Let’s compare and contrast Bitcoin theology with Bible theology.
Here’s an excerpt from the Republic:
mircea_popescu: the fantasy the empire is living is that "nobody can be poor enough to starve".i the only meaning of which is, "nobody can have any incentive to hold anything besides bitcoin".ii
ckang: anything material has to be thrown out, sold, etc...
mircea_popescu: quite a lulzy implementation of the whole "do not build yourself perishable treasures" meme.
ckang: heh not familiar with that one
mircea_popescu: really ? it's the cornerstoneiii of "protestant" ideology.
as in, the xtianiv sect.
ckang: im not well read in theology by any means
i just know that they are christianv
mircea_popescu: so you never heard of "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." and all that ?
it's a xtian thing, "gospel by matthew". here : https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A19-34&version=NIVvi
ckang: ive mostly just lived under the "cant take it to the grave or regret it when dead" idea
mircea_popescu: technically bitcoin you can't take to grave either, the passive result of dead keys is a slight increase in the value of circulating bitcoin.
but whether this properly means you have taken it or you haven't taken it is very much an open question of metaphysics, "what is the meaning of taking".vii
- He goes on to cite the Bible, as if “the empire” is composed of people who believe it. The assumption being that people in government are actively trying to live out God’s Word. In truth, God makes His Word a reality, even using the wicked to accomplish it. If Mircea were to succeed in forming a world in which the poor starve to death en-masse, he would be doing the will of God, perhaps in accordace with the post-rapture tribulation prophesied in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 6:7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
- I think what he means here is: the method by which “the empire” keeps the poor from starving is by printing money, as indicated further on in the chat. Since bitcoin has a hard limit of 21 million, it’s likely to increase in value relative to the ever increasing supply of dollars. ↩
- Actually, Jesus Christ is the corner stone:
Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- He means “Christian.” ↩
- They aren’t. ↩
- He linked the NIV version, but I prefer NKJV, which goes:
Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - As in, take it with you to have yourself, or take it from the world so that others can not have. ↩