[Originally published in the Front Range Voluntaryist, article by Joel Aigner]
So, I’ll admit it. I’m kind of a sucker for nostalgia. I get weepy eyed over all sorts of things such as Pre-911 Civil-Liberties and expectations of privacy, Golden-Era Hip-Hop, Pre-legalization cannabis, skateboarding in baggy pants and puffy shoes, but most of all, I get nostalgic for the optimistic, motivated and fiercely intelligent energy associated with the 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign and those that worked on it. At that time most of us had no illusion as to his chance of winning, we knew it wasn’t going to happen, and that if it did it would likely work out the way it did for JFK. But it wasn’t about “winning” an election, it was about using the (s)election as a platform for Liberty. To this day, when I see a Ron Paul bumper sticker, t-shirt or button it triggers the fond memories of working fairly hard, alongside really motivated, smart and morally ethical people whose primary commonality was a passionate desire to liberate mankind from the shackles of those that would have us be their assets, their property, in other words, their slaves while they, the Central Banksters and their minions at the Federal Government and their lackeys at the alphabet soup agencies such as the IRS, NSA, CIA, FDA, Local Govt, etc., over which would be Masters.
As far as I’m concerned, Dr. Paul, like many before him (such as Mises, Bastiat, Rothbard) had correctly identified the nature of our shackles, which was a centrally planned reality/economy that utilizes a debt-based fiat currency, born from the Creature at Jekyll Island and gestated in the incestuous cesspool of Congress, Private Shareholders, Fractional Reserve Lending, Debt Collateralization and Quantitative Easing. Said system is facilitated by a compulsory education system that teaches obedience to an external authority as virtue over critical thought, held together by legalese mumbo jumbo which by design is only understood by a priest-class of attorneys from which those that can afford campaign contributors of consequence chose the “legislators” and “Judges” with a vested interest in the existing hierarchy and status quo and therefore implementing the will of the corporations and their proxies, the lobbyists, while said will is enforced by trained attack dogs with magical amulets (badges) and guns.
So let it be said that the Liberty-centric Nexus Earth Cryptocurrency Conference held in Aspen, at the Aspen Meadows Resort (ironically enough is an interesting campus for elite, Bilderberg level, conferences, complete with pyrimadish esoteric symbols and locations such as the Booz Allen Hamilton Room in which many of the seminars were held) this past September not only triggered the fond memories of the Ron Paul 2012 campaign, it created new memories that likely will inspire many of those in attendance, especially us fellow libertarians, anarchists, voluntaryists, agorists, abolitionists as we/they apply much of our energies to the hard work that still lays ahead. For those of us passionate about self-ownership and liberty, it was almost like a 3 day music festival with such a wealth of headliners that seeing all of one’s favorite acts became logistically impossible at times, due to overlap and the inherent difficulty in being in two places at once, but alas there are worse problems to have.
Headlined by the aforementioned Dr. Ron Paul, other intellectual and cultural icons that included luminaries such as: G. Edward Griffin, Lynn Ulbricht (Mother of my alleged Silk Road admin Ross Ulbricht and heroine of mine herself), Roger Ver, Erik Voorhees (of ShapeShift), Flip Filipowski, Peter Schiff, Dennis Kucinich, Jesse Ventura, Colin Cantrell (Founder and Developer at Nexus), Jim Cantrell (ex-SpaceX, Colin’s father and CEO of Vector Rockets which are to be used in launching Nexus satellites into space), Catherine Austin Fitts (an accomplished, and personal favorite of mine, analyst, her skepticism of BTC aside), Robert Vigilone (Co-Founder of ZenCash, brilliant), Keith Smith & Preston Smith (Nexus Earth developers but not related), Joby Weeks, Max Keiser, Stacey Herbert, Adam Kokesh, David Seaman, Jeff Berwick, Charles Hoskinson (former CEO of Ethereum) Derrick Broze, Brett Tabke, Ernest Hancock, Dino Farinacci, Sterlin Luxan. They spoke on a broad spectrum of topics ranging from Cryptocurrency, Ross Ulbricht's imprisonment and it’s implications for our and our children’s freedoms, ICO (Initial Coin Offerings) pitching to Venture Capitalists, to Rocketry, to Liberty, Tax payer education about our nations unfunded liabilities (which outweighs our national debts by multiples) the Federal Reserve (End the Fed!!!) with performances by: Tatiana Moroz, Jordan Page, an Corrected Axiom to name a few an even Z-Trip down the street from the grand finale which consisted of a entertaining film festival, some talented DJ’s in their own rights and dance floor that got tore up (but that’s a whole ‘nother story).
Besides the speakers, those in attendance represented a relatively broad swath of Liberty and Crypto enthusiasts ranging from Angel investors in multi-thousand dollar suits and fancy shoes to tatted out Crypto-anarchists in black leather and Doc Martens, with Joby Weeks (I’m not a client of bitclub but I do think the guy’s as cool as all get out) in his customary uniform of a graphic t-shirt with a positive message (such as “Live Your Best Story”), khaki cargo shorts and Birkenstocks (even when frost and snow hit, no bullshit). To scan the crowd revealed a crowd that was not homogenous in appearance, financial stratus, or educational background (I’m a highschool drop out myself) by any means, yet a common thread of self-sovereignty (including financial sovereignty), Free Markets and Free Speech. Heated debates, technical charts and slides, and personalities abounded while literally stimulating hearts and minds. Highlights included Joby Weeks getting Peter Schiff to admit that he had NOT read the Satoshi Whitepaper and then tossing one to him during a panel that included David Seaman (also of #Pizzagate fame), and Max Keiser, moderated by Stacey Herbert. I would be quite remiss if I was to forgo sharing what I learned about the host, Nexus Earth, their vision for their Cryptocurrency, their team and their backgrounds. Founded by Colin Cantrell Nexus Earth is a pretty damn ambitious project that is preparing for a more quantum-computer centric future with a more secure hash rate using SHA-3 (1024 bit block hash versus Bitcoins 256 bit block hash) & 3D blockchain that will be mined in space using cubic satellites launched into space by his father’s (Jim Cantrell, used to work under Elon Musk at SpaceX) company, Vector. Admittedly inspired by Bitcoin to be a Crypto on steroids (in terms of hash-rate and blockchain structure) being mined everywhere and kept on a blockchain in space. I know this sounds like some sci-fi Blade Runner type stuff, and maybe it is, but after listening 8+ hours of presentations about Nexus, on subjects ranging from an overview of the features and benefits of the coin by the development team, and overview of coins vision, future and concepts such as the 3D blockchain and the potential vulnerabilities to be protected against in a quantum computing world, as well as the rocketry and satellites that are to be put into the stratosphere to mine said coins and beam them either up and/or down, and complete with visual aides and Q&A sessions, I walked away seeing how all the parts could conceivably be put together to make such a vision a reality. Read the whitepaper here.
Now, while I spent a few years of my life in IT Business Development, I’m not a developer by any means. That said, I really was impressed with the team I met there. Not only was their technical competence made clear during the Q&A sessions I attended, but I was also made aware of Keith Smith's passion for Liberty as was made apparent by his efforts to get Nexus to sponsor this year's End the Fed rally in Philadelphia (using Bitcoin!) and his alignment with Anarchist/Libertarian Hip Hop act Corrected Axion, which led to their performing at this year’s conference. Preston Smith (no relation) did a great job of intellectually holding our hands while he fielded questions from the ever inquisitive Ernest Hancock of Freedom Phoenix Radio regarding the technical features and benefits). I also had the fortune of socializing with Colin when we walked down the street from Bootsy Bellows where the Grand Finale (including a pretty impressive film festival and talented DJs) was being held, to Belly Up where world renowned DJ Z-Trip was performing. My impression after watching his presentation the previous day regarding the SHA-3 and 3D Blockchain and getting to spend a little bit of time with him on a dance floor is that he’s a potentially brilliant guy whose cranial gears are sometimes spinning at such a velocity that it’s difficult to slow them down enough to get them to exit his mouth at a decipherable speed. Super energetic, with sincere passion for the project and an extraordinary mind I found myself having faith in his work ethic and vision and felt even more comfortable with my decision to invest.
Such an amazing weekend was aesthetically enhanced by the changing of the leaves and a light frosting of snow that appeared the last evening of the conference and the gorgeous drive to and from for all attendants. I even saw a bear and her cubs while walking to my car as the sun set that Friday evening. To call it gorgeous would fail to do it justice. And most would agree that to go through the pass that time of year is quite the visual, and heart warming, journey indeed.
In conclusion, it was one of my favorite weekends ever, and I’ve had more than a handful of epic ones. I have no doubt that the weight and ripples of the history I witnessed in Aspen will only become more apparent as time passes, cryptocurrency gains mass adoption, Bitcoin and Nexus continue to rise in value and the systems which have enslaved mankind for so long become less and less relevant as the blockchain continues to decentralize their functions and commoditize trust. Unlike the Ron Paul R3volution of 2012 however, it seems that we might just be victorious. As to what exactly that looks like it’s still hard to tell but Central Banks and remittance systems in the future, may just be things of the past. They’ll be like extinct dinosaurs that we have to explain to our children as they wear incredulous expressions on their faces. So that being the case, the future, minus all the other entropy and false flag fuckery that surrounds us, might just be so bright that yes, we’ll have to wear shades. Big ones. That light at the end of the tunnel might just not be a train after all.