Folks in crypto take great pleasure in calling any fair criticism of a permabull idea FUD. It's annoying.
It gives me the same creepy crawly feeling as that "Don't judge me" trend. Huh? If you're doing something stupid, I have every right to judge you. I have every right to judge you, anyway. Your invocation to not judge you is actually infringing on my rights, because you have every right to direct your gaze elsewhere to completely avoid my judgment.
This rant is sponsored by a comment from someone who didn't like that I think public education should precede public adoption of crypto. If too many uninformed people get crypto, they will give up custody to the same institutions that killed fiat, never even knowing that they could have created individual sovereignty for themselves, not just wealth.
What Everyone Else Says
The guy began his argument by arguing against decentralization, saying correctly that gaining consensus in a truly democratic environment is more difficult than getting everybody on the same page in a monarchy. DUH.
Isn't that the point of developing a consensus system with technology as arbiter?
And doesn't that lead to my point, that education should precede adoption? I mean, you don't give a baby a power drill and tell it to fix the living room door handle. You wait until he's old enough to use it, then you teach him how to use it. This doesn't seem to be a difficult idea, but maybe I'm wrong.
The commenter then said that humanity tends towards centralization. I don't disagree. This is a point I've actually made in other articles, numerous times. What the commenter doesn't realize is that we've been trained into it, and it's going to take an education in order to get out.
People don't see any benefit in financial sovereignty, and truthfully, there hasn't been any in the past 100 years. Keeping cash or gold in your house is asking to get robbed. It was much easier to keep value in a safe place like a bank with FDIC insurance and all the fixins for premium customers. With negative interest rates and bank runs coming, this is no longer the truth.
Perhaps the closest thing he made to a cogent argument against me was that he is helping "to disseminate a sense of clarity regarding what is often a rather obscure topic."
Isn't that EDUCATION?
There was another part to that sentence, however. The first part, the part before education, was "I am actively seeking to increase adoption." Again, putting the power drill before the birthday. The line that might convince you of his position if you enjoy linguistic elasticity over making a point is "What doesn’t help is pushing a doomsday scenario on the back of historical determinism." That was a pretty well formed sentence. Didn't say much, though. Especially not when you consider that powerful governments have a history of doing anything to maintain their financial sovereignty over their citizens, up to and including China's stopping Ant Group's record breaking IPO against its direct financial interests and the US government offering a high six figure reward to crack Monero, for no real reason at all other than to rob people of the potential for true financial independence.
What I Say
Education before adoption. Education before adoption. Education before adoption.
How is this FUD?
Oh yeah, I get it. Most of you have taken on the talking points of the shills that adoption should occur, RIGHT NOW, just because IT SHOULD. Why? Can anybody tell me why adoption MUST happen RIGHT NOW unless it's just about pumping your bags in the short term?
This way of thinking hurts you in more ways than one. First, if you have more of an accumulation period before mainstream adoption, you have more coins for the noobs to pump. If you wait a year or two, you'll end up being richer. Moreover, you decentralize networks more so that they cannot be killswitched by government, which they are looking to do. True decentralization helps you maintain your newfound wealth. Ethereum can't even come out with Beacon Chain on time because of the laissez faire attitude of crypto investors and you guys want to talk about adoption. Honestly, we're not ready.
I guess it's FUD because it's not immediately permabullish, even though it ends up being more bullish over time. Or it might be considered FUD because I'm actually bringing to the forefront what government can do to stop the political advancements that crypto gives us the opportunity to create for ourselves — without the permission of any centralized entity. Imagine the innovations that we could create if everyone was freed of the need to live for money. That's the goal I'm going after, nothing lower.
I've always thought this and I've been looking for an opportunity to share the idea. There has to be some kind of psychological disorder where people can't believe in a conspiracy in the present although "historical determinism" sets a clear pattern. If someone knows if this disorder has a name, please share it in the comments. I think it's absolutely incredible how folks believe that current government won't oppress, jail or kill you, your mom and your dog if you stand in the way of the country's financial sovereignty. Unless they face a strong enough opposition. This opposition must come from an informed position, or else all these new crypto "investors" are going to be buying their bitcoin from Paypal at a 10% premium and allowing Jaime Dimon to custody their private keys.
Bring the FUD
More FUD, please. FUD, FUD, FUD. We are in a stage where crypto must hold itself accountable. These brand new ideas of self governance and personal financial sovereignty are new to most people. We've spent the last 6-7 generations being educated against all of that, and we shouldn't be surprised if the re-education takes more than a couple of weeks.
If we don't, and we continue to drive adoption before education, all you're going to get out of crypto is a short term pump. Your government and oligarchical bankers will get all of the real benefits, just like they are now. Good luck using your little 2X for a better life, because all of your other freedoms will be so eroded that there won't be anything worthwhile to actually spend your money on.
