I admit to feeling nostalgic for Noam Chomsky. Chomsky is a controversial figure, but he is also a hero for his writings on consent and conformity, and he was perhaps the most eloquent in denouncing the development of the Deep State. He is now 95 years old, suffered a massive stroke last year, and can no longer speak. This article is not really about him, but is inspired by him. bitcoin is a functioning peer-to-peer electronic cash system, but the world we have built around it is incredibly alienated and disconnected from the rest of society. We have been effectively isolated, and anyone who thinks this will help adoption is dreaming. I think the room stinks and this little bitcoin world is not working for bitcoin.
The irony of people who like bitcoin (and I mean really like bitcoin, the kind of people who would read this article) is that they (or we) believe they are immune to propaganda. They believe they are immune to processes that generate consent to make decisions that are not their own and that, if they had the chance to consider them independently, they would not approve of.
Bad news. You are not immune. In fact, I think many of the people who call themselves “bitcoinists” today are only so because they were propagandized to be so. There is a whole cultural reproductive machine being built around bitcoin, and it is incredibly reactionary and, in many ways, intolerant.
For example, putting up an LGBTQ flag with the bitcoin symbol is more than controversial. Attacks on trans or queer people, who make up well over 90 percent of people who own bitcoin, are normalized. Abusive behavior against women is normalized.
This cultural reproductive machine comes in the form of popular influencers, who are typically millennial men who spend a lot of time taking photos of themselves flexing their muscles in front of a mirror. I really wonder how big those muscles must get to protect the fragile ego buried beneath those muscle fibers.
These influencers aren't selling you anything real. They're not selling you a way out of the existing system. All they're doing is giving you a simple narrative that will help you sleep better at night. You'll be fine, just remember: all the bad things that happen are because of transgender ideology and the “money printer.”
I call it a cultural reproductive machine because I see more and more people who have the same narrow-minded, ignorant, and intolerant ideas taking up space. These ideas are spreading and poisoning the minds of well-meaning people. I wonder if those who have these ideas could stop for a moment and ask themselves, “Where did these ideas come from? When did I start believing in this?” You have to realize that the narratives around us are often constructed in such a way that we believe we have invented them ourselves.
If you’re new to bitcoin, keep in mind that you don’t have to conform to mainstream ideas. You don’t have to support the orange guy who likes orange currency (or so he claims). You don’t have to eat steaks every day or hate seed oils. You don’t have to believe in a transgender ideology or hate queer people. You don’t have to have an altar in your garage where you pray to Hayek every night for the day when collectivists are finally wiped off this planet.
The reality is that bitcoin is for anyone who needs it. bitcoin is apolitical money. bitcoin doesn't need a political party and bitcoin doesn't need states. All bitcoin needs is for people to use it and learn how it works.
Noam Chomsky made some very good points about problems in society that I think are still relevant. American democracy is alienating because it is not really a democracy. He said that when political systems operate without public participation, the general population feels marginalized. Obviously, many of you are here because you feel marginalized by this corporate-run society. It is normal to react, but don't let people who talk to the rooftops try to convince you to act against your interests. bitcoin wins when we accept each other as we are. bitcoin wins when we maintain a healthy skepticism of political leaders and their promises. bitcoin wins when we organize against the powers that try to destroy us.
I'm sure I've provoked many of you, but then again, that's the point of this inner monologue speech. I want you to feel provoked. I want others who disagree with you to realize that they're not alone. No matter how suffocating fascist and bigoted tendencies may be right now in this space, there are still many of us who will not consent.
You're not alone.
This is a guest post by Margot Paez. The views expressed are solely her own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
