questions for my fellows on the quest, April 3rd
- The folks mentioned below are invited to respond to a few open-ended questions about trust, crypto and politics.
- Politicians generalize, overstate and sweep nuanced technology under one rug, in order to 'pull it out from underneath' the average consumer, in the name of "protection".
- Only open discussion offers real space for change. Average citizens might have to leverage their voice, vote and wallet to fight political aggrandizement.
The politician uttered words carelessly. She must've forgotten Dumbledore's words about magic. Words have power. Her words: "Elizabeth Warren is building an Anti-Crypto Army" had unintended consequences.
Some might argue the United States' Federal Reserve's fiscal policy also had unintended consequences, but the conversation runs too hot. Regardless of intent, Warren's campaign ad struck a match in both hands, and set the hearts of at least 50 million in America ablaze.
A candle lit burns with small flames. It wobbles from the slightest breath, but it burns.
This army, regardless of its ranks, presents a problem. Miyamoto Musashi would not advise to underestimate an opponent. Neither should Elizabeth.
The Ranks
The opponents of an anti-crypto army include the author of these words and his contemporaries. The contemporaries in question, include the following but all presently reading are invited to join the defense.
To my friends: Please pardon my mention, but I would be most grateful if you reply to this post your response to any or all of the questions within the list to follow. I'm talking to you all: @pxlmitsu, @kryptik, @elliotjgardner, @tarazkp, @acidyo, @apsu, @felixxx, @dhimmel, @captainquack22 and @coloneljethro!
The Questions, in question
Following the invitation to respond, here are some questions that best practice suggest for an interview. Rather than schedule available times and correspond over messages, feel welcome to jot your responses as comments.
Your comments might be used in order to aid a talk at an Ethereum conference later this month! Thoughtful replies are subject to upvotes.
A simple question, to verify proof-of-brain:
- How was your morning today? What did yo have for breakfast?
Following an easily-digested query, difficult subjects might receive an approach.
- What do you think when you hear or see the word politics?
- How do you participate in politics? (i.e. voting, attending council meetings, contributing to campaigns)
- Do you believe politicians represent people?
You are invited, following these questions, to share what you feel so inclined, an interviewer would normally add.
Concerning crypto,
- Do you think differently about crypto than politics? How?
- Do you participate in crypto? (i.e. trade, on-chain governance, DAOs, finance or create content?)
- How do you think crypto affects people? How does it affect you?
For a personal story, an interviewer might invite subjects at this point, to share one thing they believe most do not understand about themselves or crypto. The choice of what to share belongs to the reader, of course.
Lastly, to give participants their rightful acknowledgment and peace, inquisitive individuals could end with anecdotal, open-ended questions:
- Describe the most useful tool in your possession at the moment. What does it help you accomplish?
- Describe a concern you have about crypto or politics. How does that matter affect the next ten years?
The Ultimate Question
- By whatever lawful means, you achieved financial freedom. How do you spend your time now?
The preceeding ten or so questions are to invite perspective, foster discussion. After all, Gary Gensler, Elizabeth Warren and their constituents contend much- protections to investors, preventions of fraud and security of assets. Yet, like an unruly autocrat, these individuals coerce and coax rather than converse.
I suspect Gary's stance on crypto, that they're all securities is an "easy-out" on the matter, so that the recently proposed RESTRICT Act can criminalize all the cryptocurrency in fell swoop.
The underhanded tactics of the anti-crypto army won't win, long as we keep up the conversation on these topics.
Ok.
A banana.
I am generally turned off by it. I associate it as a type of narrative scam, where we are made to think that it is important, but not to understand why or if it is necessary at all.
I vote in the local elections in my city, because I know some of the people there. Since it isn't going away for now, may as well try and put people I have some trust with, in office. But overall, I think it is largely futile.
Yes. If ordinary people were in the same position as politicians, most would be just as useless.
I do in the sense of governance, rather than governance. This requires a much longer response (I have been meaning to write one around this topic, but don't know where to start), but there is a chance that through crypto, decentralized communities can thrive globally, with many coming together through similar interests and trade, without the nationalism, because it is an opt-in system, not one designated at birth.
I do all I can.
It shows there are alternatives to centralized currencies and governments, through a process of active participation, which also helps people learn about economics and financial health, as well as their part in a community. It has for me at least.
At the moment, it is likely my keyboard. It is the center for so much of my activity from professional life, as well as crypto life. I shouldn't spend as long at it as I do though.
My concern is around adoption. I wonder if the average person is just too complacent and too conditioned to break themselves away from the traditional economy for long enough, to learn what alternatives there are. People are so self absorbed these days and put so much energy, into accomplishing nothing at all, it is incredible.
I spend my time helping people be free as well. Few listen, but those who do...
Taraz, I must express my heartfelt gratitude for your responses. Thank you very much for taking the time out.
I hope to update you on my work later.
You are most welcome. I was just heading to bed, but I thought I would do it now so I would remember :)
Ruben… I’m sorry to hear you’re not well, brotha. Mel says to feel better too.
That doesn’t stop me from expressing my gratitude for answering all my questions!
You’re the man! And I especially like how you choose to spend your free time given “you made it”.
Hadn’t thought about it the way you have, but admittedly, it sounds just like you.
Wishing you well from across the globe. 💙
How was your morning today? What did yo have for breakfast?
What do you think when you hear or see the word politics?
How do you participate in politics? (i.e. voting, attending council meetings, contributing to campaigns)
Do you believe politicians represent people?
Do you think differently about crypto than politics? How?
Do you participate in crypto? (i.e. trade, on-chain governance, DAOs, finance or create content?)
How do you think crypto affects people? How does it affect you?
Describe the most useful tool in your possession at the moment. What does it help you accomplish?
Describe a concern you have about crypto or politics.
How does that matter affect the next ten years?
At the same time, crypto, unfortunately, turned out to be easy to trace and lacks real anonymity (goodbye tornado cash) and real cash is still king in many ways.
Thank you for replying to my many questions!
I’ll be honest— you’re helping a ton when it comes to the discussion of ideas within my talk at the end of this month.
I’ll share updates, but take pride in that your perspective helps me shape my narrative to influence and inform people at the conference!
How was your morning today? What did yo have for breakfast?[sic]
It was aight. I woke up at work, so there's that. I'm currently chugging a very large iced coffee that I used to wash down an egg-white, cheddar, tomato, spinach, and avocado sandwich. It's one of my favorites and helps pick me up for the beginning of a busy day.
What do you think when you hear or see the word politics?
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
How do you participate in politics? (i.e. voting, attending council meetings, contributing to campaigns)
I vote, have contributed to campaigns, but honestly I think the most important thing I do politically is offer up the option that people don't have to choose one of the binary choices in the ruling dual oligarchy. As an independent I lead by example and vote my conscience, not my affiliation.
Do you believe politicians represent people?
Yes. They represent themselves. Lizard people are people too.
Do you think differently about crypto than politics? How?
I believe that crypto could end up like politics as many good things do. What starts out as a good things is slowly corrupted over time due to a natural underlying tendency to centralize power. Crypto is resistant to this but not immune as is evident by mining pools, DAOs, etc.
Do you participate in crypto? (i.e. trade, on-chain governance, DAOs, finance or create content?)
I participate in governance, trade, DAOs, development, and very rarely content creation.
How do you think crypto affects people? How does it affect you?
I don't think it does affect people for the most part. Right now it feels like a speculative value proposition with a huge potential upside. Albeit, it does seem to draw just as much negative attention. At this point it feels like a coin flip.
Describe the most useful tool in your possession at the moment. What does it help you accomplish?
Myself. No one has to be a bigger advocate for me than me. It took me a long time to learn this and have enough confidence to execute. I don't mean this in an arrogant way. At this point in my life I'm very much into taking huge calculated risks, and I hold myself accountable for my success and failures here.
Describe a concern you have about crypto or politics.
Politics:
Tribalism has essentially ruined independent political thought, allowing the narrative to be controlled by far fewer views. This binary nature is poison, and exacerbates extremism, as there are no more moderates (ultimately the compromisers of the system). I'm not saying I agree with moderates per se, but they are the catchall that more resembles a true political consensus.
Crypto:
Shit is too hard man. I spent years working with people with severe developmental disabilities, and psychiatric problems. One core tenet to behavior change was that it had to be both easier and better. I think a lot of crypto solutions are better but they sure aren't easier. How does crypto plan on making things easier? I've heard for years this is coming but it is yet to be seen.
How does that matter affect the next ten years?
I don't think crypto or politics has ten years left on the books if the current systems aren't evaluated and the needle is moved towards addressing the large garbage fires within them.Italic
Thank you for you responses. Even if I had all day it would take a while to respond to it all— but that’s hardly the goal here.
Your inputs will help form my talk I give at the end of this month, where I may mention HIVE and its effect on individuals.
For that, I’m grateful for the time you took out to answer.
Cheers, brotha 💪🏾
It's all good man. I have one to work on myself. I'm only a week away. Good luck.
Fair to middling, had to mow before to storms hit. Breakfast was Kona coffee and dark chocolate.
Weapons of mass distraction. Politics in the US have been turned into the ultimate spectator sport and it's forever rivalry week. Emotional investment in lieu of actual involvement.
Direct action. I vote but it's more to spite the people who criticize not voting than anything, my vote counts for nothing in this gerrymandered red state. I volunteer, protest, and try to use my photography to get people to see things differently.
I always write my name in because that is the only person that I trust to represent me.
Oooohhh yeaaahhh. Politics is about division and control, crypto is the antithesis of that. I'm an anarchist, so watching crypto develop has been quite heartening, it's basically a real world live test of making anarchist principles and practices work. Well the truly decentralized ones at least.
Early on I tried my hand at trading but eventually come to the conclusion that gambling best described what I was doing. Now I mostly just create content, writing blogs and posting photos.
I don't think crypto has been integrated and utilized enough to have broad effects yet but that day isn't too far away. When it gets here, I expect we will see considerable disruption of the traditional ways of doing things, freeing people by giving them new ways to approach and solve a broad range of issues. For me personally it has allowed me (thanks to HIVE) to forge my own path for my photography, allowed me to do something with it without having to rely on traditional channels.
I've been following crypto since the early days of Bitcoin, which I thought at the time made too much sense to ever catch on. While I've never been happier to be wrong, in all that time it hasn't gotten any easier to explain crypto to laypeople. I suspect this has much to do with the curse of knowledge. If we can address that I think it will go a long way towards furthering crypto adoption and fighting anti-crypto fearmongering.
My camera. It's my tool for telling the stories that are being ignored, for drawing attention to issues that need to be addressed.
My concern about politics is the false dichotomy we've created for ourselves, where everything is either/or and half the population automatically against it. Makes it well nigh impossible to inject new ideas or unorthodox solutions into the national coversation, which bodes well for prolonged deadlock and stagnation. Thing is, the only way things will change is if we make the changes ourselves, so you've got to ask yourself 'what can I do to make things better in some way?'
Used to ponder how'd I'd spend my money if I won the lottery. My needs are pretty minimal, ultimately realized that I'd probably end up spending my time and money supporting/supplying arms to people fighting brutal, repressive regimes. Also, taking lots of photos, to similar ends.
Took be a bit to be able to give this the attention it required but that was kinda fun.
I'm grateful.
Taking the time out to respond really does lend me a hand too. Yours is among the responses that might even surprise some people at the Ethereum conference in my city this month. I'll maintain updates but don't be a stranger. Always appreciate your comments.