Lately, I've been reading about the banning of crypto in Nigeria in some insightful posts from @josediccus. As puzzled as I am about the decision, I understand how a greedy and corrupt government might fear losing financial control over the people. My goodness, if crypto adaption spreads, the populace might actually unbind themselves from the chains of traditional banking! The horror! Imagine crowdsourcing loans much like GoFundMe, while bypassing traditional sources. This sort of personal empowerment is exactly what those in power fear the most.
Which made me wonder... Why in the hell is crypto still legal here?
Locus of control
As I tried to evangelize about the possibilities inherent in this new instrument, I was met with responses of it being "fake money" that the government would never allow to get off the ground. Some even thought it was illegal at the onset and I must admit to being pleasantly surprised that the long awaited for boot, never came crashing down. In this country, the greed is so great, that if they could charge you for every breath you take, they would. Only now, has the business class awoken to the danger (to them) in this Gamestop/Robinhood saga of crypto in the hands of the people.
So it made me wonder if I lived in the fictional country of "Anticryptonia" how would I respond to crypto being made illegal? I mean, you spend all of this time building your stack and networking with others around the world, only to fear that it could all be at risk. Maybe I'd have a compatriot or family member in another country, safeguard a portion of my holdings until I see how things shake out. Are they going to be kicking in doors and demanding we hand over hardware wallets and crypto-keys? If so, the nature of the blockchain itself would provide a protective barrier to asset seizure.
The other thing I'd be considering, is having a backup plan to get the hell out of dodge in case the SHTF.
One side of immigration
You guys may not know it, but we have one of those notorious "immigrant processing centers" nearby. There are only three in the United States and one of them is in our area. Awhile ago, residents began noticing a strange thing. We started hearing black people wearing colorful garb, speaking beautiful french. At first we thought they might be tourists, before realizing they actually lived here, in the armpit of Pennsylvania. Why in Gods name would anyone want to move here, when the locals are all trying to get out? I think that may be why the "kids in cages center" was opened up here in the first place, along with a regional criminal justice facility, where other regions export their criminals. The crime rates in their cities were going down, while ours was skyrocketing. What was once of the 25 safest towns in America as recently as 1980, has turned into a mini-Mogadishu with gunshots ringing out into the night.
The local English, Irish and German population whose ancestors founded the city over 250 years ago, now flee to the safety of the suburbs, leaving the African-American and destitute white population to face the violence together. This has caused the tax base to crater, forcing tax rates up in order to provide services for migrants who work under the table and send their money out of the country. One of my classmates has a mother who came here illegaly in the 90's and now has a job where they pay her in cash. She avoids paying taxes and so does the employer. They share an apartment with two other families and all extra funds are sent back home to the Dominican Republic.
The instructor explained to him how this hurt our local economy, where services are provided like school, police, firefighting, 911 and hospital that aren't paid for, yet they don't contribute to the upkeep due to avoiding taxes. However, he informed her that the need back home is so great that this is the reason they do it. This is shortsighted. But the warning was given that as this behavior continues and the population increases, they will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. The business course instructor explained that at some point, with so much money being siphoned off and sent overseas, America will experience yet another Great Depression, due to so much taking out and not enough paying into. With a million new people arriving every year in the United States, I wonder how much longer this can keep going on. Someday, the land of milk and honey will arise from their slumber to find that every drop has been lapped up with nothing left to drink. What will happen then? Hopefully I won't be around to find out.
And the other...
However, there's hope amongst the chaos...
We have a huge number of people from Central America and surprisingly, Conakry, Guinea and Nigeria as well. And what I see is the hope in their eyes and the possibilities in their voices when I ask why they came here. The response usually is: "No matter how bad it may seem to you here, it can't begin to compare to the hell we left back home." This allows me to see my country through their eyes. A woman from Mexico told me that she's grateful that her children can actually learn here while getting a free lunch at school. She works and pays her taxes, which helps the city's finances. "In Mexico they give us nothing, while here, my child gets an education and something to eat." It used to be that schools only offered lunch, but in some areas with high immigrant populations and food insecurity, they now serve breakfast as well. Sometimes you live in this country and you forget how things are in other areas. I'm glad that people can start a new life filled with hope for the future.
The entrepreneurial mindset of the crypto investor, is exactly what you need to make it in America and a source of support for yourself, your family and the futmure of our country.
It's heartening to see people surviving on LEO and HIVE. That may just be the solution in these countries that have made hope illegal by banning cryptocurrency. What if crypto adoption spread to such an extent, that taking it from the hands of the people would be almost unworkable? Failing that, the very real prospect of a digital "brain drain" of the brightest minds, will begin to hollow out the nation, leaving the future even more uncertain. One hopes that if nothing else, the powerful will see the ability of crypto to fatten their own bags and unlock the benefits for all of the people.
Thank You So Much!
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