“I don’t like politics. I’m a-political.” – Yeahhh.. right.
The problem here is that people seem to think that the game of politics stops at the governmental body level. It does not. Politics is merely using varying forms of human communication in order to coordinate, capitulate, or dominate. There is nothing different between haggling over a bill in the Senate, negotiating the terms of a divorce in the courtroom, or anchoring the price point of a television for sale at a Best Buy.
There is no avoiding politics.
“Apolitical” is political
Leadership is political.
Conducting business is political.
Coordinating family Christmas is political.
Dating is political.
Getting that promotion at work is political.
Coaching is political.
Investing is political.
Bitcoin is political.
You can be disinterested in politics, that’s your choice. But what that means is that you will ultimately be dominated by those who actively engage in it.
Politics is power, social power.
Politics is war, it is just war by another name.
When waging war, whether that be hot war (the type that involves bullets, artillery, and kinetic combat) or political war, management of public relations is paramount in the modern era. Jocko Willink talks about this precise reality in Episode 385 in which he discusses how slip-ups by one side of an armed conflict provide material that can be used as propaganda to support the mission & narrative of the opposition. In a world of social media and smartphones, and where cameras are readily accessible and available everywhere, any miss-step, mistake, or failure can be broadcast to the world in seconds. Projecting how morally deficient your cause is. Or how much your side lacks in intelligence. This means that accountability, responsibility, intent, and self-control matter now more than in any other moment in history. Anyone can be made the face of failure today. Anyone can be made the poster-child for the propaganda campaign that provided enough fuel to lead to their own demise.
Especially with regards to something as powerful, as freedom-enabling, as political, as bitcoin is. This is not just a monetary war. This is a political war. This is a public relations war. This is a war that is urban, rural, digital, physical, psychological, emotional, and philosophical. This is a war over the hearts & minds of American ideals.
Freedom. For anyone willing to take it upon themselves.
Make no mistake, everything is at stake here.
Carry Yourself.
When you go out and engage in discussions over any matter, understand that you represent The Mission. Your acting like a child, having emotional outbursts, losing your temper… these all negatively impact The Mission that you claim to uphold. You erode the strength of your own position by lacking the discipline and self-control to conduct yourself admirably. Every participant of an organization is representative of their faction.
Your backstory does not matter.
Your having a bad day does not matter.
Nobody gives a damn that you forgot to set your alarm last night, woke up late, spilled coffee all over yourself on the way to work, and got screamed at by a vagabond on the street. The impression that you leave behind in every single circumstantial interaction with anyone and everyone you interact with matters. How you conduct yourself can leave a lasting impression. And that impression can influence the way people envision and interpret whatever it is that you may be representative of. Even if you are not repping any particular political leaning or faction, people will ascribe your values to even the very brands that you are wearing at the moment of their interaction.
This is why more bitcoiners need to adopt the way of the warrior in the garden.
Force is only expressed when and where it is necessary. Outside those momentary circumstances it is paramount that grace, peace, and patience be practiced. Bitcoin & Liberty are matters of a decentralized manner that rely on autonomous distributed leadership. On a global scale. Leadership that does not end.
Defending liberty (in the philosophical sense, not the militaristic, imperial American sense) never, ever stops. There will always be someone, somewhere, that wishes to take your freedoms away from you because they believe that they know what to do with your life, your belongings, and your money, and your time, better than you do. Even if they do (they might), it does not matter. You should be free to live your life in whatever manner you see fit, so long as you are not negatively impacting the life or quality of life of those around you or in your charge.
Leaders with rules, because Rulers don’t lead.
Bitcoin Deserves Better From You
Well said.