I refused to watch the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. When I woke up today I morbidly joked that the debate went something like this:
Trump: I promise to violate more constitutional rights!
Clinton: No, I will violate more rights!
Trump: I can start more wars and kill more people!
Clinton: Yes but I am more experienced at wars and killing people!
A bit exaggerated perhaps, but certainly true at its core. All candidates participating in this election cycle are simply actors pretending to care about our privacy and constitutional rights. They have been actors for decades. They tell a majority of voters what they want to hear in order to get in office, then it’s “party time!” When they get in office, it’s time to spend more money, build more bombs, start more wars and destroy the lives of countless people all over the world.
These politicians continue to get their power from the virtually unlimited spending power the US Federal Government has. They obtain their funds through the inflation of the money supply, the taxation of our incomes and ultimately what amounts to outright theft, making it nearly impossible for our votes to make even a small amount of difference in how the policies of the US Government will change.
But what if there is a better way to vote? What if our financial choices have a tangible and direct impact on the Government’s ability to tax and spend? And what if that way is simply “voting with our wallets?” With our cryptocurrency wallets?
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have changed the world a few years ago with the revolutionary idea of building a currency that is digital, anonymous and fungible. All these attributes were the original goals of Bitcoin when it was proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto, its creator. While Bitcoin failed on technical grounds, it has become a massive financial success and is now the “gold standard” for digital currencies. But do not fear, where Bitcoin failed, new contenders are jumping in to resolve the technical problems.
Monero is now the currency that Bitcoin wanted to be; Monero allows for anonymous transactions, it is fungible and offers much faster transactions than the Bitcoin network. These attributes give this cryptocurrency the ability to subvert government surveillance and tracking of financial transactions, making is a reasonable third choice for voters.
But how does using a cryptocurrency map to a vote cast during an election? Well, here is how.
As I already mentioned, governments use my money and your money to pay for what often amounts as criminal activities. Whether it is unsanctioned wars, outright murder, building prisons for political reasons, or support of the military-industrial complex, it is all paid through taxation or inflation. Cryptocurrencies allow us to subvert both taxation and inflation, giving us a principled choice in opting out of supporting a political system which many no longer see as viable or moral.
Users of cryptocurrencies have the wonderful option of opting out of voting for what many see as corrupt candidates and opting to use a currency that does not provide direct or indirect financial support to these candidates, and should enough of us use untraceable and anonymous currencies for financial transactions, we may literally see an end to wars and government waste.
Yes, I realize this is a bit ambitious, but choosing a principled path will ultimately give each one of us the satisfaction of making the right choice and refusing to participate in a system which furthers violence, corruption, war and death.
So forget Trump and Hillary, and vote for Crypto this year!