Did you love money before you loved bitcoin? \ stacker news ~bitcoin

Did you love money before you loved bitcoin?

2035 sats \ 29 comments \ @Celeste 12 Jun bitcoin

zaps forwarded to @anon (20%)

I have seen many times enthusiasts of this technology express things like “I love bitcoin <3”. But I don't think they mean they love the money. At least not consciously.

I can understand from a technology point of view that bitcoin is like a magnet and once attracted it can be hard to detach. There is so much to discover and develop. I can understand someone loving money as such, why not. Although the concept of loving money causes me to dislike it, as the image of some greedy billionaire automatically pops into my head.

It is also common, or so it seems, for proponents of libertarian, economic liberal or anarchic tendencies to be attracted to bitcoin. The promises of decentralization, privacy or anonymity are potent. I personally fail to identify with any movement or specific characters or leaders.

Bitcoin is such a strange thing, it generates such contradictory things as these groups based mainly on individualism now want to create community through bitcoin. I think the greed and avarice that inherently accompany money have done enough damage to the world already. For the time being I will be careful about saying I love bitcoin.

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114 sats \ 0 replies \ @MarsIronPI 12 Jun

I’ve loved money ever since I read an excerpt from Atlas Shrugged:

“So you think that money is the root of all evil?”, said Francisco d’Anconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?

When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. It is not the moochers or the looters who give value to money. Not an ocean of tears nor all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor — your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money. Is this what you consider evil?

[…]

Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth — the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him. But you look on and you cry that money corrupted him. Did it? Or did he corrupt his money? Do not envy a worthless heir; his wealth is not yours and you would have done no better with it. Do not think that it should have been distributed among you; loading the world with fifty parasites instead of one would not bring back the dead virtue which was the fortune. Money is a living power that dies without its root. Money will not serve the mind that cannot match it. Is this the reason why you call it evil?

Money is your means of survival. The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men’s vices or men’s stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment’s or a penny’s worth of joy. Then all the things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach; not an achievement, but a reminder of shame. Then you’ll scream that money is evil. Evil, because it would not pinch-hit for your self-respect? Evil, because it would not let you enjoy your depravity? Is this the root of your hatred of money?

[…]

Or did you say it’s the love of money that’s the root of all evil?

To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It’s the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money — and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it.

38 sats \ 0 replies \ @nerd2ninja 12 Jun

To a degree I think that I did. To a point. I don't know if any of you grew up without an allowance, but I remember spending my first dollar. Having your own money means you don't have to beg. It means you aren't just subject to the whims of whatever decisions are made for you. In that sense, I did love money. Then I found out that my savior was just another farce to make me feel as if I had gained independence when really I was just a subject to a new master.

To give an example of why I love Bitcoin, when I thought of charity's before, I thought of them as fools errands. You only make people dependent upon you, and you need some external mechanism to fund your operation. If you do build people up, they leave for opportunities elsewhere and the charity can not self sustain in that way either (it can not continue to help other people).

Then you have Bitcoin. You start to realize, that actually, if you stay within a budget, you can spend for the charity and every year buy the same things always with less Bitcoin, but never out of money. Then, when you build people up, even if they leave for better opportunity, if they are still saving in Bitcoin, they are still helping you indirectly to continue your operation as a charity. Then you look at Bitcoin beach in El Salvador and the self sustained effort of that project and you realize that this really can change the world.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 12 Jun

it generates such contradictory things as these groups based mainly on individualism now want to create community through bitcoin

This is a common misunderstanding. Valuing individual rights in no way implies not valuing community. Most of us hate the state because it destroys our communities, by violating individual rights.

I think "I love Bitcoin" is really about the entire monetary system, rather than the particular sats in ones personal stack.

14 sats \ 0 replies \ @026180d3a3 12 Jun

I don't love money or bitcoin. They are simply tools of trade.

14 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatsMate 12 Jun

I loved money before bitcoin. I am a finance major, and one of the books that I read that made me fall into money was a book called "The Richest Man in Babylon" ... I highly recommend, I still follow the principles to this day, except now with bitcoin haha.

60 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 12 Jun

Not really. The thing that got me interested in money (and by extension, Bitcoin) was becoming a father. I wrote about it here.

28 sats \ 0 replies \ @softglitter2d 12 Jun

Honestly, no.

My version is that I didn't understand money as a tool nor technology. Since I started yo analyze and understand bitcoin, my views about money and technology improved; now that I understand bitcoin, I'm not willing to say that money is something I love rather than respect the concept of it.

I like bitcoin, I don't love it.

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @Mmk 12 Jun

Money's only redeeming quality the accompanying access. I do love that I can do whatever I want whenever. Cryptocurrency is to money what money is to the world. I'm grateful for it. But if it were up to me, the concept of a "financial transaction" would be stricken from our hearts and minds all together.

78 sats \ 1 reply \ @falsefaucet 12 Jun

I love learning. With Bitcoin I'm always learning something new

72 sats \ 0 replies \ @dontforgetthekeys 12 Jun

same here. since bitcoin, i've regained my passion and curiosity for learning. on a more fascinating aspect, it feels like all my learning has been intertwined all along.

39 sats \ 0 replies \ @SwearyDoctor 12 Jun

people who "love money" usually just want self-determination. only that in our societies, the two have become indistinguishable, as you need money to free yourself from a great many social constraints that hold you down if you're poor. bitcoin just doubles down on that.

26 sats \ 0 replies \ @plebpoet 12 Jun

all good points. no love of money in me

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @cristaiji 12 Jun

I wasn’t really interested in money, knew nothing about economics and struggled financially as a result.

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheBTCManual 13 Jun

Run me node. Hide me stack. Hate banks. Simple as.

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @030e0dca83 12 Jun

bitcoin is like a magnet and once attracted it can be hard to detach

But at first you ignore it, than play against it (try to refute it or buy Bitcoin's killers coins) and eventually you get true love after full understanding

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinAbhi 12 Jun

I only love my family and friends. Because I believe, these are the people with whom I can live my life happily. And nothing is more important than happiness in life

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 12 Jun

I love the idea of sound money and separating money from state.

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @john_doe 12 Jun

For me money was a means to an end. I want to eat, I need money. But never I "loved" money for itself, indeed. But are there really people who "love" money for itself? When I go to a foreign country though I am always interested to know what kind of person there is on their paper.

What I love is Bitcoin, not bitcoins. I love the network and what all it enables. Now do I love the decimal numbers written on my wallet? Not so much. In this respect I prefer gold, it shines. My first international payment since the time I got rejected by credit card providers was with Bitcoin Cash (at the time I was confused by the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash). So I am grateful to have a technology which enables me to use a payment network which doesn't exclude me for not satisfying nationality requirements or other shady criteria. I totally understood that for banks I am not worth a normal bank account or a credit card by the way so I don't hate banks either. I have almost everything in Bitcoin so we mutually excluded each other hahaha.

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 12 Jun

Before bitcoin I had an idea about how amazing it would be to have a passive income. I met a few travelers who were able to live cheap in Asia with rent earned from their properties in the west.

This led me into some yielding sh$tcoins later on. It was only when I started to learn more about bitcoin that I came to an understanding about a store of value doesn’t need yield.

Bitcoin is more than money though. It changes everything and so I can see why some people say they love it.

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @TNStacker 12 Jun

Guessing most didn't/don't really know what money was until a deeper dive into Bitcoin. I understand money, because I studied Banking and Finance in college. However, when you learn it from THEM one becomes THEM until enlightenment. I had to use my knowledge, but get rid of the dogmatic bullshit.

Until enlightenment...

Stack Sats and stay humble

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @SpaceHodler 12 Jun

these groups based mainly on individualism now want to create community through bitcoin

A wall of resistance against the violation of individual rights.

Although the concept of loving money causes me to dislike it, as the image of some greedy billionaire automatically pops into my head.

Greed is a response to insecurity, but it's also a powerful driver of civilization. Without greed you wouldn't have the smartphone or PC you wrote this post on. Those things only exist because of greed. It's only greed that makes people work for those torturous FAANG companies.

Yes, I loved money very much before I discovered Bitcoin. Abundance can remove the need to seek employment as a wage slave from one's life and make one independent and free.

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @Balzac 12 Jun

Not the way I love Bitcoin, for sure!

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @riberet19 12 Jun

I have never loved money, money is a tool, which is necessary, I want to have more to give it the use I want to give it, but I do not love it.

4 sats \ 0 replies \ @Manikese 12 Jun

I wouldn’t say that I love money. I love people. It is interesting, I used to only like pets/animals. But the more I learn about myself the more I love people. Sometimes that love comes in the form of acceptance or tolerance.

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @BoJack 13 Jun

Whether money, Bitcoin, or seashells there will always be forces seeking power that will abuse to their fullest extent to achieve that power. Bitcoin is just the latest tool to counter those forces and decentralize those who have been in power since 1913. We look at “money” and the “greedy” boogieman in a negative light in modern times because money is just the tool that has been used for the last century. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s not money the problem, it’s the fact that those psychopathic forces have learned to used the current institutions to their advantage. The “greedy” capitalists don’t love money, they are merely the psychopaths who love power of the current era.

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @Beast_Vstar 13 Jun

I love money because money is our life in current days, I know about Bitcoin it is our future but in current times money is very essential for survival

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @IamSINGLE 13 Jun

You can hate money. That's your perspective. I am not a hater of it. Instead I love it for all the good reasons. It wouldn't have prevailed so much if it were only for negative reasons.

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 12 Jun

Bitcoin has its own category. You cant just categorize it as money, because that would be fiat. Many of us dont want fiat, we are more interested in the bitcoin.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Celeste OP 12 Jun

I read you with great interest. The level of respect is definitely different than in other spaces. Bitcoin is becoming more and more interesting.