You Are The Signal
By: Kumo McMahon
We are at war. Not a hot war. Not a kinetic war, but a war of thought. In the battle to win over hearts and minds in this peaceful Bitcoin revolution, we face the ever antagonistic forces of the fiat world. With the various collapses of 2022 the financial powers are taking a victory lap, some viewing this as the end of crypto. Perhaps they have a point. This writer doesn’t see most folks falling for the value proposition of a monkey jpeg or yet another meme coin after the collapse of FTX or the scams of certain influencers with large followings (at least not for the time being). There’s only one problem for these financial elites, Bitcoin is not crypto. Bitcoin is much more than that and is here to stay whether the elites like it or not.
With very short time in the world of Bitcoin, this writer, now pleb, has been shown a new world, a whole new culture. A world of Sats, laser eyes, and repeated mantras such as “Not your keys, not your Bitcoin.” Bitcoin culture teaches the values of both personal responsibility but also creating value for the world, you can’t make money for free so you have to earn it. The beautiful part of this aspect of Bitcoin culture is, people actually build. People create new technologies, new media, new products, and work to make the world a little bit wealthier. We have coders, energy experts, media producers and much more. When someone in the Bitcoin space says “I’m building.” they mean it. they don’t mean “I’m gonna release yet another NFT project that will be abandoned” or “I’m selling houses in The Metaverse”
This revolution is real, not virtual.
Our friends and family may think we’re crazy, stupid, or both. That we fell for the long con of a really well made ponzi scheme. I’m sure at least once in your life if you’re reading this you’ve seen the look of pity someone you respect gives you when you tell them you got into Bitcoin. However we know that it’s actually the reverse. We’re opting out of a system that steals from us. Leaving the world of financial censorship and debasement and opting into a world of 21 million, personal responsibility, and generational wealth. While those who have chosen to stay behind gaslight themselves in the world of ever infinite monetary supply and censorship, legitimately believe that this is how it’s supposed to be. Some left to complain about ever increasing costs but never seeking a solution beyond seeking payment from The State. Though this may seem like a bleak outlook to you, this writer wants to state that these people aren’t to be given up on, these are our friends and loved ones. Who else better to offer the solution when they realize they were wrong. Bitcoin is for everyone, stubborn friends included. We need to remember this when these people come to us. As people say “Be that Uncle Jim”.
So what should we do? Continue to spread the signal in a world of perpetual fiat noise. Explain why a fixed money supply is important, how self-custody is a vast improvement over the current custodial monetary world, and though their concerns are worth noting, how Bitcoin won’t boil the oceans XYZ times over. We need to be quality and patient educators for these people. Because a No-Coiner today can be a Pre-Coiner tomorrow and a Bitcoiner the day after that. Show them how to set-up a phone wallet (For the time being of course), make them write down their 12 to 24 words, send them some Sats. Showing a normie how easy it actually is to take custody of their own money opens the doors to a new life for them like so many of us when we first discovered Bitcoin. But this isn’t as simple as spreading the signal.
In a world of noise it is not enough to spread the signal, we as Bitcoiners need to become the signal
Bitcoiners need to be a beacon that people aspire to be like. If we live a life according to principles that should be a part of a bitcoiner’s moral compass, we’ll have more fulfilling and healthier lives that are attractive to those around us. Getting fit, eating healthier, saving money for your future self but also your future generations. People see those things and will gravitate towards you and Bitcoin. When this writer was in specialty retail, hard sales were met with perhaps a one-time purchase but never seen again, whereas the soft-sell approach allows people to dip a toe in, ask questions, and have more interest and feel more secure in their decision to make large and numerous purchases. To paraphrase a statement from a recent feature of Simply Bitcoin “People don’t like to be sold but they like to buy.” This isn’t a new revelation but it is just as relevant to our mission. Maybe the best orange pill is just being the best you that you can be.
Another aspect is culture. We have many great creators, authors, documentarians, podcast personalities and you can also be one of them too. Do you have an idea? Do you have a hobby or skill that you can include Bitcoin in? Try it! It might work, or it might fail but putting yourself out there and you might make a few Sats along the way. You’re an artist? Make Bitcoin-related pieces or draw comics! You’re a musician? Incorporate part of the culture into your music. You’re a writer? Write articles or write fictional tales of Hyper-Bitcoinized worlds that can become real! This is a long game and we all have our parts to contribute.
We are going to win. The financial powers may think we have lost but this is only the dawn of the bright orange future people greater than this writer preaches about. There will be times of great hardship. States may decide they can’t accept Bitcoin but to reiterate what is regularly said on Simply Bitcoin “You can’t ban Bitcoin, you can only ban yourself from Bitcoin.” We are only just after the starting line. Continue to build. Continue to spread the signal. But the most important thing to remember.
You are the signal.