At first glance, the claim “bitcoin can reduce racism” seems silly, if not downright offensive, to those who have been victims of racism. And it presupposes that an open source protocol, which is completely indifferent to the vagaries of human emotions, can have some impact on reducing racism, one of the vilest expressions of human emotions.
I get it (as much as I can as a white man), but follow me for a moment. While bitcoin alone may not be able to reduce racism, what about the concept of being a “Bitcoiner”? Can identifying as a Bitcoiner reduce racism?
The work of Harvard political science professor Robert Putnam suggests this could be the case.
When Putnam set out to write his now best-selling book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Resurgence of the American Communityintended to demonstrate that diversity is inherently a good thing.
However, their research showed otherwise.
The data showed that diversity harms civic life, as it can generate distrust between groups of different ethnicities and races. Putnam explained that humans are programmed with in-group and out-group prejudices, which causes us to favor those with whom we identify and distrust those with whom we do not identify.
Their research showed that it is not until we discover that we have something in common with someone beyond our race, ethnicity or even gender that we begin to associate them with our ingroup and that once we find something we have in common, diversity becomes a fortress That something could be anything from being part of the same religion to playing on the same softball team or liking the same music.
So what are the implications of this for people who identify as Bitcoiners? Can being a Bitcoiner help people overlook racial differences?
While the answer to this question differs on a case-by-case basis, it is difficult to imagine that it would not have some impact. After all, Bitcoiners have aligned incentives, right?
We are all working towards hyperbitcoinization, or at least we share some of the same values: faith in hard money, belief in the right to transact without permission, belief in the right to be financially sovereign.
Knowing that we have these things in common creates a bond between us and helps us trust each other more. When we trust each other more, we are more likely to work together. And it is by collaborating with each other that diversity becomes a strength.
This is not to say that some who identify as Bitcoiners don't still have racist inclinations. But there is something to be said for the idea that the things that unite us are stronger than those that divide us, and when you look at the idea of being a Bitcoiner through that lens, it's hard to deny that association won't have some impact on the reduction of racism.
