Almost no one in the broader world knows about the crypto apostles. (My term, not one they apply to themselves.) Even rather few in the larger crypto community know much about them. So I’m not talking about famous names, but quiet people. I’ve decided to tell you about them with some hesitation.
I know some of these people, have heard of others, and I’m sure that I’ve missed many more. These are both individuals and families who have taken it upon themselves to travel (often to distant places) to spread the knowledge of cryptocurrencies. They’ve done this mostly at their own expense, and definitely at their own risk. Many of their family members have to think it’s a foolish idea. And these people are spread widely, over more or less this entire planet.
In keeping with Christian metaphors I suppose I could call them missionaries – I’m sure they’d dislike that term less – but my respect for them is great, and so I’ll stay with the stronger expression today.
Why Do They Go?
These people – and they come in a wide variety of types – go because they’ve seen into the depths of Bitcoin and its children, into the decentralization philosophy… into the the better world model that rises from it.
That is, these people have glimpsed that the crypto model liberates mankind, and they want to spread that vision as far and wide as they can.
Understand, please, that Bitcoin is a gateway drug. Once you’ve really tasted it… have understood how it creates trust in a decentralized way… have understood that decentralization is not only functional, but superior…
Then, sometimes slowly and sometimes in a flash, you come to understand that the way the world is presently organized is all wrong. There’s a reason we have endless wars, why the worst rise to the top of hierarchies, why we’re abused on the streets by the agents of power. It isn’t because of a few bad actors; the problem is the structure. It’s a crazy model developed by ancient conquerors that somehow passed into what should be a space age.
That is what flows out of Bitcoin, and that is what these people have grasped. They have, as we would have said years ago, grokked Bitcoin. And as we might expect from self-referential and compassionate beings, they’ve gone out to spread the vision.
These people are planting the seeds of a better future, day by day.
These are not perfect people, of course; they struggle with the same sorts of internal conflicts and occasional bouts of foolishness that afflict us all… but they do their jobs all the same. Nor are they all full-time apostles; they face complications, limitations and difficulties like everyone else. And yet they go, they teach, they encourage and they demonstrate.
What This Means
I’m sure I am embarrassing the crypto apostles by publishing this, but again, I want you to know. And I’d also like you to appreciate what this means.
There is a scene in the second Godfather film where Michael Corleone sees a Cuban rebel give his own life for his cause. Upon seeing this, Michael decides to walk away from the deal that brought him. He understood that the rebels believed deeply in their cause, while the dictator’s supporters were only there for the goodies. “The rebels,” he said, “can win.”
So it is with those who have grokked Bitcoin. It is more to us than money. It is a new and better model of human life. And we do care about that.
The existing system has printing presses, glad-handing sycophants of many flavors and an endless stream of people paying for access to the money stream… but they’re all just there for the goodies.
The lesson of the crypto apostles, then… of all who have grokked Bitcoin… is that we can win.
And that, to be honest about it, is why I haven’t written about these people until now. I didn’t want the powers that be to notice them. Those powers, however, have more immediate problems these days and aren’t likely to spend their efforts on a few isolated enthusiasts.
You’ll make your own choices about what to do with this information, of course. In my opinion the first move is to spend time examining decentralization (which I’m using as a general description rather than a technical term)… to internalize how decentralization empowers and improves individuals and dis-empowers hierarchies of authority and violence.
Once you really see how Bitcoin’s model spawns a better humanity and better life, you won’t need direction from me or anyone else. You’ll still have to sort through your internal issues, but you’ll find yourself with a why and with a vision… and they will carry you forward.
God speed to us all.
**
Paul Rosenberg
freemansperspective.com