Batting practice in Shibamata Park, Tokyo. photo by
One day when I was deeply broke, so broke I couldn’t buy food, I got a check in the mail. The check was for $7.23. I was excited because it meant I could vist the dollar store and buy food for me and my wife, and we could eat today. Maybe for two days!
But, since I was really that poor, I had no bank account. I looked up the closest check cashing center. It was only 2 miles away. I put the check in my wallet and walked over. When I arrived and stood in line, the lady at the window offered to cash the check for a $3 fee!
That left me with only $4 for two adults to eat for two days. I refused to pay that fee. I walked out and had a very long walk home, with no food and a worthless piece of paper that said $7.23 on it.
This is why people have lost trust in the establishment. Have given up on institutions. They even seek comfort in uncomfortable places.
This is not new. Governments have always been corrupt. Institutions always protected the wealthy.
What is new is the decentralized blockchain. It cannot be stopped or controlled. It benefits everyone.
Global offerings. global customers, and global teams all mean that no one agency can interrupt the chain. Tokens change the way that people hold wealth. They redefine wealth and value itself.
This redefinition returns to deep human values. Health, family, art, adventure, deep meaning and significance, and real human connection are all outcomes of this redefinition of wealth. The thing is, humanity has always valued these things. But money has gotten in the way and obscured their value because it has been a crude tool of control by the wealthy.
The new tools of cryptocurrency and the blockchain allow anyone to trade in the values they actually care about. Anywhere with anyone. Why would you trade something else that seeks to control or destroy that value?
We saved that $7 piece of paper until we had $40,000 to go with it! Suddenly the bank really wanted our business. I wonder why we gave it to them?