GM Bitcoiners,
We seem to have more ‘things’ than ever, but what do you actually own?
Debt and payment plans are so easy that we rarely outright own even the smaller ticket items upfront—I’ve seen people use the ‘buy now, pay later’ option on £20 items.
Heck, despite my Bitcoin obsession, I’m paying off braces, a phone and random bits of tech equipment. Getting something for nothing originally is tempting and convenient for many of us. Still, it can become a liability and enable people to live beyond their means regarding bigger purchases such as cars and houses. Many people end up juggling these payments to get everything before they can really afford it; sometimes they know they will never own these items.
You can’t even blame people, to be honest, the alternative for most is trying to save money that isn’t designed for being saved. It isn’t even designed for you to own. It’s lent out.
It’s almost like living on a subscription. I suppose this sort of feeds into the somewhat dystopian WEF plan for the ‘ideal future’ –
“You will own nothing, and you will be happy”
Someone’s got to own something… it just won’t be you.
It all comes back to the money.
The money that we use to rent new items isn’t really ours. The money itself has someone’s face printed on it. It is created and ‘owned’ by the government… it is then held and ‘loaned’ to your bank. We’re at the bottom, asking for permission from your bank to use someone else’s money.
Even most of the rich don’t often own things directly because it’s not convenient for tax reasons. Everyone seems to be borrowing something from someone else, even if it’s their own company. It’s pretty messy.
It’s got me thinking lately… what else can you truly own like Bitcoin?
You never have the Bitcoin.
But if you hold your keys correctly, that Bitcoin cannot be confiscated (without serious coercion, and even then, there are options).
There’s also something to be said for taking responsibility over something you own vs rent. If you don’t have skin in the game, you’re less likely to pay attention.
You have no control, so why have any responsibility?
Owning your Bitcoin gives you full authority over your money, which makes you more responsible for how it’s used.
Forgetting all the other great features of Bitcoin, being able to truly OWN exclusive access to that value is powerful in the modern age. It’s not the same with gold, as Bitcoin is information.
Laws can be changed to take property people technically own (just look at countries with capital controls), but taking someone’s Bitcoin by law isn’t the same. This old headline from Reuters says it all really…
If you don’t have the keys, ownership has not been transferred.
Not that you should be messing around with the law, but it’s an interesting example and could play out in countries where citizens typically have fewer rights with minimal ownership laws.
Just some food for thought.
Do you OWN your Bitcoin?
The first thing you want to do after you’ve auto-saved sats from FastBitcoins is to take ownership. Don’t forget the importance of this step and the responsibility that comes from having authority over your value.
