In the Soviet Union, the government would say “We had a good harvest this year!” and everyone would notice they had said good rather than glorious, and correctly interpret the statement to mean that everyone would starve and the living would envy the dead.I don't think I am particularly skilled interpreting government statements when they aren't something close to the literal truth. But I do remember the government has lied repeatedly, and even when it appeared to be attempting honesty, it still managed to screw that up, repeatedly. Despite all that, I have this gut feeling that tomorrow will generally be the same as today. And 99% of the time, my gut is right. But that 1% can kill you (or 0.01%. But it isn't exactly scientific--some unlikely possibilities are much more likely than other unlikely possibilities. Like a fire burning down your house compared to an asteroid wiping out humanity).
Really savvy people go through life rarely ever hearing the government or establishment lie to them. Yes, sometimes false words come out of their mouths. But as Dan Quayle put it:
"Our party has been accused of fooling the public by calling tax increases 'revenue enhancement'. Not so. No one was fooled."
Imagine a government that for five years in a row, predicts good harvests. Or, each year, they deny tax increases, but do admit there will be “revenue enhancements”. Savvy people effortlessly understand what they mean, and prepare for bad harvests and high taxes. Clueless people prepare for good harvests and low taxes, lose everything when harvests are bad and taxes are high, and end up distrusting the government.
Then in the sixth year, the government says there will be a glorious harvest, and neither tax increases nor revenue enhancements. Savvy people breath a sigh of relief and prepare for a good year. Clueless people assume they’re lying a sixth time. But to savvy people, the clueless people seem paranoid. The government has said everything is okay! Why are they still panicking?
You can never be prepared for everything, but on the spectrum of preparedness, you can be less prepared or you can be more prepared. I want to be more prepared because I can't figure out if the harvests are going to be good or bad, the taxes low or high. Or if the liberal Western governments are going to respect our rights, our finances, our privacy, our lives for the foreseeable future. "But Mr. blogger, that's crazy talk," you say? Maybe you're right, but my gut is less certain today than yesterday, and that 1% can still kill me.
Just recently, pretty much everyone had their financial tools restricted, at what amounts to a press of a button. I'm not saying it's right or it's wrong, just that it happened:
I really hope there is a very clear, unmistakable line between blocking traffic and protesting the government, because if there isn't, that was a serious totalitarian display from our northern neighbors.And if you remember this from the "liberal Western democracy" that is Canada:JUST IN - VISA suspends all operations in #Russia: All cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country and any cards issued outside of Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation.
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 5, 2022
As of Sunday [Feb 22], the national police force said in a statement, 219 “financial products” had been frozen, 253 Bitcoin addresses related to protesters and organizers had been given to virtual currency exchange operators, and a bank had frozen 3.8 million Canadian dollars (about $3 million) held by a payment processor.
Lich, who is from Alberta, was the driving force behind a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than 10 million Canadian dollars (about $7.9 million) for the protest. About 1 million dollars (about $784,000) was turned over to her before the crowdfunding site shut down the campaign. Authorities charged Lich on Thursday with counseling to commit mischief, a serious offense under Canadian criminal law.
All of the accounts that have been frozen will remain so for up to 30 days from Feb. 14, the date of the national emergency declaration. But the government could extend or shorten that period.
It's only a matter of time before you or someone you love is part of the out-group. And there's an increasing chance their financial tools/assets will be rendered inoperable.
Long time cryptocurrency critic and somewhat famous programmer David Heinemeier Hansson sees the writing on the wall:
Even just a few months ago, I would not have found it credible if you said a three-week peaceful protest in Canada could have lead to martial law, frozen bank accounts, and terrorist-financing laws being used to hunt protest donors. Unbelievable then, undeniable now.Hansson then links to a great twitter thread about the freedom to transact. I've embedded the first tweet of it below.
I don't think we have any idea what kind of radicalizing seeds have been planted by Trudeau with these actions. This is one of those world events that you can imagine a documentary of the future opening with: "It all started when...".
But wherever this leads us next, it's clear to me now that I was too hasty to completely dismiss crypto on the basis of all the things wrong with it at the moment.
This article by Howard Anglin (former Canadian PM deputy chief of staff) links to that thread and worries about that 1% chance as well:
You can’t purchase many services with cash anymore. When my local coffee shop’s wireless service went down the other day and they couldn’t process digital payments, I offered to pay with cash. They didn’t know what to do. Like many businesses, they simply aren’t set up to handle physical money. And that’s assuming you have large cash reserves to begin with, as you can’t withdraw money from a frozen bank account. ...
The fact that weaponizing the financial system against nonviolent protestors and their distant supporters was the government’s tool of first resort should worry anyone who understands the role of civil disobedience in democracy.
So here is the first tweet of 6529's Freedom to Transact thread (there are 56 tweets in total):
Maybe I am being paranoid, maybe the world merely overreacted a bit, maybe I don't have the whole picture (so why not tell us, or at least give us a bigger picture? Is transparency bad now? More reason I have grown skeptical of both the media and government).1/ There are no other constitutional rights in substance without freedom to transact
— 6529 (@punk6529) February 17, 2022
Being meaning to write this for 6 months, but the Canadian response to the trucker protests is illustrating this so vividly, that today is the day.
Given recent events, I feel the need to painstakingly prepare for the 1% chance me or someone I love is going to need dystopian insurance. Something like cryptocurrency (and hardware wallets), something like Protonmail, something like encrypted devices on VPNs. Where does it end, at what point does preparing for dystopia become irrational, or worse, harmful? I don't know, but it's hopefully one of those you-know-it-when-you-see-it deals. I guess I will stop when the feeling of being unprepared is roughly balanced by the feeling of being a paranoid conspiracy theorist.
