What is financial freedom?
This is something that I do not think many think about in great detail. Of course, we know the basic idea of being able to meet all our basic needs. That, however, is only the tip of the iceberg.
Financial freedom has many layers to it. Most of the world is not financially free. In fact, I would say even those with money do not enjoy this.
To start, for financial freedom, one must be in control of his or her money. This is something that 99% of the world does not do. Instead, with the present system, our money is in the hands of other people.
We get a paycheck from the company we work for. This is the start of the path to financial freedom, or so we think. The problem is that somebody already dipped their hand into the money. In other words, the fruits of our labor go elsewhere. Some call this doing out "fair" share while other call it theft. Either way, we get less than we were due.
When the money does arrive, it is often deposited in a bank. This is another problem. As the folks in Lebanon are finding out, just because you have money in your bank account, that does not make it yours. It is only your money if they decide to give it to you. For the past two weeks, from what I read, the people of Lebanon were not given their money.
Another aspect to financial freedom is the idea that one is able to do with it as he or she sees fit. If it is truly your money, you can do anything to it. Spend it; burn it; give it to someone else. Whatever you decide, you are free to do.
Is this the case? Of course not. In many countries, you are limited to how much you can send each day. For example, there are rules that state no more than $10,000 can be transferred at one time. We also see some countries that limit the amount of cash one is able to carry. How is that considered financial freedom?
In reality, it is not.
There is then, of course, the breakdown of wealth across the planet. According to the World Bank, 19% of the population lives below the poverty line. Almost 1 in 5 is beyond poor. In a study conducted by the U.S. Fed, it was determined that more than 40% of U.S. adults could not come up with $400 to meet an emergency expense.
What is ironic is these are two institutions who are in the middle of the present system. You would think they would want to put a positive spin on what they constructed.
The bottom line is most people have very little. Certainly, there are many who get carried away with their wants and spend themselves into oblivion. These are not the ones I am talking about. What I am referring to is those people who have no chance based upon where they were born.
Those advocating for the present system are fans of slavery. There is no other way to describe it. Most of humanity is enslaved. The financial system and conditions people find themselves in lead to no other conclusion. Looking at the traits listed here, it is obvious this is the case.
It is something, however, that we can change.
Source
Cryptocurreny is a major part of the solution. It is money "by the people and for the people". This is what upsets the control system.
We now have the opportunity to put a bank in the pocket of anyone with a smart phone. This is a radical breakthough. There are only about 1.5B people on this planet who have access to somewhat reliable banking services. Most are either unbanked or under banked. Without access to basic banking components, economies remain mired on the Stone Age. Expansion comes very slowly.
Cryptocurreny puts people in full control of their money. We can do whatever we want with it. There is no limit to what can be sent, when, or where. The blockchain does not care. As long as the application "payment" is there for a network transfer, it will take place. Send as many transfers as you want, in whatever amounts.
As a side note, isn't it interesting to see "crypto" companies such as Coinbase placing limits. We know where they stand in the slavery versus freedom argument.
This only leaves the aspect of people not having money. It is a topic that received a great deal of publicity of late. Many are tossing out ideas as how to resolve it. Automation, among other things, caused stagnant wages. People are going into debt just to make ends meet. A set back of any kind is often catastrophic.
This is one of the main reasons why I love what is developing on Steem. We are creating a new distribution system which allows anyone to be rewarded. At present, in addition to the Steem layer, there are a few dozen tribes which have tokens and are being paid out. Over the next 6 months, we should see Smart Media Tokens going live which will allow any website to tokenize.
This is going to seriously alter the landscape of how people acquire money. The first step is getting it into one's possession. After that, making it grow required to truly reach the stage of freedom.
Not only can people earn but, for the first time, money can be sent anywhere in the world without the interference of warlords, corrupt bankers, tyrants, or any other middle-man type entity.
This is a freeing experience for billions of people.
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