A "Mostly Peaceful" Heist (Part 4)
In "A “Mostly Peaceful” Heist (Part 3)," we outlined the blueprint of the heist for the 2020s. We described inflation as a blatant robbery of our future because it's clear that there is a correlation between money printing and the societal decay we are experiencing as people lose hope. To evidence this, we looked at past heists, including Weimar Germany and the Fall of the Roman Empire.
For the final piece of this series, we write about bitcoin, an alternative to the theft-based fiat monetary system.
Bitcoin: The End of the Heist
As Robert Breedlove writes in "Masters of Slaves and Money:"
Money is a tool for trading human time. Central banks, the modern-era masters of money, wield this tool as a weapon to steal time and inflict wealth inequality. History shows us that the corruption of monetary systems leads to moral decay, social collapse, and slavery. As the temptation to manipulate money has always proven to be too strong for mankind to resist, the only antidote for this poison is an incorruptible money — Bitcoin.
As we have examined in the first three parts, the expansion of the money supply through a corrupt partnership between central bankers and governments has progressed from a "mostly peaceful" heist of "moderate inflation" to a palpable societal decay. The control and manipulation of money is not a new phenomenon. Over hundreds and even thousands of years, the temptation to create more money to one's benefit has proven to be too strong to resist.
It is unlikely that human behavior will change. We cannot expect that the individuals making up governments and central banks will decide to ethically manage the money supply. Our best and only option to prevent the expansion of the money supply is by using money controlled not by rulers but instead by rules.
Bitcoin is simply that. An alternative to the easily corruptible fiat monetary system. Rather than trusting people, who have proven themselves unworthy of trust, we can choose to adopt a monetary system that does not require trust from any user of the network. There is no government, central bank, or billionaire, not even the anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, that controls the bitcoin network.
As we wrote in "The Fiat Cave: An Allegory of Monetary Deception Part 4," by inventing bitcoin, Satoshi liberated us from the shackles of the Fiat Cave. He engineered a replacement for our modern, theft-based monetary system.
Bitcoin is a digital, distributed, decentralized network. Simply put, it's a network of computers distributed globally that communicate with each other, with no controlling party, to come to a consensus on the state of the ledger. Most importantly, bitcoin is scarce. The most significant feature of the bitcoin monetary system is the hard-capped supply. There is 21 million bitcoin that will ever be mined (issued), which will not be changed. To achieve 21 million, bitcoin follows a predetermined issuance schedule. Every four years, the amount of bitcoin issued in each block (the block subsidy) decreases by half until 2140, when the last bitcoin will be mined. At the time of writing, December 2022, approximately 19 million bitcoin have been mined.
Rather than "moderate inflation" arbitrarily defined and frequently changed by governments and central banks, bitcoin's monetary policy was already established when it was released in 2009. No individuals or institutions will be able to change bitcoin's rules for their benefit. It cannot be subjected to the whims of a Ruling Class. Bitcoin’s inflation rate decreases, while fiat money’s inflation rate increases.
Bitcoin ends the heist. The thieves who have stolen from us through the debasement of money have been busted. By developing bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto has uncovered the robbery and provided us with an alternative to protect our wealth. If bitcoin was not invented, then governments and central banks would have been able to continue their heist unchecked. We would have had no real option to protect ourselves, and we would have continued to see our wealth and quality of life deteriorate. The engineering feat accomplished by Satoshi Nakamoto to create this neutral, apolitical, hard money out of reach of all who seek to control it cannot be understated. We were hostages of the fiat monetary system and have been freed by bitcoin.
Rather than continue on the path of societal degradation evidenced by political tensions, massive wealth divide, and loss of hope, we can restore humanity's hope for the future through sound money. Bitcoin is a monumental upgrade to money that enables society to flourish rather than suffer by ending the heist of our savings.
A Digital Vault for Your Life's Energy
We understand that we will not wake up tomorrow on a bitcoin standard. Rather, the process of reversing the damages of fiat money happens at an individual level, which is well underway. Bitcoin is adopted as knowledge becomes more distributed.
Instead of money decreed from the Ruling Class, bitcoin is being voluntarily adopted by individuals worldwide. It's a bottom-up grassroots movement to end the time theft perpetrated against us.
Each person, regardless of their political affiliation, religious beliefs, gender, disability, net worth, or sexual orientation, can use bitcoin. Bitcoin has provided all of us with the ability to transfer our wealth from depreciating fiat money to appreciating hard money.
As the purchasing power of fiat currencies continues to decrease rapidly, we have a choice. A choice that didn't exist until 2009. We can choose to protect our life savings in a digital vault that cannot be cracked by these fiat criminals.
When choosing to save in bitcoin, you are sheltering your wealth from the devaluation of fiat money. You can end the heist on your savings through absolute scarcity enforced by open-source code.
As history has proven, those who control the money will continue to print it into oblivion. Fiat currencies are bound to become worthless as the heist continues. It's only a matter of time. Since the creation of the Fed in 1913, the dollar's purchasing power has decreased by 98%.
But there is a great awakening taking place. The massive amount of money printing in 2020 and 2021 was the alarm people needed. The devaluation of money, experienced by higher prices today, and deteriorating quality of life for many, has helped people piece together the blueprint of the heist; however, there are many more people who need to realize how to protect themselves.
Regardless of the level of inflation that the Fed targets, whether it's 2%, 4%, or 50%, the bitcoin monetary system operates on its own rules, unimpacted by the whims of the central planners.
Ironically, the central bankers and governments, who seek to ensnare us with their corrupt financial system, are driving bitcoin adoption. After all, Satoshi Nakamoto created bitcoin because of the sheer dishonesty of the fiat system. The more aggressive the heist becomes, the more apparent the need for bitcoin will be to more people. Millions of people worldwide have already converted much of their hard-earned fiat money into bitcoin to protect themselves from these unscrupulous thieves. There are also tens of thousands of people who already operate on the bitcoin standard, earning in bitcoin, spending in bitcoin, and saving in bitcoin.
Bitcoin has proven itself to be the premier store of value asset. Bitcoin's exponentially increasing adoption and decreasing supply schedule (the halving) make it a compelling option for long-term wealth building.
We write "long term" intentionally because the short-term volatility of bitcoin is apparent. At the time of this writing, the price of bitcoin is $17,218, a -75% decrease from the all-time high of $69,044.77. Some of you reading may be thinking, "how does bitcoin protect your life savings if it has gone down 75%." It's a fair question and important to understand.
The erratic price action of bitcoin in fiat terms reflects the instability of the fiat financial system. A system of rampant speculation, massive leverage, and central planners seeking to manage interest rates for a global economy of greater than 7 billion people. Additionally, the entire cryptocurrency industry is no better than fiat, filled with scammers and fraudsters like Sam Bankman-Fried. All of this causes noise, diluting the signal of bitcoin.
Global adoption rates of bitcoin are estimated to be less than 5%, depending on the method used. The bottom line is the world is still in the early stages of understanding bitcoin. A combination of a lack of knowledge, a growingly unstable incumbent financial system, and a crypto industry rife with scams explain the turbulent price action of bitcoin when measured in fiat. It's worth noting that despite volatility in fiat terms, bitcoin does exactly what it is intended to do, add a new block to the blockchain approximately every 10 minutes and enforce the rules of the bitcoin network.
The short-term volatility is the price to pay for long-term financial sovereignty and freedom.
The global totalitarian creep is evident. Just as censorship of speech has become pervasive, so too will financial censorship. Recent examples, such as the Canadian Freedom Convoy, highlighted those risks. The Canadian Government froze hundreds of bank accounts of protestors and organizers. Expressing an opinion or participating in a truly peaceful protest not approved by "the party" exposes you to the risk of financial censorship or even confiscation. Well, if you are using fiat money. Bitcoin fixes this.
Bitcoin is not only hard money that cannot be devalued. It's also censorship resistant. Peer-to-peer digital money that, if self-custodied, cannot be confiscated by anyone. If you hold your own bitcoin private keys, then you are insulated from any type of heist, whether it's "moderate inflation," hyperinflation, or outright seizure. The peer-to-peer nature of bitcoin means that there are no middlemen to complete a transaction, and thus no one can censor it. The digital nature of bitcoin also means that money can be sent globally nearly instantly and can be stored in your head (memorize your private keys), increasing the portability of one's wealth far beyond what was ever possible.
Bitcoin is a digital vault for your life's energy that cannot be broken. Out of reach of the thieves who seek to steal your wealth.
Through bitcoin, we achieve financial sovereignty, actual ownership, and control of our savings. Rather than trust a bank not to devalue or seize your savings, you can be your own bank. It's a true innovation because humans have had to outsource the custody of their wealth to someone else for most of history. There are benefits to this, depending on one's situation. Still, the beauty of bitcoin is that it empowers individuals who want to take financial ownership to be able to do so. As governments and central banks continue to increase the stakes of the heist and seek to render their enemies weak financially, financial sovereignty becomes necessary.
In closing, we have turbulent times ahead of us. The current state of the world is bound to worsen before it improves if history is any indicator. The money printing will accelerate, and eventually, fiat currency will collapse. While we are not optimistic about the direction of the world as a whole, there are pockets of hope. You can protect yourself, your family, and your community from economic calamity whenever that occurs. Owning some bitcoin is an economic and moral imperative. Protect your savings from the fiat thieves.
We hope, by writing this piece and many more to come, we can illuminate the deception of the fiat monetary system and highlight what we believe to be a promising alternative. Ultimately, the corruption of money has paid for the corruption of all else. We hope that bitcoin, sound money, will be instrumental in correcting humanity's path. So we can have a more peaceful, prosperous, and abundant future, rather than more divisiveness, hate, and war.
Securing wealth in bitcoin is a peaceful protest to the "mostly peaceful" heist.
Fix the money, fix the world.
Thank you for tuning into the “Mostly Peaceful” Heist series. If you enjoyed it, please indicate that and hit the like button. That gives me a better sense of what you all want to hear.
Note: We appreciate that everyone reading has a varying level of understanding and conviction in bitcoin. While bitcoin was not designed to be an investment, we believe it’s essential that your bitcoin allocation is representative of your knowledge. Meaning if you are still learning, it would be appropriate to allocate a small % of your net worth to bitcoin. Otherwise, the volatility could shake your conviction. Just get off zero. Start small and scale into it.
Said best by Satoshi Nakamoto on January 16, 2009: "It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on. If enough people think the same way, that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.”
amazing series, top notch! I hope tons of people will read it!