As the new, and powerfully stupid 6060I U.S. Infrastructure Bill quickly makes its way to get signed by Joe Biden - there is a solemnity in the air for miners and crypto lovers in the U.S.
Obviously, this matters to Americans. But why should it matter to people outside the U.S.?
Even though we Hivers are all over the world, we're all invested in the markets. And bills like the one that just passed our House will affect market sentiment globally.
So... there are two questions I'd like to explore:
#1: Why has this happened?
#2: What does it mean for us?
Note: I do realize this topic has been explored. So, I'll do my best to give it original thought and meaning.
#1: Why Has This Happened?
While we usually talk about the awesomeness of cryptocurrency, here's some of the spin the elites are putting on it.
From Investopedia's website:
"Among other things, Bitcoin enables the citizens of a country to undermine government authority by circumventing capital controls imposed by it. It also facilitates nefarious activities by helping criminals evade detection. Finally, by removing intermediaries, Bitcoin can potentially throw a wrench in the existing financial infrastructure system and destabilize it."
Let's just dump the part about criminal activities and move on.
Criminals were having no problem cleaning millions in fiat and running enterprises right under the government's nose for decades (who were often bribed by them in the process).
Don't make crypto out to be some magical scape goat... 'nuff said... moving on.
Let's talk about power and disruption...
In most countries, the banks and the government work hand-in-hand to dominate every aspect of the financial system. If they can control where and when value can be transferred, they can maintain their positions of authority.
When regular citizens like you and me have access to decentralized financial solutions that don't require assistance from banks, intermediaries, or governments - it undermines that power.
And that scares them.
Just like it did in this hidden little piece of history...
Rewind to Jerusalem 2,000 years ago...
When Jesus walked the earth, the Israelites were a people ruled by a foreign government: The Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire was closely similar to the U.S. in many ways. For example, it had an executive and legislative branch to its government. And it had the power to set checks and balances.
Also, the nations the Romans had conquered were allowed to keep their own customs and religious beliefs, hold their ceremonies, etc., as long as they didn't disrupt the Roman governmental system.
Sound anything like what the U.S. did with Native American Reservations?
Anyway... 2,000 years ago... the same was true with the Jews in Jerusalem.
But I don't want to focus on the Roman Empire...
Instead, I'd like to focus on the "sub-government" that the Jews were allowed to have. It was a religious government controlled by Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, chief priests and religious leaders.
At the time, the Jewish people believed that only their priests could communicate with God for them. Their priests were their intermediaries - and they decided who had access to God, who was socially acceptable, etc...
Because of the importance of "righteousness" in their culture - the religious leaders held all the power.
If a citizen did something wrong according to the law (which only the religious leaders were educated in), they would be shamed and put out of the synagogue (exiled) - fined - separated from friends and family - cast out of society - or imprisoned.
So... what did Jesus do?
Jesus came preaching a message that you no longer needed to go through a priest to get to God. That all one must do is repent of their sins and accept the free gift of grace from God through the sacrifice of His son (which the Jews didn't understand till he was crucified).
And even though most people think of Jesus as all peace and love - He went into the temple with a whip, flipping over the money tables and driving out the "intermediaries" who were turning the temple into, what He called, "a den of thieves."
- Key point? The message Jesus preached could remove the current leaders (intermediaries) of their power by making them "obsolete". The people wouldn't need them anymore.
Now... let's look at another quote from the same Investopedia article:
"The financial infrastructure is decentralized and the power to increase or decrease currency supply is not appointed with a single or group of authorities. Thus, in the new setup, the role of governments in managing and regulating economic policy through intermediaries may become superfluous."
Sound familiar?
But what I find interesting about all this, is that the Jews seemed somewhat satisfied with the workings of their system until something new and revolutionary showed up.
As things often are, we can't experience true joy until we've experienced pain - or appreciate our freedoms till we've been oppressed - or appreciate the light until we've suffered through a long night lost in the dark.
- Point: it usually takes conflict and contrast to illuminate truth.
So it's no surprise that the more we push for financial freedom and opportunity - the more evident the devide becomes between the interests of the people and the actions and policies our governments execute.
History shows...
As individuals beneath our various governmental regimes, we tend to slowly give up more and more power.
Like frogs in a pot, the powers that be place the temperature on "simmer" and slowly bring up the heat.
Generations pass. New overreaching policies that were unheard of and intolerable in the eyes of one generation become the "status quo" of the next.
Until, one day we awake as a herd of voiceless, faceless, freedomless animals in a pen we've trapped ourselves in.
So I believe there are 3 reasons this has happened:
- #1 = Fear of losing control
- #2 = The love of money
- #3 = Ignorance
I've already covered 1 & 2... so let's talk about #3.
Forged On The (T)rusty Anvil Of Ignorance
"Granpa shouldn't have nuke keys..."
I saw this statement earlier on Reddit (compliments of a guy named "value_meal" 😂).
There were a group of people talking about the disconnect between our political leaders and the generations being influenced by them.
For example, sleepy Joe Biden is 78 years old. Nancy Pelosi is an incredible 81. Are you serious?
(...no offense to this guy... 👆 he looks like an AWESOME grandad... but do I want him deciding on policies that affect all future generations...? ne...)
These people are older than my wife's mother - and we're in the process of seriously considering having a talk with her about her "ability to drive."
Even if... and that's a giant IF... these people were mentally fit to govern - there is such an enormous generational divide between them and the general population. As a result, it's far less likely they'd have the best interests of the majority at heart.
And how likely are they to understand new innovation?
We don't learn faster when we get older. We forget faster.
All this new tech is moving way too fast for these people. And they're too busy grasping for the memories that are still left rattling around in their heads.
They don't care about much except lining their pockets for the next few years till they keel over and leave a fat check for their grandkids. Because:
"They'll be fine. They'll have money to protect 'em..."
...and the cycle continues.
So... what is this garbage bill going to do?
Here are some of the essentials about the bill:
#1. It hides crypto tax laws within a new infrastructure bill
#2. It plans to scrape up another $28 Billion from people in the crypto space
#3. It classifies anyone who facilitates certain transactions on the blockchain as a "broker" - including developers and miners
#4. It uses a 40-year-old piece of legislature to illegalize facilitating transactions over $10,000 without providing ID info to the government
And numero 3 & 4 are where it really hits hard...
Because it's impossible for miners to gather this information. They'd need to gather a SSN and full tax information from every transaction they ran over $10,000.
Then, they'd have to send an official 1099 form to every one of those entities individually and report the information to the government as a "broker."
If you know blockchain, you know this is impossible... It's a clear act of war against financial blockchain tech.
Miners never receive this kind of information. They'd need to gather KYC for every transaction - with some miners processing thousands of transactions in a hot second.
It's clearly not possible. And what's even worse?
The legislation that contains this requirement states that being non-compliant is a felony. It's punishable by fines and real jail time.
And how likely are developers in the U.S., who will suddenly be classified as "brokers" in 2023 to continue innovation where they live?
But this isn't just about the U.S.
If this becomes okay in one country and the people allow it to slide, what kind of message does that send to other countries who are also afraid of losing control?
What kind of precedent does it set?
The Innovation Ignorance Of The U.S.
So, what happens if miners and developers can no longer operate in the U.S.?
They'll move. And they'll bring the innovation elsewhere for another country to benefit. All the while, we in the U.S. keep electing people who are clutching the past with white knuckles and beating innovation in the head with an outdated stick.
Meanwhile, innovation and change are coming whether or not senile politicians resist it. Our financial systems are changing. And who knows?
Maybe before our generation lays to rest, we'll see a real revolution against the elites that hold power today.
What do you think a global revolution would look like? How would the dust settle?
Leave a comment with what you think!
P.S. Don't forget to tell your version of the Apocalypse in the comments! 😁