Oddbean

Whenever I see statists like the ECB get upset about Bitcoin, or when I see more brazen regimes try and actually implement an all-out ban or crazy tax scheme, I turn to my favorite bit of writing anywhere on Bitcoin and remind myself that a ban is the Berlin Wall and that “fragments of any ban will one day become souvenirs of the folly” Bitcoin is Ariadne by @allen “Bitcoin is often framed as “competing” with fiat currency. This is true in a sense but I fear there is a rhetorical danger of invoking the wrong kind of “competition”. It is not a fight, for example. There is no conflict. Bitcoin is not trying to damage or sabotage its opponents, because it isn’t trying anything and it knows no opponents. It has no awareness whatsoever of who might oppose it or why. It is simply an alternative; an exit valve; an opt-out. It is competing only insofar as it is proving to be a far superior alternative. It is not a sword for Theseus to fight the Minotaur, but a thread to follow to exit the labyrinth. Bitcoin is Ariadne. There will be tremendous value in normalizing this rhetoric amidst the likely growing chorus of opposition desperate to smear Bitcoin as inherently nefarious, or hostile, even. Opponents must be forced to explain what is wrong with people interacting freely, and why true goodness can only follow from coercion, in their understanding. Should those who have found a way out of the unbearable labyrinth of capital strip mining not take it? What do they owe the Minotaur? Does anybody really believe that, having fully understood the choice they face, any individual would choose to save in a self-referentially mispriced toxic loan rather than a provably sound digital bearer asset? Or, more simply still, that they will think it makes less sense to hold money that is a pure asset than money that is literally defined as a liability? Why not opt into a financial system that is built on trustless verifiability rather than unverifiable trust? … It is worth working through the optics of any decision to engage with Bitcoin in a truly hostile manner, because it is certainly coming. McNeill reminds us that, even some seven-hundred-or-so years ago, “the breakdown of established patterns of conduct always appears deplorable to a majority of those who witness it.” By no means do I have a utopian outlook on this subject — rather, it is something of an intellectual rite of passage to accept the nonzero utility of dystopian paranoia. Bitcoin will be banned, many times, in many places. But a ban is an open admission of practical and moral failure and is arguably the best advertisement of all. A ban is the Berlin Wall; fragments of any ban will one day become souvenirs of the folly and cruelty of repression. Bitcoin doesn’t force anybody to stay. They come, and then they stay, because they want to — because it is both practically and morally superior.”

Masterfully written. nostr:nevent1qqsqqrh2h7tu78fztqdl5egljw2e6n8y0jnnue0jdvxytj2fcndz52spz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsygzccaq65ccv9k3454480sws2wqepz73q5z0m5kckslhyhh6d533jcpsgqqqqqqszx8rkl

"...Bitcoin will be banned, many times, in many places. But a ban is an open admission of practical and moral failure and is arguably the best advertisement of all..." This is encouraging. Thank you Alex for sharing.

I like the comparison of bitcoin with Ariadne. Ariadne was the mistress of mazes, in that she helped people out of the maze. She also is perfect purity, which fits bitcoin quite well. She helped Theseus escape the labyrinth, but Theseus was a fool and he abandoned her - Dionysus, a paragon of virtue, recognizes the value of Ariadne and marries her. The arrogant Theseus lost big time because he couldn't recognize value. Lesson : be Dionysus, the true self in Greek mythology, and hold the thing of true value - bitcoin.

Ariadne was a weaver as well. Too many focus on what she did for #humanity while disrespecting her for creating the spider web in the first place. Then they get big mads when they caught in it. History repeats. Kindly: lessons are in all things. Quite often overlooked. Humans always human. Ariadne, is a minor goddess of vegetation, mazes, snakes, passion, and forgiveness in Greek Mythology. Some associate her with Persephone but … it’s a cosmic odyssey … and the band played on.

We will receive less opposition if there's nobody to fight them. Every person is incentivised to accumulate Bitcoin. Their shitty fiat system is dying & it needs no help from Bitcoin in it's destruction. As you say, Bitcoin is just the most logical exit, the escape valve. They'll still try to fight it by manipulating price, attacking proponents & banning it's use. Bitcoin will be fine, but some of its users will be targeted. Focus on building a new system rather than fighting the dying one.

BItcoin is at once many things: freedom, responsibility, cosciusness, censorship resistance, digital ownership, anarchy, sound money, ... "Bitcoin is Adriane" is one of the most meaningful expressions and "poetical" images that describe the complex role of bitcoin. A ban is like the "Berlin Wall", but we know that "Bitcoin is Venice".