https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/...te-money-state

BITCOIN: OUR ONLY HOPE TO SEPARATE MONEY FROM STATE


In a world where power structures seem endlessly intertwined, Bitcoin offers an alternate pathway.

Discussion around Bitcoin for years relegated it to being a bubble, tulipmania or some Ponzi scheme, but now even disbelievers likely acknowledge that Bitcoin is here to stay. What they may not realize is that beneath the veneer of charlatans, gamblers and grifters is a movement slowly making progress towards a grand vision of the future. A future where money is the medium of a flourishing society rather than an oppressive arm of the state.


Since the odds of Bitcoin collapsing in on itself grow slimmer each passing day, Bitcoin's enemies have begun coming to terms with what its steady progress means for them. As they slowly realize the ensuing revolution, politicians and central bankers are starting to say the quiet part out loud by arguing that Bitcoin is a threat.


For once, Bitcoin's opponents are actually correct in their analysis of the subject. A threat is exactly what Bitcoin is: a vicious threat to fiat currencies and government coercion everywhere. While the media has chosen to spread this idea as Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD), Bitcoiners embrace it as the reason for Bitcoin's entire existence: a practical means to separate money from state.


There are two falsehoods society has strangely accepted as truth: a) it is natural for government to control money and b) inflation is necessary. People argue in favor of separating powerful institutions when it comes to church and state, yet they do not apply that same logic when discussing money and state. Money's impact on society cannot be understated as it is the means by which people transact value and interact with the economy. Putting this powerful institution in the hands of government, another extremely powerful institution with a history of misusing said power, is the natural conclusion we draw?


When government is given full control over money, it has the capacity to debase the money as its ruling party sees fit. Everyone is aware of the perils of hyperinflation, yet people are unphased by the ability of a small few to arbitrarily expand the money supply. Not only are they unbothered, but many even view it as natural that central bankers should determine the value of the money they use to store their hard work and that this interference in money is required to prevent economic collapse. This reality comes as no surprise given the dominance of Keynesian economics in politics, central banking and academia (as a current Economics major at a university, I witness this firsthand).


Keynesians’ entire theory is focused around government intervention and boosting demand to spur economic growth, so naturally they abhor something that severely limits those goals. Sound money, like bitcoin and gold, incentivizes saving and planning for the future which Keynesians, by their own admission, view as detrimental. To them, inflating the money supply is the necessary motivation for people to deplete their nest egg in favor of needless high time preference production.


Often referred to as a hidden tax, inflation breeds financial serfdom as citizens are subjugated to the silent theft of their purchasing power. Bitcoin finally provides an opportunity for the masses to opt out of this one-sided arrangement. With an immutable monetary policy and decentralized consensus structure, there is no fear of an arbitrary change to the rules of the game and those in power can no longer mold the monetary supply to meet their ends.


One of the most important qualities of money is its portability over space and time. Fiat is good for transferring value around the world (though you do run into restrictions with KYC or when moving large amounts), but it is terrible at transferring value across time as it is guaranteed to lose some purchasing power each year through inflation. Conversely, gold is difficult to move in large quantities or across distance but has proven adept at holding value over thousands of years.


Before Bitcoin came around, gold was viewed by many as the solution for separating money from state. However, this is misleading since gold is heavily reliant upon centralized institutions. Custodians are required to safeguard any meaningful amounts of gold and entities must be trusted to issue coins or paper notes in an honest fashion. Bitcoin requires no such trust as each individual can take delivery of the asset and custody it safely.


Gold is a durable, scarce, shiny rock that we have collectively chosen to use as a money for thousands of years because of its soundness and superior qualities when compared to other forms of money. Likewise, bitcoin has value because it serves the same purpose that gold does as a monetary good chosen by the free market, but without the handicaps inherent to gold's physical nature. Simply put, bitcoin is gold 2.0 in that it is easily divisible, has a verifiably capped supply, is practical for self-custody, is seizure-resistant and is fully permissionless. The only valid criticism of bitcoin in relation to gold is that gold has stood the test of time, but Bitcoiners are willing to look past bitcoin's relative infancy and bet that its ever-growing network effects will allow it to do the same.

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Despite some coming from benevolent intentions or misunderstanding, the FUD against Bitcoin has never been about saving the environment, preventing ransomware or stopping criminals. Co-opted by statists, it is now a vessel to restrict individual freedom and keep people entrenched in the coercive legacy systems that provide their power. If you ever want to see true bipartisanship in government, just start messing with the monetary system. When two diametrically opposed people like Elizabeth Warren and Donald Trump share the same stance on Bitcoin, monetary sovereignty is clearly not an issue of left versus right, but one solely of power. Even politicians with the noblest of intentions become slaves to the allure of using other people's money to achieve their own goals. Bitcoin fixes this.


Now, do not expect governments to give up their prized possession without putting up a fight. If history and recent regulatory scrutiny are any indication, a bitcoin ban is inevitable once the mass exodus from fiat draws near. Unlike the criminalization of gold in the U.S. following the Great Depression, trying to successfully ban Bitcoin is a nearly hopeless task.

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Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Bitcoin can provide property, hope and self-sovereignty to billions of people. Money is purely a social construct which means each and every one of us has a voice in what we deem valuable and choose to transact with. Do not be tricked into thinking that money must be a top-down phenomenon bestowed upon us by our overlords.

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https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/...te-money-state