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137 sats \ 3 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 25 Nov \ on: This Is Not What Adoption Looks Luke bitcoin
I took part in the Occupy Occupation that took place here in Christchurch New Zealand and remember feeling mostly disillusioned. The Occupation had solid reasons to exist but it was sidelined and ultimately silenced. New Zealand is very much a tribute-subsidiary of the US financial system. 80% of the NZ banking sector is majority owned by US shareholders and most of the dividends and control thus derive to the US.
The corruption of the financial system is hard to refute- it had and remains corrupt and holding too much power. Bankers own our governments and undermine our democracies. But Occupy did not ultimately provide any real solution- just a protest against the bankers that ultimately fizzled out.
So when Bitcoin appeared- I did not hear about it until early 2017, I was impressed- it took a while to really understand Bitcoin, but here was something that responded to the bankers in a way that they could not easily sideline.
Today Bitcoin has Occupied Wall st.
But I wonder at the same time just how much also Wall street has captured and controlled the Bitcoin- making it subservient to the bankers and their global hegemony.
My introduction to Occupy (Occupy L.A.) was as to set up a wireless modem / router and wifi access point for their Media team, on the City Hall lawn (per request by the dude who had done the same for Occupy Wall Street in Zucatti Park). To troubleshoot why it would sporadically bog down (without much activity on the Wi-Fi side), I pitched a tent for a (planned) couple days to monitor.
I then stayed off-and-on for several weeks because I was intrigued by a number of things ... for example the Occupy Movement Hand Signals was something I thought might be adopted by the general public for all kinds of things -- political rallies, conference talks even, etc. (I was ignorant, yes).
I also spent a number of my BTC to purchase and operate an off-grid hotspot (solar, battery, wireless modem, wifi access point on portable mast) so that there was open wifi available to the protesters.
There was a literal soap box where anyone could step up and talk, so I gave a five-minute bitcoin talk. About a half dozen people listened, and afterward, two people approached me and asked a question or two. I handed each a Casascius 1 BTC coin (worth about $5 at the time) appreciating their interest in Bitcoin.
I then met former New Mexico governor and libertarian Gary Johnson, who at the time was running as a Republican for President. I asked him if he knew of bitcoin, he said he did and that he had some. I then gave him a Casascius as well. I presume that I likely am the first person ever to donate bitcoin to a presidential candidate.
There was a number of people, their flags with a red swipe, (and who copied the "Revolution" from Ron Paul's promoters). That was my introduction to hard-core leftist socialists -- previously thinking that socialism was best described by what Sweden had.
All in all, quite a learning experience.
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I think Occupy was where I first encountered Libertarian ideas and people...not many here in New Zealand at the time, but some. They were engaging and excited about their ideas- more than most other people who were more left leaning.
Socialism here in NZ is mostly of the milder variety like Sweden.
We have sometimes been described as the Sweden of the South Pacific.
At the time I did not know of Bitcoin but only much later in 2017 did I become aware of it.
The majority of the people at the Occupation here in Christchurch were left leaning but I found a lot of them virtue signalling and inconsistent.
To this day I do not find either doctrinaire Socialist or Libertarian ideas convincing on the whole although I agree with parts of them both.
The world has changed since the industrial revolution when Socialism probably made more sense.
Bitcoin I see as a good response to a corrupt fiat monetary-banking-political system that exists today whether you are from the left or right but most left leaning people I know do not understand Bitcoin and call it a scam which is disappointing.
So few people really understand the fiat monetary system and raising the level of understanding might probably require further wake up calls like the GFC.
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Forgot the image:
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