The other day I was scrolling through Twitter/X and stumbled upon a post by Bitcoin OG Eric Voorhees. He stated that El Salvador's President Bukele deserves condemnation for using his citizen's tax dollars to buy Bitcoin, and it got me wondering if that was in fact the case.
Erik is one of the original Bitcoin OGs who has been involved in the crypto industry since 2011. He founded the crypto exchange ShapeShift in 2014, and is a principled representative of the industry. Erik is very much a proponent of small government (or no government at all), and personal liberty in general. His tweet really got me thinking about how well a society would function without a government making decisions for its citizens.
On the one hand, I definitely see Erik's point. The Salvadoran people are being forced to pay taxes to the government (it's automatically deducted from their pay checks), and they do not have a direct say in what their tax dollars are spent on. They merely participate in elections to choose the nation's leader, and rely on him to improve the country's circumstances.
From a layman's perspective, an investment in Bitcoin is a gamble that could result in a significant loss of taxpayer money. While a lot of Salvadorans I have spoken to were neutral on the government's decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, many were opposed to the use of taxpayer money to invest in Bitcoin. That said, with Bitcoin recently surging past its all time high, I'm sure a lot of them are having second thoughts.
Humans Have Not Evolved For Complete Anarchy
Bitcoin was cultivated by a community of crypto anarchists who believed the world would be better off with little to no government, where individuals are free to transact with one another in a peer-to-peer way, without any interference from the state. It's an intriguing idea, but it begs the question...
What would the world look like today if there weren't any governments imposing rules, extracting revenue, and making spending decisions for us? Would we all just get along and prosper by becoming accountable and responsible individuals who transact with one another voluntarily via cryptocurrencies? I somehow doubt it.
The reality is that most people wouldn't survive in that kind of environment, as its in their nature to seek guidance and direction from a higher authority. The majority fear making unconventional decisions, as it may cause them to be ostracized or outright abandoned by the group.
We are not the independent Snow Leopards of Central Asia, who hunt alone and only socialize when it's time to mate. The truth of the matter is that it's not in human nature for every man to fend for himself as a lone wolf. Due to our nature, complete anarchy would not form a functional society, as there needs to be some form of authority structure built into it.
By God's design or by our evolution, most of us seek the leadership of experienced men who have proven themselves to be capable and trustworthy over time. From that core principle, we form the strong families and communities that are the pillars of our society. A few decades of cultural indoctrination cannot change hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution.
President Bukele understood, like many of us in the cryptocurrency space, that over the long run, Bitcoin will perform very well against fiat currencies that are being printed to infinity, and made the decision on behalf of his people to invest in it. He understands that Bitcoin is a secure digital currency that is limited in supply, and the only non-confiscatable asset in a world full of financial bubbles that, when popped, could lead to a massive wealth redistribution.
The Family Unit
A microcosm of President Bukele and the Salvadoran people could be represented by a small family unit that entrusts the father to manage their finances. In all likelihood the wife, the sons, and the daughters all help out with the family business to generate income, but at the end of the day, they trust the father's judgement to manage the money and invest it prudently on their behalf. After all, a family unit won't survive well for very long without a strong father figure to lead it.
A family functions best with a competent father, who has been through hell and high water to become the man he is. It is within a man's nature to explore potentially dangerous uncharted territory, take on other risks, face rejection, improve himself, and fight to protect his family, if necessary. That is why he has always been the natural leader of the family unit.
From the basis of a strong family unit, we can start to build strong communities.
A Strong Community
If a sick society is not brainwashing them otherwise, men look up to their elders, particularly those who have taken the risks required to be a resilient and experienced individual. Those men are respected and entrusted to make decisions for the betterment of the entire community.
We should not deny that this has been the basis of humanity for 99.99% of our evolution, which has taken place over hundreds of thousands of years. We should be asking ourselves, how can we apply this evolutionary truth to the modern world so that we have an ideal and functioning society?
I think we can all agree that the leaders of our communities should be entrusted to make decisions on behalf of the entire group. Of course, sometimes these decisions will be unpopular and controversial, but the strongest and most experienced have the responsibility to lead the group to safety and prosperity, and should be respected.
While telling weaker and less experienced people to make their own decisions could lead them towards strength and independence, it could also lead them astray and eventually ruin their lives. We need to find a healthy balance between personal accountability and strict boundaries, and today's society is leaning too far towards giving vulnerable people complete freedom.
Modern Governance
For a society to function well in today's modern age, it needs to be based on our natural evolution, not unnatural ideas that have existed for only a few decades. That means strong men should be leading solid families, building resilient communities, and laying the foundation for healthy societies.
These days, all signs are pointing to a weakening and decaying society, especially in the West. As more men get fed up and wake up to this fact, we are likely heading towards a breakup of large countries into smaller autonomous regions, perhaps even city-states, that will give us the opportunity to rebuild society from the ground-up, based on our natural evolution.
Decentralized blockchain technology will play a large part in this process, giving us the opportunity to transact with one another without having to rely on corrupt states or central banks to do business. Voting and governance will also take place transparently on a trustless, decentralized public ledger to eliminate things like election fraud.
President Bukele And Bitcoin
We have covered the fact that us humans are not completely independent creatures like Snow Leopards, and most of us are not natural leaders by nature. The majority prefer to depend on somebody stronger who will look out for their best interests. And at the end of the day, only a select few will go through what is necessary to become a true leader.
For now President Bukele has taken on the leadership role in the small nation state of El Salvador. Although a lot of citizens have complained about his decisions surrounding Bitcoin, he has been elected by the majority to spend the country's tax revenue as he (and his advisors) see fit.
Similar to how a teenage daughter would throw a tantrum when her father forbids her from hitting the clubs on Saturdays, yet ends up happily married before the age of thirty, the people of El Salvador will be grateful for the long-term prosperity that results from their wise leader's decision, despite their initial opposition.
We could view El Salvador as a rather large community of 6 million members with President Bukele at the helm, but as time goes on I believe these communities will get smaller, and there will need to be strong men around to lead them towards safety and prosperity.
Adding Transparency To The Mix
Due to a lack of transparency, there had been concerns that El Salvador's Bitcoin could be secretly misspent, but President Bukele recently showed a sign of good faith by publishing the public key to a large chunk of the country's Bitcoin. This way, we will know if funds are added to, or are removed from the nation's wallet.
In principle, it would be better if the citizens had donated their money to President Bukele to invest in Bitcoin. On the other hand, if he had asked the people to volunteer their funds for this "risky investment", only a tiny fraction of the population would have agreed to do so, and the vast majority would have been left in poverty as the US dollar inflated away. So in a way, the president is helping his people by forcing them to make a good long-term decision, even though it may be uncomfortable in the moment. So long as he spends the Bitcoin to the benefit of all, he could be seen as a benevolent dictator.
Throughout my experience in different parts of the world, trying to convince people of the benefits of Bitcoin and crypto is not an easy task. The truth is that the majority are still wary of crypto and are hesitant to get involved. Most people will not enter into the crypto world voluntarily, and will need guidance when it comes to its implementation and usage. I can say that Salvadorans are generally more open to Bitcoin, given that its leaders have legitimized it here in this small part of the world.
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out my other posts about finance and crypto here on the HIVE blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.
Until next time...
Resources
Snow leopard image [1]
Family unit image [2]
Strong community image [3]
President Bukele and Bitcoin [4]