I remember the moment when a friend asked me what I thought about Bitcoin. Having no opinion, I shrugged my shoulders. That was, maybe, seven years ago? Hmmm. Did he buy a coin way back then? Check this out.
My son Colin is a convert to cryptos. Which means that he and I have not been able to avoid talking about it! Meanwhile, as I try (and fail) to understand what a “blockchain” is, I’m reminded of my now deceased father’s advice, after my new wealth (from an inheritance) was severely crippled by a bad investment: “Never invest in something you don’t understand!”
Bingo!
But, as Colin says, “I don’t have to understand what a blockchain is — other than that it’s a ‘distributed ledger,’ so no need for central banks. I don’t need to understand the mathematics behind it. I just need to trust those whom I trust that DO understand, like Clif High and Bix Weir.”
Yesterday, after I had forwarded to him both what Mike Adams and James Howard Kuntsler say about cryptos (both are very much against it, and to me, at some level, their grudges do read like sour grapes), he sent me this video. You might want listen to at least the first half of it.
What interests me especially is Bix’s claim that cryptos have arisen just in time, because “nobody trusts bankers anymore; in fact nobody trusts anybody anymore!” — and this is a system built not on trust, but on math!
And I do find his main argument cogent: that we need a parallel system to develop alongside the old failing fiat currency system, in order to make sure that when the current system collapses, the entire structure of civilization doesn’t crash too, and, as he says, starve, and otherwise kill millions, even billions of people, especially in cities, due to the “just in time delivery” methods of modern transportation.
Perhaps we will look back upon cryptos as a needed, indeed crucial, transition from the old centralized economy to a truly new one, a thoroughly decentralized ECO-nomy where humans learn to recognize our place in Earth’s interdependence of all species; a time when, from total distrust, we switch to complete trust — in each other, in all of Nature to support all those who live and love within her fantastically brilliant, complex, and equilibrated Web of Life.
In short, let us learn from Nature. Nature doesn’t use money. Nor does she need cryptos! All of Nature cooperates, each part continuously taking only what it needs and giving back to the whole.
Meanwhile, I’d like to ask, what kind of “economy” does an advanced extraterrestrial civilization have? I googled that question. Here’s one (somewhat lame) attempt at answering.
What kinds of economics will intelligent aliens have?
6 thoughts on “As the New Year begins, what about Cryptos?”
Hi–I was thinking about the cryptos, etc. all weekend. I don’t know anybody who
would know what this is. Could Colin give me an idea of where to look to invest?
No idea what to do; even though I have been reading.
thanks
JoAnne
from Delaware OHio
I sent Colin a message asking if he feels he could help you. Will let you know.
Email me at arkcrone@gmail.com and I will give you Colin’s email. He is willing to help, as long as he has time, which is not unlimited!
Ann, the crypto issue can be a tad confusing and I for one would feel a bit more at ease with the subject but for the terminology . ‘Transparent’ . . . really? . . . then why tag the paradigm with a call-name synonymous with such words as dark, hidden, secret, occult, arcane and cabalistic to name just a few . . . ‘hiding-in-plain-sight’ yet again?
To further muddy the waters, a recent Zerohedge article did the ‘geography’ (bitcoin purportedly cannot be traced via outright ownership) and found that roughly 4% of the population presently owns 90% of the ‘coin’ or rather ‘digits in a computer bank’. Also, does that asset discrepancy sound a familiar note?
I am totally on board with the need for fair and efficient worldwide exchange of ideas, goods and services yet bitcoin per se may have already been co-opted. That said, today’s young and un-initiated have the advantage of ‘clean slate’ which tempered with a modicum of wisdom will be the creative proving ground for the future.
What a time to be alive for the birth (or perhaps I should say, re-birth) of the wonder-filled in all facets of life on Planet Earth!
I remember toys like this from when I was a kid. Toys like that didn’t last very long in my house… Taking it apart, I recall finding a surprisingly simple one-transistor circuit with very few discretes — far simpler than the one shown here.Google provides something that looks similar to what I recall: https://www.sciencetronics.com/geocities/bilder/images/electronics/projects/pendulum_sch.gif(parent page is https://www.sciencetronics.com/geocities/electronics/projects/pendulum.html )
I also have many reservations about Cryptocurrencies, and here is a link to another recent ZeroHedge article that should make everyone think twice about the security of their computers:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-03/everyone-affected-why-implications-intel-bug-are-staggering
That isn’t the only thing to worry about either, as I have read articles that describe how backdoors were left in the architecture of both computer BIOS systems and Seagate hard drives that the NSA can access at will. I have experienced this first-hand, being a whistle blower.
Whatever one thinks of the ‘blockchain’, until the very hardware sending electrons to these computer screens is fixed, ANYTHING done via computer is NOT secure.