BITCOIN + HUMAN RIGHTS

In 2021, Alex Gladstein Helped Us Explore Bitcoin’s Moral Imperative
By Level39

Perhaps no contributor to Bitcoin Magazine has explored the moral and ethical imperative of Bitcoin more extensively than Alex Gladstein.

Gladstein is the chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation and he has also served as vice president of strategy for the Oslo Freedom Forum since its inception in 2009. His unique ability to paint a detailed picture of economic hardships that individuals face throughout the world has further opened the eyes of so many people this year. The mission of Bitcoin, as a tool for hope and furthering human freedom, is becoming more apparent to a wider audience, thanks to his contributions. It would be a missed opportunity not to review his seminal works that have illustrated the need for Bitcoin as an open and neutral global money for humanity.

Works In Review

In April, Gladstein published “Bitcoin Is A Trojan Horse For Freedom,” which discussed how Bitcoin recruits individuals and nations to become promoters of freedom against tyranny and authoritarianism by triggering innate human emotions of self-preservation and greed — even if one has zero altruism. This is an important introduction to the game theory behind Bitcoin. It’s unwavering mathematics are designed to change each and every one of us for the better. And in this way, we can further human rights across the globe.

His next contribution, “Uncovering The Hidden Costs Of The Petrodollar,” was a deep dive into the tarnished history behind the American dollar’s ascent to global reserve currency status and its toll on foreign policy, energy and the environment. He described how the United States was able to retain unparalleled and outsized economic dominance using an exclusive military pact with Saudi Arabia that led the world into pricing oil in dollars and stockpiling U.S. debt. While Bitcoin’s open transparency makes it an easy target for critics to bemoan its energy consumption, the adverse effects of the dollar are less visible. Gladstein’s essay was a significant step forward in our understanding of why a dollar-based reserve currency is unsustainable and undesirable for nations across the globe.

In May, Gladstein’s essay “Check Your Financial Privilege” recalled anecdotes from emerging markets to illustrate how Bitcoin offers important and valid use cases to those who lack the financial security that many of us take for granted in the Western world.

Those who deride Bitcoin are often blinded to the fact that 87% of the planet lives under autocracy or is forced into untrustworthy currencies. 4.3 billion people live under authoritarianism, and 1.2 billion people live under double- or triple-digit inflation.

STRAPPED WITH DEBT

How Bitcoin Will Save Millennials
By Natalie Brunell

All generations have rich nostalgia for the decade of their childhood. Our coming of age is our purest time. And for the millennials, it’s probably best encapsulated by the 1990s.

The 90s are milk and honey for us. We remain so fond of the music, the TV and cinematic treasures, our first AOL experiences and the quintessentially middle class comfort many of us experienced, whether we fit into the lower or upper levels of that sector.

Despite not being born in the U.S. and immigrating here from Eastern Europe in the early 90s, I remember America feeling safe and my future feeling full of hope. America was the dominant force in the world. The 90s were the peak of American power and influence. Everyone felt proud to be an American.

Millennials didn’t understand it at the time, but the 90s ushered in the most important informational age in history, the birth of the internet and the digitization of the world. The first oligarchs were born out of the software and technology that would eventually touch every aspect of daily lives and businesses.

But the age of innocence was suddenly shattered before our eyes.

THE DAILY BITS

BITCOIN ON THE WORLD STAGE

Wharton Professor: Bitcoin Is The New Gold For Millennials

By Namcios

Bitcoin is acting as a better inflation hedge than gold and has replaced the metal in the minds of younger investors, a senior Wharton professor said in a Friday interview with CNBC.

“Let’s face the fact, I think Bitcoin as an inflation hedge in the minds of many of the younger investors has replaced gold,” Jeremy Siegel said. “I think that the story of gold is a fact that the young generation is regarding Bitcoin as the substitute.”

The professor added that gold’s performance in 2021 has been “disappointing,” in fact the metal’s worst year since 2015. Gold lost 5.81% of its value during 2021, while Bitcoin gained nearly 60%. The S&P 500, in comparison, rose by about 30%.

MEME OF THE DAY