Just when you thought that Germany might never burn a book again, they go and surprise you: A payment-system company is now attacking my friends at the independent @kaliberlin psychedelic bookshop in Berlin. Kali's credit card transaction system has been shut down because they say that the bookshop 'glorifies drugs'.
Why attack a bookshop?
Kali is a bookshop, like any other. It just happens to stock books that challenge authority and power. It just happens to stock books and hold events about Bitcoin. It just happens to accept payments in Bitcoin. It just happens to be one of the few shops in Berlin that prominently display Bitcoin and Steem logos in the shop window. Could this just be a coincidence? Or are payment-system providers scared of something?
They used to burn the books, now they shut down your account
It's interesting that The State still feels entitled to attack anything that informs and educates people. Kali stocks books which explore the strength of psychedelic tools. The space also promotes community action to heal and advance society. It's amazing that we are in 2018 and bookshops like Kali are still under attack for the ideas they present. Once they used fire to burn the books and prevent access, now they use the banking system.
Nazi book burning in Berlin as depicted in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Should Corporations and The State decide what we can read?
Because it is no longer socially acceptable in Europe to literally stack books in a pile and burn them, the payment provider in this case has chosen a different method of censorship and repression to attack @kaliberlin: They have shut off the bookshop's access to the electronic banking system.
Obviously, this is a great argument for the accelerated adoption of cyptocurrencies. But how do we get there if the finance industry attacks any bookshops that promote ideas like Bitcoin? Kali bookshop is one of the most public advocates of cryptocurrencies in Berlin and has become a meeting-point for those who are planning a brighter future.
Kali bookshop is also a valuable local resource forinformation on topics like anarchism, guerrilla gardening, yoga, meditation and the safe responsible use of psychedelics for societal advancement.
Kali is a space that supports survivors of abuse
Another reason why this bookshop might pose a threat to the finance industry is that it supports survivors of abuse. When, as in other areas of society, men and women begin to expose the sexual abuse and widespread inequality in The State, then things really begin to get interesting.
Weinstein and Hollywood is nothing in comparison to what goes on in 'governments'. This unveiling of the machinery of power has only just begun.
To shut down the transaction system for a bookshop because you don't like the books they sell is corporate censorship and a violation of freedom of speech.
It would be interesting to know if payment-providers intend to shut down the payment systems for every bookshop that doesn't align with their belief systems? This sounds very familiar to me. I remember the Nazis burned books "written by Jewish, pacifist, religious, classical liberal, anarchist, socialist, and communist authors". Seems they're still doing it.
They used to use fire to destroy the books they didn't like in Berlin:
Book burning in Berlin, May 1933.
Now they use one of these payment systems:
Book burning in Berlin, May 2018.
How can we stop the attack on Kali bookshop?
To support the bookshop, you can give love and encouragement via their Steemit account here: @kaliberlin or say hello on their Facebook (argghh!) page here. I am part of the Kali collective, and I hope you are too.
Let's fight oppression wherever we see it.
Here's what the bookshop looks like inside, so you can get a sense of the project:
