Needs and wants are quite different, especially when it comes to ideologies. When one has pretty much everything in regards to material goods is rather trivial to the average mind what else remains. Rogen Ver, the "Bitcoin Jesus" as many of you know him, has all the money and fame in the world. He is a libertarian and anarcho-capitalist so one would imagine that Liberland, an established libertarian nation would be the first place for him to move if he ever wanted to escape the "oppression" of the government. Liberland already honored Ver with a passport but he remained rather neutral about the nation. Instead, right after the Chinese shakedown on cryptocurrencies, he decided to fund his own "nation" with the same exact ideals as Liberland. As we will examine below, behaviour such as this one tell us more about politics and economics than any book ever could.
Rogen Ver is simply seeking to fund his own kingdom much like any other libertarian dreamer before him. This is not about political ideals, decentralisation and all those fancy words that help crypto-market pioneers line their pockets with more cash from new gullible investors. This is about power and control. Liberland is everything every anarcho capitalist and libertarian could wish for, yet, curiously, we see all these bitcoin celebrities that are so passionate about "liberty, freedom and yada yada" hide in tax havens like Puerto Rico or other shady governments.
Let's admit if. Once you cash some of your BTC on some new investors you need to enjoy your free villas with plain ol' dollars. Ask the tinfoiled vigilante if you are in doubt. His "libertarian country scam" in Chile has set him for life because some gullible libertarians bought his political narrative. Heck, he is still making it big on Steemit by promoting the same narrative and Steemit supports him because more idiots means more numbers for the platform. The sheeple sentiment is much the same as in any other political campaign. Nothing really changes.
Blockchain technologies have absolutely nothing to do with political decentralisation. A decentralised technology can be used for strengthening centralised entities even more — something libertarians refuse to admit. This is how Ripple has become a top cryptocurrency for Banks. Heck even Bitcoin is heavily centralised but many refuse to accept it. Up to 2013 about 1000 people owned half of all Bitcoins and today I don't think things have become much better since the people who made mad gains became "venture capitalists" investing even more on blockchain related projects.
I adhere to an-cap ideals and have been promoting Bitcoin since 2012. Nonetheless, as I delved deeper into the crypto scene I realised that all these "libertarian celebrities" are really doing what the "FIAT/status quo" celebrities are doing. What matters here is being a pioneer in a system. Any system. The system itself or ideology are irrelevant. At the end of the day if you are early in something then your life will be awesome since you are higher up the pyramid. The later you join a scheme the more it will suck for you. I am telling you this because very few crypto enthusiasts or libertarians will ever do. They will rather have you go against the "Evil bankers".
Roger Ver or any other Ver uses the libertarian narrative as means to aid his control of wealth and power. He gives as much shit about "changing the world" as a beauty queen in a fancy contest. Nothing really changes the world when you have millions of times more money than anyone else. Nothing really changes the world politically when the libertarian and an-cap ideals you support are not enough — finding yourself building another country on the same exact ideals.
Actions speak much louder than words and anyone can test how weak the political talk is by observing how everything fits in practise. A few nerdy kids, decided to mine bitcoin early on, held on to it, didn't like the current system yada yada yada and after a few years they have proven to promote the same shitty ideals as the ones we see on Wall Street. Roger Ver has as much libertarian and an-cap ideals as any other person. His motivation to fund a country is not about a libertarian country but rather a personal tax haven with a hefty real estate leverage. King, in all the sense. At the end its all about the money.
I am all about decentralization, bitcoin, freedom and all that pretty an-cap narrative but I never shill Bitcoin as an argument to make others invest in it. In fact, when people asked me before to help them invest in Bitcoin I refused because I recognize that I am taking a risk myself knowing all the trash and scams that dominate the Bitcoin world. I stick to Bitcoin because I also joined a few years back and I believed that it is a more efficient alternative that what we have technologically — not because it would change something politically or it will "better humanity". This is a fantasy for teenage kids that have yet to understand how the real world works.
My main aim is much the same as Roger Ver's, you or anyone else in between. To make money and live comfortably. Choosing to include political narratives about making new countries, changing the world and all that (just because you hold a good stash of what you are shilling) is much the same as the GP Morgan CEO fudding Bitcoin while buying on the side for cover. Roger Ver is simply making a country to avoid taxes since he saw how shit can go down with China.
Is that simple.
A horse breeder in the 1800's would demonize cars and shill all the ideas about carriages and horses. Rogen Ver will do the same about FIAT currency or governments even if he used much of his BTC to cash out and live like a king in the most centralised governments of the world. Dimon spreads fud about Bitcoin because it threatens his establishment. Everyone is shilling their own stake and fudding the one that threatens it. This is the raw truth about the world and it should be a no brainer. Every single system on this planet is aimed to help some and fuck someone else. No system aims to aid everyone because that will be the antithesis of what value is and how it comes to be. Sand is valued in respect to every other substance. Bitcoin is valued in respect to other currencies. A chinese man farts and 30% drops followed by all the other "decentralised" currencies. Heck, even the FIAT currencies are not that dependent on one another. ICO's ended up being valued on how much the are promoted and by whom and not whether they have a working project. What does that tell you about "libertarian ideals"?
Very few people are ready to accept the world as is and understand how everything works. Part of the reason is that we shill what we think is best for us, hoping to gain leverage on others. This is why siblings fight at the table about who has the more coke in their glass, this is why cats fight for territory once the numbers start increasing. There are no revolutionary countries to solve these fundamental aspects of our nature and no Bitcoin Jesus is going to save anyone else but himself. This is exactly how the rich will continue being richer and how most people that cheer for them will always be left with holding their bags. Join the blockchain revolution because it is (a) more efficient and (b) as an early investor you will have a good stash for what is to come. Everything else is bullshit.