The Bushido of Bitcoin with Aleks Svetski - WBD639
The Peter McCormack Show
Peter McCormack
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2023
⏱️ 97 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Aleks Svetski is an entrepreneur, author and Bitcoin advocate. In this interview, we discuss his upcoming book "The Bushido of Bitcoin". We cover the negative impacts of wealth, how Bitcoiners can mitigate such negative influences by becoming virtuous and disciplined, and why famous warrior classes are examples to follow.
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It seems like we're entering another bull run. If it is sustained and we enter another cycle, Bitcoin's price appreciation will be matched by reappraisals of the hyperbitcoinisation thesis. Can it replace the role of stores of value? Can it become a new global monetary reserve? Will it become a prevalent medium of exchange?
Whilst all these questions are important, there one area of discussion doesn't get adequately debated: what do Bitcoiners do if and when their place within society becomes elevated? Material personal benefits will be offset by newfound responsibilities. If they are to be the flag bearers of the change Bitcoin promises, how should Bitcoiners behave?
Aleks Svetski tackles this issue in his soon-to-be-released book 'The Bushido of Bitcoin". Bushido is the samurai moral code. The word literally means "warrior way". The samurai were Japanese nobility, and Bushido adhered them to follow various virtues (honour, honesty, self-control, loyalty, compassion, respect, righteousness and courage). It has had a lasting impact on Japanese culture.
The importance of Bushido in the modern context is that elites now operate outside of any moral code. Post war liberal society has developed a system of norms, where expected behaviours have not been codified into law. Increasingly, elites have exploited these norms: if it isn't illegal, then it's okay. The roots of societal decay can be extrapolated from this situation.
What is needed is a new moral code. It could be argued that Bitcoin maximalists have been developing such a moral framework for Bitcoiners. But, it is important to take a step back and understand the tenets of a moral code first before defining which actions should be encouraged or discouraged. In essence, what should the Bushido of Bitcoin be?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Now that we're in a time of peace and we don't need war anymore and war is bad and all that sort of stuff, |
| 0:12.0 | we can do away with the whole |
| 0:13.5 | warrior culture the warrior ideology and what do we become? We become |
| 0:16.8 | fast-slobs who don't believe in reputation or morality or honor or any |
| 0:21.4 | of that sort of stuff and then the world decays and turns into shit. |
| 0:24.0 | Hello there, how are you all? You have a good week. I've got our boy Danny sat here next to me. He's |
| 0:29.3 | flown over from Australia. We're working on the next one of the show. For the next two weeks we're going to |
| 0:33.6 | be recording here in Sunny Bedford. |
| 0:35.8 | The data's got a whole new studio set up done. So you'll see that on YouTube. |
| 0:39.4 | You'll see some differences coming up soon. Anyway, welcome to the What Bitcoin did |
| 0:43.6 | podcast which is brought to you by Gemini the only place I'm using for buying |
| 0:47.0 | Bitcoin. I'm your host Peter McCormack and today I've got Alex Svetsky back on the |
| 0:50.8 | show and it's been a while since Alex has been on the |
| 0:53.4 | show but he DM me recently told me he's turning his back on the toxic |
| 0:56.9 | Bitcoin culture I wanted to come on the show and talk about this and he's also |
| 1:00.6 | been working on another book called the Bishido of Bitcoin. |
| 1:04.0 | Basically, it's a moral code for Bitcoiners. |
| 1:06.4 | So when he came into London, we sat down, we booked a studio, we got into it, we tackled this subject |
| 1:11.4 | and why he feels there's need for |
| 1:12.8 | Bitcoin is to be better than those that came before them. Now in this show |
| 1:16.3 | Alex does mention a pre-sale which will no longer be happening and also we |
| 1:20.4 | talk about we not drinking I'm clearly back drinking I've lost my bet on |
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