Why I Own Bitcoin and Why I Hope It Doesn’t Moon Too Fast

The “American Experiment” has been an interesting ride the last couple hundred years. With global dominance, it has really become a “World Experiment”. Along the way, however, a number of bad turns have really set the stage for a disaster. Here’s a short list of facts that act as the basis for why I own Bitcoin.

• Some Founding Fathers were strongly opposed to the formation of a central banking system; the fact that England tried to place the colonies under the monetary control of the Bank of England was seen by many as the “last straw” of oppression which led directly to the American Revolutionary War.[1]
• The Federal Reserve is a monopolistic corporation and special exclusive ties to government, being run by corporate officers who are not elected by the people, and have meetings in private (FOMC) that cannot be audited by the people.[2]
• Central banks caused the Great Depression. Chairman Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said: “Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression, you’re right. We did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again”[3]
• In 1933, Executive Order 6102 required all persons to deliver on or before May 1, 1933, all but a small amount of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve, in exchange for $20.67 (consumer price index, adjusted value of $400 today) per troy ounce.[4]
• In 1971, Executive Order 11615 and Nixon Shock when dollars were no longer convertible to gold.[5] This gave the Federal Reserve power to create as much money as they wanted.
• The disgusting 2008 AIG taxpayer funded bailout of $188 billion.[6]
• The nonsensical $700 billion taxpayer funded bailout in Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.[7]
• Both during and in the aftermath of the recession, the Federal Reserve expanded its balance sheet, peaking at roughly $4.5 trillion taxpayer cost from late 2014 through 2016.[8]
• Not only do the Fed’s monetary additions increase the money supply, but the effect can be vastly multiplied through the fractional reserve system.[9]
• Inflation rate in Venezuela is at 815,000% caused by socialist policies.[10] The US is expanding its social programs much in the same way.
• Social Security benefits will start to exceed the program’s costs in 2020, and the program will deplete its $2.9 trillion reserve fund in 2035.[11]
• It will cost the U.S. government almost $700 billion in taxpayer funded subsidies this year help provide Americans under age 65 with health insurance through their jobs or in government-sponsored health programs, according to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.[12]
• Since 1913, the dollar has plummeted in value. At that time, a person with $100 could buy the same amount of food, clothing, and other necessities as $2,529 would buy today. By 1920, he’d need nearly double that amount or $197.[13]
• The US government spends billions of taxpayer money to spy on its citizens and criminalize whistle-blowers who reveal the immoral truth.[14]
• The 2018 Defense Budget was signed into law on December 12, 2017 by President Trump. The defense budget authorizes just under $700 billion of taxpayer funds in defense spending.[15]
• As of December 31, 2018, debt held by the public was $16.1 trillion and intragovernmental holdings were $5.87 trillion, for a total or “National Debt” of $21.97 trillion.[16]
• The national debt is only getting worse and money creation is not showing any signs of slowing down.

Uncontrolled money creation is driving an enormous rift of inequality between the 1% and the rest of the nation — an increasing canyon between the rich and the poor. The social consequences of the nation are immeasurable. We’re poorer than we’ve ever been. We’re sicker than we’ve ever been.

The state of disaster is causing an entire generation of millenials a kind of inescapable long-term stress of debt and a lack of good jobs not experienced by any other. The unrelenting spending system is having ecological consequences as well — as trash and plastics are pushed into oceans and energy expenditures drive climate change.

Grasping at straws, people blame “capitalism” for their poor economic well-being, when perpetrators of banking fraud would be a much better target. Unsurprisingly, people are looking towards “socialist” government for hope and rescue — which would merely send people into the death spiral of Venezuelan flavor.

We cannot simply expect the people of the nation to suddenly become brilliantly educated and knowledgeable of the true ills of government. The Tea Party movement was a blip. Occupy Wallstreet was a whisper. Change through politics, voting, or even protest are truly proving to be mere “insignificant annoyances” in the eyes of bankers and elite. As long as they control the media, and perpetuate the idea that the ONLY two choices are pro-bank Republicans or pro-bank Democrats, they don’t really need to care who wins.

Bitcoin provides an alternative that has never truly existed before in it’s form. Gold has been an option, but not necessarily easy to store — and even harder to transact with. Bitcoin provides the store of wealth we need, and the transfer of money we want.

Bitcoin as an alternative puts pressure on the system in an entirely new way. It forces government to be more conscious and careful of it’s decisions to create more money as it can simply flow into places such as Bitcoin. As Bitcoin grows (in popularity and market capitalization) it’s effect on government monetary policy becomes greater. Because of fractional reserve banking (as an example), every 1 dollar means 24 dollars created out of thin air. And that means, the reverse is true. Every 1 dollar in bitcoin and out of banks means 24 dollars NOT created out of thin air.

If Bitcoin’s price rises at the rate of the education of the public to the atrocities, and for the protection of the public’s wealth, then we may divert disaster. Education is slow. However, if Bitcoin’s price rises at the rate of simply the world’s richest jumping in as fast as possible, then we’ll simply have a few rich survivors of economic Armageddon. From a moral perspective, I can’t wish for such an ending.

I truly prefer a slow rising price of Bitcoin combined with an incredibly rapid, broad education of the ills of our monetary system. We don’t need everyone putting their life savings into Bitcoin, but for anyone who has zero holdings of hard value (no paid-off house, no gold) then allocating an emergency hyperinflation fund could be a life-saving measure. If hyperinflation does happen, even $10 of Bitcoin may go an extremely long way. I would not suggest buying more than a very small and affordable amount. Then don’t look at it again for at least 10 years or until hyperinflation. This will help ensure that the greatest number of people will have time and an opportunity to buy Bitcoin and keep prices low as long as possible.

How can a mere $10 protect you from hyperinflation? By the time a majority of the populous has entered into Bitcoin with a small amount, the market capitalization of Bitcoin will be enormous (since there will be many who put in more than $10). Over time, as the value of Bitcoin grows, your $10 will grow in value proportional to both the increasing amount of investment and the decreasing value of fiat caused by inflation. If hyperinflation does occur, then money will flood into hard assets. Bitcoin is globally valued and easy to buy quickly. Things such as a house may not have much value globally, as your neighborhood gets wiped out by hyperinflation. People with money won’t want to buy your house in an area that now resembles a ghetto. We all know housing values are very much dictated by it’s “location-location-location”. Gold is not bad, but will be cumbersome to trade for living essentials. Converting gold to Bitcoin to take care of living expenses as-needed is also a possibility — but be careful of sudden “government interference”. A single executive order blocking the operations of many gold asset holders may make it impossible to trade gold holdings when you really need to.

Venezuela provides one model for how this will end. Venezuela was once one of the richest countries in the world. It is now an economic disaster with people dying of hunger and poverty. Millions have left the country just to survive.

Venezuela didn’t have time to educate and adopt Bitcoin before economic disaster. It hit hard, and it hit fast. Of course, it might be overly optimistic to hope most people in the world will learn and adopt Bitcoin before they are affected themselves. Skepticism is healthy only if it comes with a dose of self-education. Otherwise, you may end up brushing off an opportunity to save your life.

The economic trends are clear, and the empire is crashing down. It does not FEEL like it, but just as you can buy big houses and nice cars with credit cards and loans, you don’t FEEL poor until suddenly you can’t buy a single stick of butter and you’re literally starving. Don’t be fooled by whether you can FEEL it or not. You are being robbed of wealth either slowly today, or quickly tomorrow. But either way, you’re being robbed. We need to educate people, as many as we can, if we actually care about others. There has been too much war, too much suffering, caused by the greedy few. There’s no reason to leave everyone in the dust with Bitcoin. We don’t need our only plan to be, “too bad — you should have bought Bitcoin”. Education is key. Once everyone has all the information, and has made their own personal educated decision on whether to buy Bitcoin or not, then my job is done. There need not be more influence or intervention than just education.

Give people the facts, and let them decide on their own if the facts lead towards a global hyperinflation event. But if they are without the facts, I believe it’s immoral to watch them suffer from information that has been withheld. I believe anyone, such as myself, have an ethical duty to protect others from death that may be caused by not communicating a potential danger.

Venezuela is the model.

I buy Bitcoin in the hope it doesn’t end that way, but also in case it does.