Thomas Paine's "Common Sense," published in 1776, argued for American independence from British rule. Paine dismantles the legitimacy of the monarchy and hereditary succession while advocating for the creation of a democratic republic. His work resonated deeply with the settlers, galvanizing public sentiment towards revolution and significantly influencing the course of American history.
Here, we've adapted Paine's call to action for the 21st century, dismantling the legitimacy of the central banks while advocating for the creation of the network state.
The ideas here aren't popular yet. People are used to thinking the system works. They get angry when you say it doesn't. But time changes more minds than logic. Central banks have abused their power for too long. This has caused people to start asking questions. Questions they wouldn't have asked otherwise. For decades, the banks have gone too far. They crossed lines and now they are trying to control everything.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, even Dogecoin.
All of the crypto colonies. They all have the right to refuse. To say no to the central banks and their minions. No to their control. No to their abuse of power. In the pages that follow, we only offer facts. Simple arguments. Common sense. We ask just one thing of the reader. Put aside your biases. Let go of your preconceptions. Allow your reason and your emotions to make the decision for you.
Society is always good. Government is a necessary evil at best. At worst, it's unbearable. When we suffer from the government's monetary abuses, it's worse than suffering without a government at all. Because we know we're providing the means for our own suffering.
Central control of money is the final form of total tyranny. When central banks control the creation and use of fiat money for the government, people are not free. Their financial lives and how they exchange and keep value are controlled by far-away central planners.
These planners devalue people's money and change the money supply to make themselves rich, pay for wars, save their friends, and use their power however they want. The idea that a small group of unelected officials should have total power over the money we use every day is an insult to freedom.
Many in crypto still hope for reform. They think the financial system can be convinced to accept crypto. To respect economic freedoms. To coexist with decentralized digital money. They believe following rules, working with bankers and politicians, or convincing the public will create a sanctioned space for crypto. A space where it can thrive as one option among many.
But this is a fantasy. Central bankers and their political and corporate allies believe in centralized control. They can't allow a huge, global financial system that ignores borders and doesn't submit to any authority. They have to tighten their grip. Introduce CBDCs. Suppress crypto with regulations and policing. Or co-opt it and absorb it back into their fiat system.
Central bankers and their enablers are too proud and power-hungry. The chance to have total monetary control through CBDCs is too tempting. The more crypto advocates beg for legitimacy from those in power, the bolder they get in their monetary tyranny. Reconciliation is pointless when dealing with a centralized group that believes they have the absolute right to control money. Their power relies on our dependence.
What then is the path forward for the crypto community? There is only one: Declare our monetary independence and mean it. Build and use open, borderless, decentralized networks of digital money and finance that explicitly reject the sovereignty of central banks and governments.
Develop tools and platforms that empower individuals to seize back control over their own economic lives. Forge our own fiscal policies, monetary policies, and governance based on code and consensus, not the arbitrary whims of self-interested bureaucrats. In short, exit and build.
We have deluded ourselves for too long thinking that reform is right around the corner. It is not. It will never be. If we want economic freedom, we must take it for ourselves. We must declare independence not just in word, but in action. We must develop and adopt technologies that empower us to secede from the realm of fiat money and central banking without asking for permission.
Fiat is a jealous and vengeful master. So long as we depend on it and grovel to the powers behind it, we will never be free. Independence means fully embracing the tools of cryptography and decentralized networks to secure our own monetary sovereignty as individuals, understanding that doing so is a revolutionary act that is fundamentally incompatible with incumbent power.
We must declare independence, but are we ready for what comes next? Are we strong enough to face the coming attack from angry rulers and central bankers fighting to keep their monetary power? I say we are more than strong enough.
The crypto community has built strong decentralized networks. They've been tested by attacks. We've learned from past mistakes. They can be a solid foundation for a new financial system. With Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other open crypto protocols, we already have the core monetary and financial rails we need. More wallets, DeFi platforms, DEXes, stablecoins, and applications keep emerging. They give us more tools to store and move value without permission on a global scale.
The value secured by the crypto community is already in the trillions of dollars. It shows our collective economic power. We have a huge connected network of developers, entrepreneurs, investors, and advocates dedicated to building our own decentralized financial world. Every day, more people around the world are moving their financial lives to crypto.
The crypto realm is still smaller than the current financial powers. But we're no longer a fringe curiosity. We are technologically advanced and economically important. We have the technical and financial means to stand on our own. The financial freedom we claim for ourselves will be backed by the clear utility and resilience of the systems we're building in the open.
The time has come for the global crypto community to declare our monetary independence clearly. For too long, too many of us have naively hoped that reform is possible. That those who have gained huge power and wealth by controlling money can be persuaded by reason or popular pressure to give up control and let us use the money we want. But it should be clear to anyone who looks that such reform is impossible.
The only path left is the path of exit. We must leave government fiat and build our own decentralized monetary networks and financial systems. This is how we secure our own sovereignty as individuals. We must use cryptography and open networks to make our independence a technological fact that no central authority can change, no matter how much they complain. And we must do it now, not just with words, but with action.
We have the technology. We have the combined economic strength. We have a growing community worldwide. But most importantly, we have the moral obligation. If we don't use the chance Satoshi's innovation gave us to free ourselves from centralized monetary tyranny, our children and grandchildren will never let us forget it. The opportunity to create a more just and free financial system that empowers individual sovereignty is here for the taking. The only question is whether we'll take it. As for me, I say full speed ahead, no matter what. Independence now and forever.
Chris Campbell and Xenofon
