Bitcoin? What the fuck is that? The currency used by criminals and drug dealers?
Let's see how I tell you. I have been trying to explain it in plain words for many years now but this time I will start sharing my utopia so that you do not mislead me about my position.
I believe in a world where money is totally unnecessary. Okay, I told you it was my utopia. I believe in a world with many strong and happy small local economies connected together as networks of exchange and cooperation. Local economies where everyone does the best, they all agree on how to do what almost nobody wants to do and everyone has common resources and reserves. Where is the money in my utopia? It does not exist, because it has no use.
Rewind ...
This article was originally published in Spanish.
Este artículo se publicó originalmente en español.
El Salto Diario - Y entonces llegó Bitcoin a cambiar la historia
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MONEY
If we accept that there, at the dawn of civilization, human groups closely related to certain mammals of the order of primates managed to subsist without even imagining something like money, we will have to ask when, where and, above all, why a very disturbing idea was born.
Let us accept that our ancestors made use of the resources available effectively and, without a doubt, obtained what they did not find in their environment based on exchanges with other groups more or less close. That is how barter should have been born; which was probably not such a simple thing as saying it, but it resulted in that funny (or cumbersome, depending on how you look at it) of negotiating how many baskets of wild oat grains I should give you in exchange for such cool cobs of flint.
Then someone realizes that in their territory there are certain resources that are scarce in other places. Maybe a deposit of amber or some kind of magic opals. Since, for better or for worse, we come from highly hierarchized primates, the male or female alpha (who is there because knows all) clearly perceives that in this story there is an important issue for his/her group. Now it is easier to travel around and bring useful things to the cave. People are fascinated by our amber or our iridescent opals. But of course, we must manage this well and for that I am, the male boss or female boss (later only the male boss, that for something nature has endowed him with an admirable muscular strength, he thinks). So with the inestimable collaboration of the shamanic sector and the muscles sector is responsible for the management of amber, opals, pyrites or whatever the wonderful resource abundant in the area and scarce in the rest of the known world.
From here there are numerous entanglements that history gathers as an establishment of agriculture, creation of cities, etc ... all this is punctuated with its adequate doses of wars and conflicts for, basically, defending the exclusivity of more or less natural resources .
We arrive, not without profusion of tribulations, to feudalism. There we have for a long time shiny metals that are very suitable to engrave on them the face of the alpha male and that no one has doubts about who manages all this.
But Homo sapiens, which we like to call ourselves, is not exactly characterized by a practical intelligence but by an insidious ability to individually sweep towards oneself and elegantly discard any charge of conscience. Therefore, things continue to evolve in this way. Metal is scarce and not always enough to finance the macroplans of the alpha male and his feudal friends. It is true that they can make the mob work fundamentally for them, even though they suffer hardship and hunger. The people are very resistant. And credulous, in many cases. Just apply a little magic because supernatural ideas have always worked great to keep them under control. But is not it in itself magic that these brilliant little medals with the chief's face engraved on them have become so important? From here, it's just a matter of erasing the limits.
Not only are the taxes magic. Is that you can also make people trust their medals to trusted people in exchange for pieces of paper with letters that say that X medals will be paid in exchange for this paper. All in exchange for a modest commission. And you can travel by the ways of the Lord more calmly. The elites touched by the magical aura of the boss are always so attentive to the needs of their vassals.
The printing press has made this magic much easier. Of the previous handmade papers print those papers in huge amounts there is only a thin line. People like them and even kill themselves for them. What are we going to do ... let them enjoy!
Nowadays, nothing supports those papers or those circles of common metal more than the faith. It is a dogma of faith based on that, apparently, everyone likes them and is willing to give anything for a reasonable number of them. The world is a nice place for those who control money.
AND THEN BITCOIN ARRIVED
We are already in 2008 and, taking advantage of the great advances in technology and that mysterious global network of communications called the Internet, someone has the idea of creating an electronic currency on which, in principle, nobody has direct control. However, this currency is created according to precise rules that no one can alter and everyone can know without any doubt about it. It is an unforgeable, safe and very, very practical currency. And, for a few years, it was surrounded by an uncomfortable general silence.
Wait, wait ... do you mean that it is no longer the boss who controls a coin? Oops, that can make very nervous those who for centuries and millennia have exercised an iron grip on this matter.
And so it is.
THE CREATION OF MONEY IS A HUMAN RIGHT
Or should it be. Bitcoin marks a before and after in history. For the first time people can use without much fear a currency that has not been issued by a central entity called State, King, government or Lord of the Known Orb.
It is not necessary to be mentally very clever to understand that the control of money is the only thing that is currently needed to subdue people and take control of the resources of the earth as well as the means of production. The matter that "the people" can use a currency that is not beyond the control of the dominant elite can not be good (for the dominant elite). Obliging people to use a currency created and controlled by centralized entities means keeping people in a relationship of dependency, submission and systematic exploitation without any exit. If in some kind of naive thinking someone thinks that money as we have known so far is something created exclusively to facilitate the life and social or commercial relations of ordinary people, I think that someone enjoys a capacity of visualization quite sparse set. Today it is not absolutely necessary to annihilate people or launching armies against rebel territories to gain the wealth of those territories. Not in most cases. It is enough to inject money and turn them into slaves of an unpayable debt.
Therefore, slavery is not a matter of the past, far from it. You do not need physical chains to subject millions of people to an unworthy life. It is much easier, more effective and cleaner to handle them with the invisible whip of money. If you do not believe me, it is because you think that you live free despite dedicating a large part of your life to a job with whose salary you basically pay for a roof and food. And do not complain. It is what it is. If you have something left over, invest in a pension plan, they tell you. That is, "leave us your money if you have more" do not go to believe you too powerful.
So, what happens now? Do we have to use that Bitcoin shit, which is what criminals and drug dealers use, to be free?
PLEASE THINK BUT THINK INTELLIGENTLY
Criminals and drug dealers have you said? Most of them prefer Euros and Dollars. Do you raise those doubts about the bills you carry in your pocket? They have probably financed more acts of corruption, crimes and wars than all those who could have financed all the Bitcoin existing in all the years of their existence.
Bitcoin is money because it can be used to obtain products and services. What's more, Bitcoin is simply money. Money has always been a bit disturbing but, let's face it, just as we have set up or let this world go, money is a more or less useful tool. We are very far from my utopia, which does not mean that I have renounced it.
Bitcoin is just a fucking coin. But a decentralized currency, not controlled by States and, certainly, is a currency that promotes something socially very disruptive: disobedience and abundance.
True, you do not believe me, but I trust you have enough mental openness to continue reading me a little more.
BITCOIN WAS JUST THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER
Bitcoin opened the door. The Bitcoin code is open and anyone can use it to create other electronic currencies with different rules. Of course, I would not say that Bitcoin is the best option among all of them but it can be given the merit of having shown a way. Bitcoin is unacceptable to many people because its way of working is totally anti-ecological; It takes a huge amount of energy to maintain the Bitcoin network and every transaction made depends on an energy supply totally incompatible with a minimal environmental awareness . On the other hand, it presents a series of problems that do not facilitate its use for small payments. It's something valuable, yes, because people have given it that value. The value fluctuates according to the sea of confidence. That is, its value is pure speculation right now and is based on supply and demand. I have never said that Bitcoin is a currency outside of capitalist thinking. The only thing I say is that a tool that until now has only been an instrument of power has become a tool that everyone can use to their advantage. It is not a big step towards my utopia but it is a great step towards the rules of the game. Now everyone can play with chips that are not owned by the casino. And this is beginning to put the world on its head and the owners of the casino quite nervous.
Are there currencies that can be used with greater property as tools of true economic and social change? Yes of course. From the moment we break ties with the central entities that control money, we enter a stage in which money is democratized. It is no longer an instrument of control and oppression since it can be used with other rules; which we want to create to use that tool. If Bitcoin is still a currency whose value is given by speculation and around which opportunities are appearing to use it as a means of exchange, there are others with better characteristics. Currently there are thousands of electronic currencies based on the same Bitcoin idea but that work in a different way or are based on more sustainable principles. The value of some, even, is not given exactly by supply and demand but is given by the community of people who use them in a practical way and the ecosystem they build around it. Moreover, in some cases, currency is not the main axis of this ecosystem, but its human values and ethical principles. Naturally I should write then about my favorite one.
A FAIR CURRENCY
I have to refer necessarily to FairCoin (which means precisely "fair currency"). Created from an intelligent derivation of the Bitcoin code, it has very interesting characteristics: it was fairly distributed after its creation and, later, it was chosen as the most convenient electronic currency by an activist community called FairCoop. FairCoin is possibly one of the most friendly electronic currencies with the concept of ecology since the energy requirements to sustain your network are extremely low. But, most importantly, the ethical principles of the ecosystem that is being created around the FairCoin are based on the idea of the Integral Revolution, the exchange between equals and the hacker ethic, which discards positions of power, as well as promotes cooperation and mutual help through the use of technology. One more point: this community that organizes itself in an open and horizontal manner decides by consensus the value of FairCoin with respect to the references that we usually use, such as the Euro and other centralized currencies. In this way, its value vis-a-vis the "outside world" becomes progressively greater, empowering the community of people who use it as a means of change and reserve of value.
Of course, there are many other options that can be tried to empower the local economy of people, such as time banks and social currencies. Both proposals, with all their possible variants, always represent wealth in its broadest definition for the communities that implement these or similar options and should, in my opinion, be rehearsed and supported with all enthusiasm. But they present, on the other hand, some limitations especially to establish relationships with other communities, beyond the scope of the purely local..
Therefore, it is good to have a currency that can be accepted globally; although it is like auxiliary currency to others of more local scope. And also, without a doubt, to have a currency that serves as a reserve of value over time, which allows us to cover our needs in difficult situations such as in case of illness or in our old age. Hence, at times when we are disabusing ourselves of the false paternalism of the States, when we are threatened with not being able to count on their help after long years of contributing to the common fund with our precious time and effort, is when we have to start to think about self-management seriously. I do not speak, of course, of continuing to feed the insatiable monster of capitalism in the form of private pension plans but with projects and tools that allow us to have a clear conscience while we provision ourselves so that the winter of our life can develop with the tranquility that every human being deserves. FairCoin fulfills these conditions and represents one of the most solid alternatives to the economic tools with which we had until now. And, again, we must thank the path that Bitcoin opened, from which we can turn to new and fascinating objectives. Never, in the history of humanity, has an equal opportunity been presented to us to remove stones from the enormous and aberrant economic castle that we have built. Take it or resign ourselves to continue supporting all these chains of economic slavery forged from the concept "money" is a personal decision. Vita brevis est. Let's choose what we want to do with it, but with intelligence. For everything else: carpe diem.
DISOBEDIENCE
Disobedience is the ability to decide that I do not want to continue being part of this game or, at least, with the rules that we have imposed unilaterally. Ask yourself questions: how many Euros/Dollars are there? How are they created? What are the motivations behind the obligation to use centralized money? Who always wins in this game? Creating spaces where the economy is governed by other parameters will not mean the radical destruction of a system in which we do not believe and we do not want. But, let's look at it this way, it can mean opening a crack in a pile of shit in which we dive and glimpse a ray of light. Disobedience has always been the path to freedom. Bitcoin and many of its alternatives allow economic disobedience, break links of slavery, get out of a system created to maintain in a discreet poverty those who bring the strength of work. Fear is our worst enemy and the use of means to create fear is the first degree of the "theory of absolutist power". We can use decentralized electronic currencies to avoid paying taxes that we do not want to pay. I am not suggesting it to enrich us but because we are increasingly aware that the "common box" is used in a corrupt way. We can always use the money to support other projects more in line with our idea of what the world should be. I do not want to finance their wars, pay social parasites, rescue banks that have not hesitated to defraud their clients ... [continue with whatever comes to your mind]. I want the effort of my work to contribute to creating a better world, if possible. Or, at least, I want to try so that this short life has some meaning. I want to disobey seriously; Do not swallow windmills, do not serve interests that I do not believe in. Personally, I do not seek to enrich myself because I want to live in a world where nobody has basic needs that can not be met. We live in an abundant world but with terribly poorly distributed resources. And this economic system that we suffer is the root cause of all the disasters that we feel. Faced with this, there is no room for resignation.
ABUNDANCE
Do we have doubts that the planet we live on is abundant in resources? Poverty is only a bad distribution. We are aware that a very small part of humanity hoards and makes use of those resources selfishly. We can not simply accept that it is an inevitable evil. We all have our part when we accept the game and, of course, there are ways to do it better. It is true that there can not reasonably be an infinite growth, but in spite of understanding it, we resign ourselves to this. Those who have claimed ownership of the Earth's resources and the means of production present themselves on the grounds that they are growing little. His appetite is insatiable and is the engine of progressive impoverishment to which we are subjected. Let's get rid of: we have believed that we have rights and now, when these recede because, they say, "we have created" an unprecedented crisis, we accept it meekly. I must repeat: life is short ... and this makes us adapt quickly to new and worse conditions because "this is so and there is no other way". We are the people who tighten our belts so that those of us continue to obtain benefits and maintain their life train. It is necessary to decrease but, above all, those who are more voracious must decrease. Those who suffer in exchange for (badly) a roof and food are not to blame for this situation. Even less those who do not have even that.
Is it consistent to talk about degrowth and abundance in the same paragraph? Let me justify it.
Do we agree that we live in an abundant planet? I hope we do agree if we consider a rational use of resources and a sufficient consumption rate to cover the basic needs of all humanity. If we look at it seriously, we will arrive at the logical conclusion: resources are overexploited to give way to the need for an aberrant consumption. From here, I think we can understand each other.
HOW CAN A CURRENCY FACILITATE DISOBEDIENCE AND GENERATE ABUNDANCE?
The first part is clear. If a currency that can be used in a real economy is not controlled by a central entity, it is clear that it can serve to disobey the requirements of that body of power.
And what of generating abundance? It has to do with the type of currency in question and in the context of a clearly impoverishing economic environment for the majority.
If you collect your salary in Euros (it could be Dollars or Pesos, it does not matter) and store them in a box to use them within a year, you will find that they have lost value. You can buy less things with them. This is a phenomenon that, incomprehensibly, we seem to have accepted as if it were an unquestionable physical law. People have tried to deal with this in many ways. There are social or local currencies, for example, that are "oxidized", that is, the longer you save them, the less they are worth, which forces you to use them locally (since they are all of local scope). This will favor the flow of the currency and a healthy local economy. Of course it also involves some stress because if there are not many options to use them you are forced to buy things that maybe you do not need at this time to avoid losing them. But if your implementation is powerful in a community and there are many sites that accept that local or social currency the idea is interesting. In return, such coins do not serve to save; something that is totally lawful if you are looking for tranquility in your life.
But the currencies issued by the States are the only legal option for money. They have sold them to us as a means to exchange for things or services as well as a store of value for our future needs. Therefore, it is unusual to lose purchasing power by keeping them. This is explained because they are inflationary currencies, that is, they lose value over time because, simply, they are created continuously. There is not limit. If we observe the graphs that represent the issue of Euros or Dollars we would be asking ourselves if perhaps we are not creating a bubble that will end up exploding in our faces. Euros, Dollars and other similar currencies are created continuously at the will of the issuing agencies that control them. If each time there is more in circulation it is logical that each of them will have less value. And so we spend our lives struggling because wages correspond to the loss of purchasing power of such currencies which, as you can see, does not always happen. These coins become means of oppression. Whoever has his hand on the coin tap can keep under control the economic zone that depends on that currency. Consequently, it can control the lives of people and promote social movements at will. There is nothing more effective in containing social protests, the desire to live in better conditions, than having people worried about making ends meet.
Decentralized electronic currencies, for the most part, are deflationary. It's simple, they are scarce. Of those coins it is perfectly known how many there are and how many there will be in the future and that parameter can not be modified. Consequently, how many more people use them, how many more sites accept that currency, more value will have respect to any inflationary currency. Since all the currencies issued by states or unions of states are clearly inflationary (no state renounces the power granted to be able to mint more currency when it suits them) it is clear that a deflationary currency that is used as money will acquire more and more value compared to those .
Inflationary currencies work very well if you have an increasing income over time. Does it sound? Infinite growth. But if not, if you receive a salary, they will make you suffer all your life.
In this context appears Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Faircoin and many others. Currencies whose value compared with inflationary currencies of legal course is increased over time. And this awakens the human greed that, more often than not, is looking for fast ways to become part of the exclusive 1% club. I'm telling you, it's not the right way to try to emulate the most unbridled capitalism. On the other hand, if a currency increases in value beyond measure, its use will be meaningless because most of us will want to keep it in order to change it in the future in the currency of the State, and to live unrestrainedly.
But if we manage to take advantage of the qualities of decentralized electronic currencies and, in addition, we create a powerful cohesive community using it and with reasonable ethical principles that also reasonably agrees on its value and adapts it in a measured way to its real use. What do we get? A reliable currency, perfectly usable, not controlled by States, with the capacity to exercise the necessary disobedience and that generates in that community a real sense of abundance. A coin that can be used with joy and, at the same time, allows you to keep some reserves for more difficult times. In other words, a currency that also allows you to make your own pension plan without the charge of awareness of how your money will be used. Now you are your own bank and you decide how, when and in what way your money is used. The reasonably measured revaluation of a currency whose issuance is finite in relation to inflationary currencies occurs without the impoverishment of countries or the creation of economic imbalances anywhere. It seems like a magic trick, some kind of deception like that of pyramid schemes; but no, it is purely a natural matter only possible when there are no obscure interests associated with the issuance and circulation of such currency. The matter of money has changed a lot. Now we are talking about coins with clear and immutable rules whose operation is totally transparent. That is something that had never happened because until now money has always been a monopoly of power. We are facing a new economic paradigm. That we take advantage of this or that others take this advantage is now in our hands.
THE LESSON FOR THIS TALE
My utopia is still utopia but since life is short I have decided to do something. I accept that decentralized electronic currencies are a path; I use them as a tool to exercise my disobedience and manage my economic life. I use FairCoin as currency since I can pay for my food with it and some other things. I prefer them to the coins that, until now, have only served as instruments of oppression. I recommend that you also consider it. If possible, we will be in my utopia and if not, perhaps, our daughters or granddaughters. But, in any case, I have decided to cross the open crack and start walking towards something better. Will you come with me?