible laws of mathematics that ensures no matter what regime changes or sweeping legislative actions are taken or however far the pendulum swings, it is only the will of the individual that can unlock the secrets they hold.
Seizure by force, confiscation through inflation, theft through taxation have no power against Bitcoin.
This once-in-a-civilization opportunity to separate money from State will be looked back upon as either the pivotal moment in human history when the global trend toward tyranny was thrown off course, or this moment will be covered up with PayPal and Mastercard stickers, masked and hidden in the history books as the greatest revolution that never happened. I am an advocate for freedom and empowering the individual, and with careful consideration, I have chosen the best tool for the task at hand.
Craig Deutsch
There are few opportunities throughout history where a group of people can stand up for what they believe in and make a meaningful difference in the course of humankind. The discovery of Bitcoin is one of those times. By participating in the adoption and acceleration of the Bitcoin network by people around the world, I believe we can make a significant impact on the quality of life for humans in the decades and even centuries to come.
As a young person, I felt clear that I did not agree with the status quo. I always felt like an outsider but didn’t know why. Throughout my life, I experimented with opting out of the system by joining various subcultures to find my place in the world. While those circles offered a place of temporary companionship, it wasn’t until I found Bitcoin where I found a like-minded consortium of people from around the world who were committed to improving society as a whole.
Bitcoin is a catalyst that is perfectly primed to pave the way for a better future with the current set of circumstances on the global stage. Watching the world lose its collective mind over the last year and a half over a coronavirus only solidified my resolve.
Bitcoin is the rare occasion to enact change for the betterment of myself, my children and humanity as a whole.
The moment to make a difference is now.
Dawdu M. Amantanah
Bitcoin provides equilibrium of power from tyrants to the meek who shall inherit the Earth.
It is a silent protest creeping in, dissolving the constructs of corrupt politics, money and rulership over sovereignty. The unalterable record that is the Bitcoin network will allow wealth to remain in the hands of those that accumulate it for generations. Bitcoin, for me, is the paradigm shift that changed the way I look at economics, computer science, math, philosophy, political science, physics and history. Bitcoin is about using encrypted technology to build the decentralized world we want to live in unison. It is really about liberation.
Suppose I could impart wisdom on my children and grandchildren in regards to Bitcoin. There may be a time where acquiring bitcoin will not be like the days of old. Secure it. Educate yourself by doing your own research. Hold it over a long period. Then depart with it only to pass down to the next generation or only after great strain. Whatever you sell it for must have a significant impact on your quality of life or preserve the greater good in the…
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