I want to state that I am not writing this as some sort of political propaganda supporting the left or right factions. I have no political affiliation nor intend on swaying your political affiliation. I am writing this as a human being who has watched a nation continually try to operate within a broken system and who continues to make the same exact mistakes over and over and over again. If we continue to put the same inputs into a broken system we will continue to have nothing but broken outputs. I am writing this today as a human being and I am calling on you as a fellow human being to become part of the movement in building a new, fair, and equal future for all.
On the nights and weekends before the pandemic, I worked as a bouncer at a bar here in Boston. On an average night, I would check the ID’s of anywhere between 500-1000 different people. All walks of life from all over the globe. I have seen passports from Europe, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Australia, and ID’s from all over the United States and North America. In many ways, the bar I worked at represented a microcosm of the world. People from all over coming together in one place, for one thing, to have fun and enjoy themselves. It’s something that I have taken time to reflect back on because I have learned so many valuable lessons from having to interact with so many different types of people.
When people think of a doorman or bouncer, they think of this tough guy or authority figure who can muscle anyone they may need to get them out of the bar. I have found the opposite to be true (most times). Being a bouncer doesn’t mean you have to be superior in strength, but superior in your communication. This includes your body language, facial expressions, tonality, and choice of words. Very quickly I learned that when my body language and tonality were in a more relaxed tone or expression delivering bad news like, “I’m sorry sir, I think you have had too much to drink to go back inside” wasn’t met with physical resistance in most cases. If I ever had to address a patron that needed to be kicked out, I always found it was best to approach them in a more casual conversational approach. I would explain what was going on, address any concerns the patrons had, and politely be able to walk people out of the bar. Conversations are what held power and the ability to communicate effectively to any person is not as always as easy as you think.
As a bouncer, you are the peacekeepers, and physicality is considered a last resort item for self-protection. Listening and talking to others from any culture and communicating effectively is something I found to be one of the biggest tools used on a nightly basis. It’s amazing what happened when I would let the person I was speaking with talk and express their feelings or thoughts, and have a conversation with them versus when I was a rookie and tried to bear hug people out the bar before talking to them without explanation. I tell you about all of these experiences because I think a lot of discussions met with action need to happen now. Physicality and muscling people around didn’t work in the microcosm of the bar, and it definitely won’t work in the real world. I am afraid if real change does not happen, and happens quickly we are in for a long road ahead.
America is broken right now and we are sitting on an absolute powder keg. Take one step back for a moment, and look at the situation we find ourselves in. We have the highest unemployment rate in the history of the United States, we have a pandemic that has spread to almost every inch of our country, we have a federal reserve that just printed 6 trillions dollars of money (and that probably won’t be the last of it), we have a systemic racism issue that has been ongoing for the last 80 years, and we have riots in the streets of almost every major city in the US. If I never mentioned the name of the country I was talking about and told you those events were happening would you think of the United States of America? We are on the precipice of one of the biggest economic depressions that this country has ever seen and now is the time more than ever that we come together to unite the world with new solutions and new systems that bring democracy back each and every person. We must act, and act decisively, constructively, and mobilize ourselves to construct the framework we want for our future.
As a white man in America, I can no longer sit here and tolerate what is happening to our nation. I can no longer sit here and watch the “murder porn” that continually runs through mainstream media. I can no longer sit here and remain silent while I watch my fellow brothers and sisters get killed by government bodies that are supposed to protect and serve their communities. I am called to stand arm in arm with my fellow humans to help forge a new future and bring opportunity to all. I call on everyone to do the same. The time is now and not a second longer. We need a revolution, we need to break things (figuratively), and we need to see the systems of old burn to the ground so that we can usher in a new era of equality.
If you have not watched the Killer Mike speech (the Atlanta based rapper), I implore you to do so now. Being an Atlanta native, his message resonated so much with me that it brought me to tears. I have not heard as powerful of a speech since “I have a dream” from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Atlanta is the poster child of what great African American communities can do together and side by side with many other cultures. No doubt there have been bumps along the way in building such amazing communities and Atlanta isn’t perfect, but hopefully, this can be a beacon of hope to create a path forward for those without hope. Hope is all we have right now, and we have to pair hope with constructive action.
Killer Mike Speech:
Constructive action starts by tearing some of the archaic systems down that have been holding all people back from opportunity. This includes financial opportunity, civil rights, and basic human needs. Blockchain can have an extreme hand in helping with morphing much of what we see going on today by holding people accountable at all levels and decentralizing authority. Imagine a government that is given instant feedback by its people through a blockchain and can take instant action. I make things sound easier than they are, but do you see where I am going with this? Imagine a world where there are no elected officials being sent to congress or senate and we the people can have a say just by voting through a blockchain on our phones. Think about the possibilities that can be achieved when we have everyone involved with our financial system, and not just people that have good credit scores or access to a bank. Imagine a world where we can hold racism accountable through tools like blockchain. The possibilities are endless and the time to start erecting these structures and implementing them is now.
I titled this blog post as “kill your masters” in a figurative sense and not in a literal sense. What I mean by this is that we must destroy and replace the old systems that have enslaved our ideology and perspectives of the world. These old ideas and systems are holding many people back from opportunity. To kill these ideas we must continue to educate those about blockchain so they too can see the impact it can have. Consensus through the people is power and this future is not far off. This is not just some Eutopia idea or pie in the sky. This can be our reality, but we need the thrust blockchain on to the main stage and start implementing solutions at a rapid pace. Our masters of old shall be no more, and we shall become our own masters through blockchain. We can have economic and racial equality for all and it can advance us as humans. We need to stop looking through the political lenses and start embracing our differences so that we may become a better civilization. This begins with education and CryptoLiveLeak has something to say.
I truly believe that if we want to fix what broken systems we have today from the justice system to the police, to the financial system, to the way we choose to be governed, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency will become the highways we need to trailblaze ahead as a society. I can guarantee these will be the foundational pieces to the most democratic and fair future we have. We must stop kicking the can down the road today. The time for a revolution is not tomorrow, but today. Join us and become part of the movement.