Bitcoin Lets Us All Be Guy Fawkes – Bitcoin Magazine
This is an opinion editorial by Alex Lielacher, founder and CEO of Rise Up Media, a content marketing firm for Bitcoin startups.
The Guy Fawkes mask – popularized by the film “V For Vendetta” – has become a symbol of resistance to the state, worn by anti-government protesters of all factions. Bitcoiners have also taken up the mask, highlighting Bitcoin’s own struggle against the powers that control and benefit from the corrupt fiat currency monetary system.
Now that it’s the fifth of November, here’s a reminder that Bitcoin is more than numbers-go-up technology. At its core, it is a monetary revolution that has the potential to change the world forever.
Why does Britain celebrate the fifth of November?
“Remember, remember, the fifth of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgotten.”
Ask anyone in Britain about Guy Fawkes and they will most likely quote you this poem. The fifth of November is a day when we commemorate one of the most notorious acts of rebellion against the state on European soil. On 5 November 1605, a group of followers of the Roman Catholic Church attempted to blow up Parliament and kill King James I. The leader of the plot, Robert Catesby, along with his four co-conspirators – Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy, John Wright and the infamous Guy Fawkes – was angered by King James’ refusal to grant Catholics more religious toleration.
Through this plot they hoped that the confusion which would follow the murder of the king, his ministers and members of parliament would provide an opportunity for the English Catholics to take over the country.
However, their plan didn’t work.
They were caught and later hanged for treason. Their action resulted in even more punishment against the Catholic Church. In January 1606, the British Parliament established November 5 as a day of public thanksgiving.
Today we celebrate November 5th as Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night by lighting bonfires, setting off fireworks and carrying ‘Guys’ through the streets wearing the ever so familiar Guy Fawkes mask.
The Changing Symbolism of Guy Fawkes Mask
The cartoon and later the movie “V For Vendetta” made the Guy Fawkes mask a symbol with many different meanings.
It is no longer just memorabilia for the fifth of November, but a symbol against power, corruption and the state apparatus, as well as a means of protecting your identity in an age of ubiquitous surveillance.
One of the most obvious symbols on the mask is the rebellion against the powers that be.
Throughout the film “V For Vendetta”, the character V’s identity is never revealed. There was no need to know who he was. The plot of the graphic novel actually goes a step further and exploits V’s facelessness to promote anarchy in hopes of creating a leaderless New World Order.
This vision is one that many protesters or anarchists also share. Whether they are hacktivist collectives such as Anonymous, which are concerned with exposing corruption and abuse of power, or protesters against state tyranny in Venezuela, India, Bahrain or Nigeria. Once they don the mask, they become not only a protester against power, but also a symbol for others to follow their lead. A person alone with the mask on their face is meaningless, but when a collective first puts on the mask, it becomes the symbol against tyranny.
Obviously, there is a guard to protect one’s privacy as well, which is why you see so many Guy Fawkes masks at protests. And this also blends into online culture.
Satoshi Nakamoto is without a doubt one of the most famous anonymous activists of the last 20 years. In fact, one of the most portrayed versions of Nakamoto is as someone wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and hoodie. As V in the film, it was Nakamoto who launched a vendetta with the financial world.
They did not seek revenge by hacking the legacy financial system, but rather by creating a system where everyone is able to trade freely. Once the project was large enough and able to live on its own, Nakamoto left, never to return, thus promoting the idea of a movement without any leaders – a leaderless opposition to the fiat monetary system.
One of the main aspects of Bitcoin is its ability to separate money from the state. This separation is what unites bitcoiners with protesters on the streets of Venezuela, hacktivists online and Guy Fawkes back in 1605. All had or have the goal of dethroning powerful institutions for a better and freer society.
Why Anon Bitcoiners Wear Guy Fawkes Mask
The Guy Fawkes mask is not only a symbol against tyranny, but also a protective shield to hide your identity. And anonymity is a big part of Bitcoin culture.
Anon Bitcoiners want to protect themselves from the establishment, and the possible consequences of having their identity tied to a technology that has the potential to overturn existing monetary structures that benefit the few in power.
While Bitcoin is slowly being integrated into the legacy financial system, increasing its legitimacy with governments, regulators, and big banks, the potential for a ban – as Bitcoin is a way to circumvent the upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) surveillance – is there. device — remains a threat.
History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
If you look at what happened to gold in the United States in 1933, where citizens were essentially robbed of their gold holdings, it would be foolish to think that similar plans do not also exist for Bitcoin.
Now one can say that as long as you have your private keys and secure your wallet in a multisig structure, not much can happen. That may be true for your bitcoin. But the fact that your identity is tied to a potentially soon-to-be-banned technology poses a risk.
Anons are able to opt out of that dystopia by wearing a metaphorical Guy Fawkes mask and remaining anonymous. They cut off their real personas from their online personas so they can continue to remain unconnected to Bitcoin by name.
Remember, in the future, CBDCs will exist and will likely emerge as the main monitoring tool for the establishment. That’s another reason why the mask became an anti-establishment symbol, whether in the Bitcoin space or in activist groups like Anonymous.
All these different groups are willing to stand up to tyranny by “putting on the mask”.
Symbols are only effective if enough people stand up for them. A single Guy Fawkes mask is worthless. But if thousands of people wear them at protests or have them in their online profile pictures, they are able to put pressure on the establishment.
Statements like “Bitcoin is a peaceful revolution” or “Fix the money, fix the world” have the goal of peaceful anarchy or revolution in them. They don’t want to kill or destroy innocent lives. That’s what the establishment does with its endless proxy wars. The aim is to inform citizens and give power back to the individual.
Is Bitcoin Fiat Monetary System’s Powder Plot?
The simple answer to this question is yes, absolutely.
However, Bitcoiners are not planning to blow up Parliament. While I’m sure there are Bitcoiners living under truly tyrannical governments who could work to overthrow their governments, Bitcoiners want to change the world peacefully, without bloodshed or physical harm to anyone.
In “V For Vendetta” and the gunpowder plot from 1605, the goal was to overthrow the existing power structure at any cost. The characters were willing to sacrifice human life to see the change they envisioned. This is very different from Bitcoin.
Bitcoin does not need a violent uprising. Bitcoin is the riot. Bitcoin itself is a peaceful revolution. There is no need to physically occupy Wall Street or hold bank employees hostage in a robbery. All anyone needs to do to take part in the Bitcoin revolution is to become part of the Bitcoin network by running a node and spreading awareness of the power that Bitcoin has to change the world.
Bitcoin is antifragile, hard to change and secure by design. These characteristics are the powder of Bitcoin. There were many attempts to change its fundamentals – Blocksize Wars, for example – but none of the attackers succeeded in their attempts.
Bitcoin’s core of believers adhered to Nakamoto’s vision, a vision that lives on today. Everyone on Earth has the opportunity to take part in the Bitcoin network, benefiting from its ability to enable anyone to store, send and receive value without censorship or the need to ask for approval. That’s why the establishment fears it.
The establishment does not want you to own anything. The members are the ones who tell you what to eat, drink and spend your hard earned money on. If you don’t obey, it will enforce new rules or shut you down by checking your bank account. This is why CBDCs are so dangerous, as they could theoretically give this establishment complete control over all your financial transactions.
Just by owning and using bitcoin, you don’t have to follow these rules. You have the option to opt out.
If there’s one thing the Gunpowder Plot or “V For Vendetta” has taught us, it’s the power of collective minds. The establishment is afraid of more public support for Bitcoin because it knows that once we reach a certain threshold, there will be no going back.
The establishment cannot shut down Bitcoin as a server.
Without realizing it, it has built a monster. It was because of poor financial incentive structures in the past that Nakamoto created Bitcoin. Establishment greed is what got us here.
One by one, from the bottom up, we have risen and continue to give people hope, courage and a vision for a better tomorrow.
Remember, remember, what Bitcoin could really achieve
In the third act of “V For Vendetta”, the character Evey has overcome her fear of death. She knows that there will be no turning back, and the planned revolution on the fifth of November is inevitable, regardless of her own life.
In the real world, the establishment has gotten to where it is today because it has been able to corrupt the system with fiat money. If it ever needed more, it could print it. Until today, it was somewhat successful. But time is running out.
You can only print so much money before it starts to inflate. The result of the strict spending is visible now.
Figureheads like Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank or Andrew Bailey of the Bank of England do not know how to stop inflation. They see no other solution than to print more money and throw more money at the problem. However, as we know, it doesn’t work.
Bitcoin fixes this.
Bitcoin’s limited supply, combined with its disinflationary monetary policy, allows holders to hedge against the long-term effects of inflation. But that’s not all.
Bitcoin is also freedom money. It allows anyone in the world to participate in a new monetary system without the shackles of the fiat currency apparatus. No ruler, no regulator and no bank can lock you out of bitcoin as long as you have your own keys.
That is the true power of Bitcoin. It gives us financial sovereignty and the power to choose our own destiny.
This is a guest post by Andrew Lielacher. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
