How Bitcoin Can Enrich Our Interior Lives

This is a viewpoint editorial by Logan Bolinger, a legal representative and the author of a complimentary weekly newsletter about the intersection of Bitcoin, macroeconomics, geopolitics and law.”Im more thinking about asking the concern, is the world that we want to reside in one where we need to hyperfinancialize every aspect of a persons life since monetary conditions on a macro level are such that you have to financialize your whole being in order to maintain or get ahead? Is that truly a victory for democracy and for the kind of psycho-spiritual wellbeing of all of us and the lives we wish to live? Versus something like Bitcoin, thats a definancializing force that generally says because we think a world might be better where youre actually able to save cash and you dont simply need to invest it or go speculate or invest on some things, would that open methods for you to feel more satisfied or pleased as a person and would you then have the ability to pursue other things? I believe eventually the end of Bitcoin is that we all believe jointly less about money and more about other things that were interested in.”I made these declarations on a current episode of the “What Bitcoin Did” podcast in a conversation about Bitcoin and the ways I believe it can catalyze positive changes in our interior lives, as contrasted with the modern state of Web 3. We frequently discuss and theorize the methods which Bitcoin can improve or reconfigure our external truths, whether they be political, financial, legislative, etc. But I do not think sufficient attention is paid to how Bitcoin can initiate a likewise monumental improving of our interior lives, a process which, in the aggregate, can result in a trickling up of concerns and values.I want to speak about 2 various conceptions of liberty to highlight why I think we fixate so much on one of them. When folks explain themselves as “freedom maximalists,” theyre mainly describing the idea of unfavorable freedom, a liberty from intrusive external restraints. This kind of flexibility is undoubtedly of essential, paramount value. Without freedom from certain external restraints, significant pursuit of self-realization, what we would describe as positive liberty, is tough, if not difficult to pursue.We tend to get so focused on the negative flexibility aspects of Bitcoin that we fail to fully value the positive liberty that Bitcoin facilitates. Which is to state we get so fixated en routes in which Bitcoin precludes external invasions or restraints (liberty from) that we do not check out the ways in which Bitcoin can produce an environment that enables us to more carefully pursue the max expression of our selves (liberty to). [N.B. for my humanities/philosophy buddies: Yes, I am making use of the work of Isaiah Berlin with these positive/negative freedom terms] I would argue that flexibility maximalism is not sustainably satisfying long-lasting, due to the fact that its not really an end state. Its a required liminal posture, a method to achieving a particular environment in which favorable liberty can be proficiently exercised. However, negative flexibility without positive flexibility is like having a limitless number of television channels however no concept what you wish to view. Its like having the flexibility to pursue anything you desire with no way of determining what you in fact desire to pursue or whats worth pursuing.Americans are especially attuned to concepts of unfavorable liberty, but not especially proficient when it comes to positive freedom. We can see this everywhere, consisting of in the Bitcoin area. If one earns a living, builds a following, or crafts an entire identity around being a “freedom maximalist,” ones livelihood and sense of self depends on the continuing presence of external constraints for one to decry. One can unintentionally (and primarily unconsciously) become the bird that has grown to love its cage, as author Lewis Hyde as soon as composed of irony.So while freedom maximalism (negative liberty) is critically important, we should also prioritize and pursue what my spouse has appropriately coined intentionality maximalism (favorable liberty), which is a viewpoint and a lifestyle in our interior lives. Bitcoin does not get sufficient credit for its capability and its potential to foster this type of inward-looking change.What does intentionality maximalism look like in our daily experience of life? One prominent example is our relationship with the unbridled consumerism endemic in a fiat monetary system.Allow me to share some statistics that highlight simply how distorted this relationship has ended up being: Per the Los Angeles Times, there are 300,000 items in the typical American home.Per NPR, the average size of the American house has almost tripled in size over the past 50 years.Nevertheless, one out of every 10 Americans lease offsite storage, which is the fastest growing segment of the industrial property industry over the past 4 decades.British research found that the typical 10-year-old owns 238 toys however has fun with just 12 daily.The average American family spends $1,700 on clothing each year, while also discarding, usually, 65 pounds of clothing per year.You understand. There is almost no end to the information showing the absurd amount of shit we own and the growing area (mental and physical) that this shit occupies.Americans are consuming more than ever.Source: FREDDespite their buying power not meaningfully growing.Source: U.S. Bureau Of Labor StatisticsWhat explains this? One aspect is that we measure our financial health by how much we invest, a singularly fiat and Keynesian way of evaluating economic vigor. Customer costs is roughly 70% of GDP. If we spend less, the metric we use to gauge economic health drops.Theres also the reality that we see more ads than ever.But, most importantly, theres a widespread high time preference that is, I believe, part of the really material of our culture.Heres where I think Bitcoin comes into play. Much of this rat-race orgy of intake is high-time-preference habits incentivized by the fiat monetary system, which guarantees your cash loses value over time. Given that your buying power is sand in an hourglass, and considering that you work more difficult than ever simply to keep up, customer spending serves both an useful and a calming purpose. Simply put, we are incentivized to spend because not spending or investing indicates our money simply loses and sits worth. And if we work so hard, a lot of us at tasks we do not especially take pleasure in, just to maintain, should not we also buy all the brand-new cool things to make us feel like its all worth it?If we remove ourselves from a few of the rat race stuff it clears area for us to believe less about money, which indicates we can be more intentional about whatever else. Hence the idea of intentionality maximalism. We sort of reclaim our positive freedom, our flexibility to pursue the highest expression of ourselves. Bitcoin, in my opinion, is eventually about looking for a sustainable alternative to the rat-race model.Its actually a contrast of values. Consumerism is a value of the fiat system. It is both actually a worth, given that we determine financial health in large part by measuring intake, and also an instilled mode of habits. By disincentivizing meaningless, reflexive consumption and incentivizing a lower time preference, Bitcoin, if it continues to grow in adoption, provides the pledge of a cultural foregrounding of deeper things, like fulfilling pursuits, relationships, creativity, contribution to community, presence, etc.When it comes to this interior transformation, this intentionality maximalism, and the methods which Bitcoin moves us because direction, I think Bitcoin shares some fundamental principles with minimalism, a motion that has deep, ancient roots, however has actually been collecting more popular momentum in the last decade or two. Supporters of minimalism, conscious of the constraints uncontrolled consumerism can put on our lived experience, pursue lives with fewer unused, unneeded possessions in order to reclaim flexibility and proficiency over ones life and the area to pursue whats important. Which is to state the pursuit of a more intentional life.Joshua Fields Millburn, co-founder of theminimalists.com, explains minimalism as “the thing that gets us past the things so we can make room for lifes crucial things– which arent things at all.”The pledge of Bitcoin, to borrow Millburns expression, is to be the cash that, through its stability, permits us to get previous thinking of money all the time so that we can make space for lifes crucial things – which tend to get lost, overlooked, and/or compromised in consumption and the systemically persuaded pursuit of more and more money.We invest a lot time considering money (how to get it, how to get more of it, how to make it grow, how to stay up to date with inflation, how to invest it, how to spend it, what to spend it on, how to get rich quick, how to foot the bill, etc). And to a specific extent this will constantly be true. I am not advocating for the Platonic type of communism here.But when cash does not hold its value, when it is constantly debased, when the sovereign financial obligation is so massive it must be inflated away, and when the financial health of a country is determined by how much it takes in, it produces an environment in which cash is practically all we believe about.This is why I have been so critical/skeptical of a few of the propositions in other corners of the crypto world, many of which appear to be seeking to financialize every corner of our lives. I think this perpetuates, and maybe magnifies, our high-time-preference environment.In contrast, the implications and downstream effects of collectively lowering our time preference, which I believe necessarily involves less consumerism, just can not be downplayed. Envision a whole population lastly able to conserve in a sound cash and to spend more energy and time on the things that indicate the most to them.Now, once again, Im not envisioning a utopian end-state here where were all singing tunes around the campfire (though I do delight in tunes and campfires). Im discussing returning some headspace and some existence back to folks who have, by requirement, grown accustomed to investing every waking moment considering money and intake. Im speaking about a change of our interior lives, one that clears area for more deliberate living. And I think an under-appreciated element of Bitcoin is its prospective to catalyze such a transformation.So be a freedom maximalist, because its crucial. Dont stop there, because that alone will not keep you full, long-lasting. Be an intentionality maximalist, too.Many individuals live lives like this – obliged, constrained, and unintended within a fiat system: HappinessI think Bitcoin is about getting away this.This is a guest post by Logan Bolinger. Opinions revealed are completely their own and do not always show those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

When folks explain themselves as “liberty maximalists,” theyre mainly referring to the concept of unfavorable flexibility, a flexibility from intrusive external restrictions. Without flexibility from particular external restrictions, significant pursuit of self-realization, what we would refer to as favorable liberty, is tough, if not difficult to pursue.We tend to get so focused on the negative liberty elements of Bitcoin that we stop working to totally value the favorable flexibility that Bitcoin assists in. Which is to say we get so fixated on the methods in which Bitcoin prevents external invasions or restrictions (liberty from) that we dont explore the methods in which Bitcoin can create an environment that allows us to more rigorously pursue the maximum expression of our selves (flexibility to). Its like having the liberty to pursue anything you want without any way of determining what you really want to pursue or whats worth pursuing.Americans are particularly attuned to concepts of unfavorable flexibility, however not particularly proficient when it comes to favorable freedom. One can unwittingly (and mainly subconsciously) end up being the bird that has grown to love its cage, as author Lewis Hyde as soon as wrote of irony.So while liberty maximalism (negative flexibility) is vitally important, we ought to also prioritize and pursue what my better half has actually aptly created intentionality maximalism (favorable flexibility), which is a perspective and a method of living in our interior lives.