19: The Generational Bitcoin Adoption Path with Aleks Svetski of The Bitcoin Times
In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Aleks Svetski, author of The Uncommunist Manifesto and founder of The Bitcoin Times. We got into topics in and around Bitcoin, including the Three Generation Theory of Bitcoin, merchant adoption, Bitcoin vs the state, cronyism vs capitalism, and a lot more. Aleks is a passionate speaker and this conversation is not for sensative ears!
Timestamps
(4:03) The decision Aleks made to keep his company Bitcoin-only during the ICO era when people were making enormous sums of money by launching new coins.
(6:42) Bitcoin is a technology but not just a technology - it goes way beyond that and changes your perspective on many elements of life.
(10:05) The Three Generation Theory of Bitcoin
(19:35) Max Planck's famous saying that "science advances one funeral at a time"
(21:20) Two features of Bitcoin that are super valuable to merchants: reduced fees and instant settlement. What will be necessary to onboard merchants on Bitcoin.
(25:51) How the state would fight back against losing their monetary monopoly. Why the infection stage of Bitcoin is essential to this future battle. Bitcoiners as a scapegoat as fiat money falls apart.
(30:09) The choking of the on/off ramps between fiat and Bitcoin and how this will help create the Bitcoin circular economy. The Cobra Effect
(35:09) How the morals and values we embody are downstream of the soundness of our money and as a result, our time preference. On one end of the spectrum is living completely in the present while on the other end is living entirely in the future and never experiencing anything. If you know your money will be worth something in the future, you have an easier time thinking long-term. If it isn't worth anything, then you have to consume everything today and often leads to hedonism.
(42:34) Samurai society and how it fell apart, ultimately leading to Japan's imperial ambitions in WWII.
(45:51) The Uncommunist Manifesto.
(52:12) Cronyism vs capitalism. A lot of the ills associated with capitalism are actually symptoms of cronyism. How cronyism erodes society and creates a two-tier society: rich assholes vs poor people who give up. We're seeing this already.
(58:26) The Bitcoin Times and Aleks' vision in building a timeless product.
Resources and Links