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Welcome to the Free Cities podcast. My name is Timothy Allen and this is the official podcast

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of the Free Cities Foundation.

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Hello and welcome to this episode number 151 of the Free Cities podcast.

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Brought to you as always by our wonderful sponsors of the show, Veritas Villages.

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Veritas Villages are freedom-oriented, energy-self-sufficient, luxury communities designed for people who want to enjoy peace of mind and real freedom in these uncertain times.

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How many times have you heard me say that now?

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hopefully it's something you're interested in and you're looking into it on our behalf

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they're a fantastic company to work with they can help you live amongst like-minded neighbors

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in a community that uses bitcoin and you can buy your property with bitcoin as well

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more info as always at veritasvillages.com forward slash free cities it's all in the show notes of

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course and don't forget we've got the prague conference coming up in just a couple of weeks

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and Patrick, the founder of Veritas Villages,

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will be speaking there and hanging out amongst everyone.

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So if you have anything you want to talk to him about

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or any of our other wonderful speakers,

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grab a ticket now, freecitiesconference.com.

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I almost said freecitiespodcast.com.

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We don't actually have that domain yet.

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freecitiesconference.com.

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Formerly Liberty in Our Lifetime, as you may remember,

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but everyone called it the Free Cities Conference.

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So that's what we went with. Look down in the show notes for links to all these things.

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And it's now on to today's show. Right. It's another dispatch from my trip to Riga recently.

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Susie Violet Ward is a financial analyst and journalist who specializes in Bitcoin content.

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You might have seen her commenting on TV news shows like GB News or writing in publications like Forbes.

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Susie is also the CEO and the co-founder of Bitcoin Policy UK.

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Turns out also, I didn't know this one until I looked her up.

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She previously had a column called My Two Sats in City AM.

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Well, there's something I remember.

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I was working in London as a journalist when City AM started.

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It seemed strange at the time because it's an actual newspaper that they give out free on the tube.

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It didn't seem like a good business model at the time because lots of other newspapers,

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physical newspapers were struggling to make any money.

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Anyway, back to the show.

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Here's the AI summary of this episode.

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in quotes what starts as a light-hearted chat about chewing gum for focus quickly evolves into

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a deep thought-provoking conversation about freedom privacy and the future of our digital

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world in this episode Susie and Tim explore the bittersweet reality of living at a time when

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technological innovation and financial revolution coexist with growing surveillance and control

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From the UK's Online Safety Act to digital IDs and the normalization of data collection, they unpack how our modern conveniences may be costing us more than we realize.

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Yet, amid the concerns, they find hope in Bitcoin, in community and in the power of individual action.

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And it finishes.

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If you've ever wondered how to navigate an increasingly authoritarian world without losing your sense of autonomy or your optimism, this episode is a must listen.

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Did you notice I asked Venice, the AI, to be a little bit more engaging with its summaries?

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Did it fail? 50-50 anyway.

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In fact, it mentions a lighthearted chat about chewing gum.

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I actually cut that out the conversation it happened right at the start before we officially started speaking so you won't actually be able to hear that FYI it was neuro gum I don't know whether you've ever heard of that stuff I got I saw it on Joe Rogan a few years ago and he he he was eating it and I managed to track down what the pack what package was I use it at the end of a very long day of recording podcasts like this one when I met Susie.

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I might add also that sometimes when I get together with another Brit, especially when they're a journalist, I do sometimes tend to rant a bit.

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So apologies if I'm ranting at all here. Right.

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Subscribers to the show on Fountain.fm.

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I hope you enjoyed your new bonus episode that I dropped last week.

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There'll be another one coming next week.

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you'll be happy to hear it's a chat I had with Giacomo Zuko on the Plan B forum space he was

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interviewing me about free cities and bitcoin so look out for that one I will be posting it

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next week early in the week hopefully right onto the show and it's time to grab that copy of a

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dusty inky newspaper that's on the seat next to you on the tube then without making eye contact

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with a single person please just settle down pop on your headphones sit back relax

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and enjoy my conversation with Susie Ward

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so do I call you Susie Susie but it's S-U-S-I-E oh is it yeah and the violet bit is that your

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middle name or is that a double bound no it's it's my middle name yeah there's it's um i was

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trying to distinguish well there is a reason why i use the it's a bit of a i don't know if it's a

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boring story my dad my dad's mum's name was violet okay and so they gave me that as a middle name and

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he always used to say to me um i'm really sorry i know you hate your middle name and i was like no

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No, I don't, Dad.

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Anyway, Dad died like 10 years ago before my Bitcoin journey.

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And so I have it there as a tribute because I knew that he would be a Bitcoiner.

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And so therefore, it's my little tribute to Dad to say I don't hate it.

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It's stupid, I know.

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But like, we all do these little things, don't we, I guess.

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At least your name isn't Tim Allen, which is...

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Do you remember Tall Time Tim?

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Well, do you know who that is?

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No.

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Oh, God.

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He's a, well, I mean, he's a very famous actor.

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He used to do this film program called Tool Time in America.

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And I recognize the name Tim Allen.

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I didn't know that that was.

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Well, I changed mine back to Timothy to distinguish myself from that,

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because I used to be a journalist in London.

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And when in the early days of the Internet, if you Google Tim Allen,

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I didn't stand a chance.

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I thought maybe if I make it Timothy and it kind of worked, you know,

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I did distinguish myself and then one Christmas um Tim Allen did a Christmas movie and it was

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called Christmas with Tim Allen and you know sometimes on the tube they do blanket campaigns

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literally for something and everywhere you look is Tim Allen says happy Christmas and everyone was

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just sending it to me and it was quite funny the first time but then obviously after a while it got

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bit boring um anyway timothy's a lovely name i know but the well it's funny you should say that

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i agree but tim's more friendly than timothy tim nice and if you stick to timothy then you've

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there's this kind of um politeness that happens ah so and so that means when someone goes straight

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to tim yeah it's quite a quite a sort of it's an aggressive move if if you're known as as your

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full name and they go straight for tim it's kind of like hold a minute you know i haven't given you

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permission it's almost a bit like that because um tim's the kind of slangy version of it it'd be

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like if you were a school teacher and you were miss you know miss ward yeah and someone came in

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and said hey susie can hold on a minute yeah it's teacher student relationship and all that yeah

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Yeah, yeah.

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Right.

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Anyway.

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So I was thinking about a few things to talk about.

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And I thought I went through, I just went through all your old tweets of the last sort of, I don't know, probably it was about three or four or five weeks.

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Because it a good when journalists are big tweeters and you are a pretty big tweeter you not the biggest tweeters But you do you do tweet enough you can see what you been doing it a good timeline and um i find this time

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we're living in at the moment is like a bittersweet because on one hand i'm super excited about what's

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going on but on the other hand when you go through the kind of things you're reporting on

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I mean, it's super depressing as well. It's really getting kind of serious, I suppose. And, and it is really bittersweet, because the Bitcoin thing is always exciting. And in one sense, gets from go better and better and better. But as a technology, when you look at what else is happening in the tech sphere, it's super.

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um the authoritarians love it and i mean i was just looking through your tweet what you were

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tweeting about tornado cash what's been going on um you know the uk's um online safety act

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labor silencing um critics mass surveillance even talking about vpn restrictions now obviously

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because of the online safety bill just it's a stupid idea because if you know even my kid my

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youngest kid knows how to get around that kind of stuff you know and and when you look at it like

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that there are certain things like vpn restrictions for example are a bit of a massive red flag for me

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because the only time i've ever known that previously was out in china where they have

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various firewalls and um so when things like that start happening i start getting a little bit

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concerned and you're obviously concerned so like what's what's going on what's it all about what

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why is all this stuff seem to be happening all at once it does seem to be happening all at once right

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i i think it's been creeping in and i think for a long time we have been at this crossroads where

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we will go down the freedom route or we'll go down the authoritarian route and so I think it's

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the human rights foundation put out a percentage that 72 percent of the world are under some sort

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of authoritarian regime and that includes countries like India that are technically

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democracies but obviously in reality are not and I think that when you look at how we are sleepwalking

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into authoritarianism and how tech can free us or enslave us we're going down the wrong path

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at the moment that doesn't mean that we can't correct but it means that we have to be aware of

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what's happening and the biggest concern that i have is that so many people don't see it because

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it's insidious and it's slow and it creeps in and also there's this narrative i mean obviously

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being bitcoiners we're quite keen on the idea of privacy and privacy has almost become a dirty word

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but privacy is very normal and we shouldn't lose it just because we have all of this tech and

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we have um we have a lot of legislation that's coming in uh the fat f travel rule um which is

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What's that one? FATF Travel Rule? I don't think I've heard of that one. Is that about...

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They want to collect KYC data on everybody and it basically travels with the transaction.

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So it's a really... They're collecting so much data that isn't even needed.

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And the reason why that is such a crazy idea is because they actually implemented it in TradFi 10 years ago.

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So it was some G7 countries, they're completely unelected, coming together, putting together some legislation, put it together in TradFi.

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It didn't stop money laundering.

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I mean, the World Bank, I believe it's the World Bank, has been saying for about 20 years that 3% to 5% of global GDP can be attributed to illicit activities and money laundering.

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so they haven't even stopped it in tradfi so if if it's proven not to work why are they now

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implementing it in i hate to say the c word but crypto i mean when you when you look at all those

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things there and when you said 70 percent 70 percent of people live under authoritarian regimes

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72 percent i think it might sorry yeah um but that changed that probably changes all the time

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to be fair it was a bit like the um cpi is that it's what they say there is and what actually

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there is right because the uk is probably not included well yeah and i and i and i'm gonna i'm

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gonna go there i think there are like i traveled 20 years ago to a lot of when i was a journalist i

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went to war zones and this and that and blah blah blah and 20 or 30 25 years ago i used to look at

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things and go blimey that's pretty full-on that's full-on they're stopping people from doing this

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they're stopping if you're doing that i traveled a bit in china and sort of like and i now look at

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these kind of things that are going on and say yes they are happening here now they're definitely

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definitely happening here they're like the the fact that the um um the online safety bill in

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the uk now which is quite obviously a gateway drug to complete kyc on the internet have you

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noticed the way that they sell all of these it's for the kids safety normally isn't it right always

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well i've got i've got three kids and i i did a big ranting introduction to my last

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episode of this saying look if you think the government give a shit about your kids don't be

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retarded of course they don't and if your kids if you're worried about your kids looking at porn on

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the internet that's your responsibility it's nothing to do with the government you know and

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you either bring up cool kids who understand all that stuff and who don't mind that and aren't

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going to be interested in it or you block them yourself or you don't give them the tech in the

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first place and that's something that well i used to write an opinion um i had a column called my

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two sats and I used to have right opinion pieces so I would talk about how broken the world was and

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how Bitcoin could potentially fix it and I wrote about the online safety bill that was coming

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about two years ago and part of that article I said you know maybe the problem is we're normalizing

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giving this highly addictive very dangerous technology to young children you can see it

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you walk around somehow they've even got like little clips around their neck where they can

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have the ipad constantly like a necklace um i went on holiday last week and we were going around

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a water park and i thought oh brilliant somewhere where it's going to be phone free no they've just

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invented a way that you can carry your phone with you in a water price a waterproof carrier

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and it's unbelievable you've got children walking around a water park with their phones around their

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neck like their parents actually think that's an important thing for them to have with them

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why well it's obvious that one is a pacifier and you know i don't know i i find it equally

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disturbing but i also feel for people who do it because it makes their life a lot easier because

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we're time poor because money is broken because we don't have the the time or the energy to

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police it in the way that it should be because everybody's stressed out there's no judgment

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necessarily I mean I do think it shouldn't happen but I know what you mean though there

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yeah that one I mean I I've done we've done our we've done it our way I've got three young kids

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and they're very good in that sense but that was only because we were hard about it um and very

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it was a tough love let's say my daughter was the last person in her class to get a phone

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what year was that uh age 12 which is still young right she's got graphene phone she's got a hacked

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google phone with graphene on it she knows about all this stuff i've she was the first person that

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came to me and said oh dad look um when i go on um venice.ai which is the ai we use which is a

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privacy ai doesn't leak your data doesn't you know she said is asking me even that was was

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came under the umbrella of the online safety but she said this is um you know this asking me for my

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date of birth and stuff and obviously you know i just said we'll switch the vpn to another country

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then because you we leave it on uk we work we use a vpn for privacy reasons therefore we just leave

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it on the uk all the time because it's annoying if you go to amazon and it says finish dutch you

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know like Norwegian Kroner or something yeah right but now it's like oh god here we go this is now a

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thing so every time my VPNs on and I know I using it to skirt these kind of things that serious now because now that that it probably a criminal offence is it I don even know if it a criminal offence or

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I don't think so yet.

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But presumably if they're telling companies to police their websites, which is what they're saying.

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So if you're of a certain type of website, mainly porn sites, but like I say, Venice is ChatGPT.

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It's a private version of ChatGPT.

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So it's not a porn site in the slightest.

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But they're being told to police it.

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I mean, they're very sarcastic about it.

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They say, look, you guys, you've got to enter your details here.

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They've made a whole page about why it's ridiculous and stuff.

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But I know, but that still doesn't stop you coming up against the problem of it.

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Yeah. So who's in the who's in the wrong?

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Do you happen to know? Is it that if you choose to skirt the user VPN, which is I think vast numbers of people must do it now.

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I found it in China. A lot of people used to do that back then when I was there.

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Who's who's the criminal in that situation? The people who have the website or the people using the VPN?

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I don't think I don't think people using VPNs are being criminalized yet.

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I think it will happen I think they will eventually clamp down on it I mean obviously

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it's a very obvious work around now but I think that slowly they will start closing in

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but what I don't understand about this what what blows my mind is that when did they stop just

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going after the criminal it's the whole tornado cash thing you know why if somebody is doing

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something wrong go after the person doing the thing that's wrong don't don't collect everybody

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every innocent person's data don't stop them from using tools just because you can't catch the people

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that are actually doing the bad thing like it for me it's it's a nonsense i think i mean you know

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I'm not a conspiracy theorist much I do every now and then I dip my toes

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dip my toes in but it seems to me that it might be a combination of complete incompetence in

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government people that nobody likes or respects in positions of power thinking this is a good idea

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yes right but I also do think there are people that let it happen who know exactly what's going

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on and that muddies the waters and it makes it very difficult to know what's going on

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but when I did actually write about the online safety bill when it was coming

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two years ago in my column I highlighted one of the people that was working on the bill

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somebody from the House of Lords and when I looked into his background he was just a diversity

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officer in his previous life he had no tech experience he was blind and he would go on stage

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with a guide dog and talk about cbdcs and the online safety bill and digital ids and it was like

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because he was blind he gave it the diversity tick it felt deliberate and when you looked at

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his background there was nothing to suggest that he was in any position to be creating

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legislation like that that does appear to be the timeline that we're going through at the moment

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we've i think we've reached this point in the sort of the democratic cycle where it's so broken now

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the system of the democratic system that the incentives now mean that the worst people

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go for those jobs anyone who is any good at what they do doesn't want to work at the government

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they want to be they want to work in the private sector they want to do it properly they want to do

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it well they want to do it free anyone who can't compete in the private sector goes into the

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governmental sector and then looks back at everyone else because they suddenly realize wow i've got my

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finger on the button here now everyone has to come to me and ask permission to do everything which is

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what you know it's so frustrating when you see that situation arise we've got entrepreneurs on

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one side and regulators on the other and the regulators regulating regulators so like then

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crangles of regulators so nobody's got any accountability and that that so there's layers

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upon layers so no no one can be held accountable you're right and they rarely probably i probably

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it's a sweeping generalization but the the they rarely lose their jobs over stuff and if you do

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you tend to you tend to move to another department or move sideways you know like

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you often hear of people getting doing i mean i don't know it's a it's the only word for it's an

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absolute shit show if you look at anyone who who comments on this stuff regularly and you go and

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you look at their timeline on twitter or wherever it is they're posting nostre or whatever it's just

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shit constantly just incompetent people saying ridiculous things in positions of power

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Do you know what makes it even worse though?

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Well, a lot.

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This is the thing for me.

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I think those people actually think they're doing the right thing.

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Well, you wouldn't do it on purpose.

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I mean, I know everyone's got their own history.

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We've all got our quirks and we've all got our sort of stuff from the past that makes us do this, that and the other.

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but i really do think that the system is incentivizing these people to seek out these

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positions because it's there's it's a safe it's a safe place if you're that kind of a person because

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you get paid whatever i mean the pandemic was a perfect example who did all right during the

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pandemic people that worked in government yeah they didn't lose their jobs they went and worked

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from home they weren't exactly had parties yeah yeah beside that i just mean your average person

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working in a council or something like that you know yeah they're they're not really incentivized

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to run their shop like a business and make money and do well it's very rare to see you know a local

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council or you know i'm thinking that because that's what i'm of most contact with doing well

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and and they're not they're mostly bankrupt at the moment mostly seem to be slowly fleecing everyone

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more and more and more every like i was someone was do you not have to pay for your brown bin

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as an extra add-on no i was just about to mention that we don't even have one check this out so i

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live in i live right in the middle of nowhere in the countryside fair enough but our at one point

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our bins were collected once every three weeks wow and when you live in the countryside if you

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put stuff in a bin all kinds of wildlife like takes an interest in it and you'd often get up

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in the morning because it's been there for so long and you find it all out on the floor

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um but yeah i heard we don't have a brown bin brown is that's for the garden waste right yeah

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we don't even have that yeah i saw someone complaining about that the other day it's like

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they got a letter from the council to say it's going to now cost you to have your brown bin taken

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away yeah and you have to we have to but it's the admin involved in actually doing it so you have to

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have a call center for people that can't do it the infrastructure for the website to take the money

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you've got to tell people that it's happening send out the stickers that they can put on their bin

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you know and you think well how much money are you actually making out of this i mean they must

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be i hope have done some sort of benefit cost analysis you would hope that they have i don't

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think so but this is where the incompetence comes i think the thought process was let's charge

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everyone for one of the bins yeah because that's going to generate us money and everyone went yay

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you know and then six months later they realize it's costing them more this is the same thing with

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the millionaires leaving the uk what is it 16 500 millionaires expected to leave this year

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they're down on the revenue on tax revenue by basically saying we're going to tax the rich

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yeah i mean once again they don't understand the last thing do they great idea let's tax the rich

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reality you make less money not you know i don't know i probably probably shouldn't just rant

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continuously but but the reason why i find it disturbing is because it's funny to sort of go

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on about this but it's actually quite it's very serious like i say when you look at online safety

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Bill, when you look at the general clamp down on everything and KYC is at the heart of it

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all.

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Yes.

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So digital ID, which we know is coming in.

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What I want to know is from someone who sort of, you're probably a lot deeper into it than

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me.

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What do you do as a person who because when I look around our community I think yeah there everyone on it Everyone doing all kinds of stuff There this that and the other

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But really, it doesn't matter.

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It's a bit like privacy only exists if everyone does it.

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If you do it on your own.

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Edward Snowden said that.

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He actually said that and it really stayed with me.

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At Bitcoin 2023, he had a keynote speech.

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he said you shouldn't be contorting yourself through a keyhole of hell using coin joins and

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mixes he says i'm proud of you guys you're finding a workaround that's great but unless privacy exists

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for everybody it's pointless so how does how do we do that because when you look at the trajectory

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we're on and the like the obvious one is digital id um we've seen all kinds of versions of it we're

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now seeing online digital all this stuff which has been predicted since i remember first hearing

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about it in i think the 80s people talking about one world government and you know monitoring

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everything and this that and the other and fortunately bitcoin arrived which was a really

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gave a lot of hope certainly to me and i know a lot of other people but even with that now when

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you look at what kind of a world are you going to be navigating and is it going to be is it going

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to be good enough is it going to be are you going to be able to navigate that world and still

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stick to the principles that you believe in and privacy

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possibly not but that what does that mean then i mean i my my my answer would be currently and

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that will probably change would be some form of geo arbitrage so move somewhere where they do

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leave you alone but where and and also if you want to interact with the financial system

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if you want to touch the current financial system in any way shape or form

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you've got to kyc in some way otherwise so for example perfect solution you've got a little bit

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of bitcoin sitting in self-custody it's safe no one can take it you've got it but you need to buy a

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car and you need to get it in to the normal way you know there'll be some sort of kyc

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you know the when it reaches your bank account where did you get this money from

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you know so it is if you want to interact with the financial system and do normal day-to-day things

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there'll be a way that they catch you interestingly i had a great conversation about this exact thing

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a couple of months ago with ben it's a pseudonym ben gunn and he framed it really interestingly

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because i never thought about it like this before the part of the market that isn't taxed which is

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either very small transactions or very very very large transactions is the place where bitcoin

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works so people sending a hundred billion dollars not a problem people buying a t-shirt for sats

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not a problem no one's taxing that that you know this it's that bit in the middle like you say cars

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houses large items that are a bit of a problem because unless you're buying something straight

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off another bitcoiner or someone who wants to receive sats for their car which is easy to do

315
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um you're right the your money will then suddenly be of interest to the government and in that sense

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it would be they may may come a time when they decide to confiscate a 6102 they'll know it's

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there they will want to take some of it in all kinds of taxes even though it's money you know

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um and yeah i i do think about this a lot because i know a lot of people who at the moment

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live in a parallel system which is fine you know you can you can you can live in a complete

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completely parallel system it's not a problem but more and more and more the rest of the world

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is being taken over by this

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other system or the one that we're coming from and it won't be much fun if you're just stuck in a very

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small group of people and there's not a lot you can do which seems you know one of the i mean one

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of the other things that could potentially happen i suppose is somewhere like the us has you know

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00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:40,960
such great legislation and such a great attitude towards bitcoin in the financial sense that um it

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paves the way for the rest of the world right and arguably there was a there was a there's a

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possibility of that. I think that now looking a few months down the line since the last election,

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so-called elected, you know, Trump was very pro-Bitcoin. He seems to still be quite pro-Bitcoin,

329
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but he has released his own shitcoin. Yeah, of course, we know that. But I mean,

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just in general i saw something today or yesterday about um banks um

331
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they passed a bill so that banks can't debank you if you have is that it's the genius act is it

332
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i don't know i don't know they've done three bills recently i think they've done a cbdc bill

333
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stable queen bill and the genius act i think that the cbdc bill um it has really confused me because

334
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they're still very pro stable queens and stable queens in my opinion are just cbdc's via the

335
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back door so even though they've got this bill to say no you know cbdc's are a violation of our

336
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constitution we will not have them they've just got another workaround in place and that seems to

337
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be the case across the board do you know what though um you know efrat don't you yes she

338
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He interviewed a couple of, I think it was yesterday, it was, what's his name, from the guy with the podcast, the financial podcast, you know.

339
00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:13,540
Oh, very famous.

340
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:15,900
Oh, my God, I can't remember.

341
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:17,200
Anyway.

342
00:34:17,500 --> 00:34:18,660
What country is he from?

343
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He's American.

344
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I'm just having a bit of brain fog at the end of the day.

345
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But he's very well known.

346
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I can't believe I've forgotten his name.

347
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That happens to me all the time.

348
00:34:30,900 --> 00:34:31,100
Right.

349
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But he had what I would call a pretty unpopular opinion about CBDCs,

350
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but I did find it interesting that they are necessary

351
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in order to create liquidity to move onto a Bitcoin standard.

352
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And it makes sense.

353
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I think stable coins will drive Bitcoin adoption.

354
00:34:53,360 --> 00:35:01,400
but then if if if a stable coin is a is a backdoor cbdc does it does it even matter because

355
00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:09,740
once well once bitcoin is you know once the liquid like mass liquidity from the world as

356
00:35:09,740 --> 00:35:16,000
as as kind of moved into bitcoin presumably people would choose the bitcoin they won't choose

357
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:23,340
the cbdc necessarily because it will it won't preserve their purchasing power for starters

358
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i don't know i i'm i'm every time there's another thing to go to go oh my god about i'm always

359
00:35:30,700 --> 00:35:36,540
looking for the right is it is that really true or is there a possibility that there is a silver

360
00:35:36,540 --> 00:35:45,520
lining on this cloud could it be xyz you know and um preston pish was the guy sorry oh preston

361
00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:52,200
i was just um yeah he was just on my panel right sorry preston was the one very you know kind of

362
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:59,000
financial brain yes but no he was the one that he was the one that mentioned it um so so you think

363
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that that cbdcs are coming via stable coins yes yeah so i think that the in the uk we've actually

364
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said that they're not going to pursue a cbdc that was obviously going to happen because it goes back

365
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to when you were saying at the beginning you know the right the right people to implement these

366
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things won't do that job no one who understands the tech or what's going to happen or would be

367
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good enough to implement a cbdc would work on a project like that so you just wouldn't get the

368
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right people to do it um but it but it has left the door wide open for stable coins

369
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but in order for a stable coin to sort of take on the characteristics of a cbdc that's quite a lot

370
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of change in the tech right because at the moment stable coins are used as dollars but you can still

371
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stop them you can still kyc them it you know the whole when they talk about debanking if you're

372
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using the rails and and a lot of um stable queens now will pop up all the different banks well

373
00:37:04,180 --> 00:37:08,880
they'll have their own stable coins and it's still something that can be censored stopped tracked

374
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:16,260
but presumably i mean yeah they're all none of them are fully none of them are decentralized so

375
00:37:16,260 --> 00:37:20,460
at the end of the day they have a company that runs them.

376
00:37:20,460 --> 00:37:21,000
Yes, yeah.

377
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,800
Yeah, they're never a good idea.

378
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:29,940
But in the financial system we live in, maybe,

379
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,320
They are a bridge to...

380
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:33,100
I think they are.

381
00:37:33,100 --> 00:37:59,960
Because in a way, if they are a bridge to a new financial system, which is basically backed with Bitcoin and Bitcoin used at day-to-day transactions, you could argue that that would be a very smooth transition compared to the alternative, which is normally a war or complete collapse of the financial system or some huge event that caused massive inflation or whatever.

382
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:05,440
so it could it could i think that will happen i think that will happen regardless of stable coins

383
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:11,240
but what inflation yeah because stable coins is it is just a different version of fiat

384
00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:19,280
correct but in a way it is fiat sorry on different rails yeah the thing about the dollar though is

385
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:25,140
because there's so much demand for it it's hard for much it's the hardest of all of your currencies

386
00:38:25,140 --> 00:38:31,660
to hyperinflate because and stable coins add more yes but and stable coins add more liquidity in a

387
00:38:31,660 --> 00:38:38,680
way so they add more demand for it which is good because then the it it keeps the inflation at bay

388
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:43,720
presumably not that i'm a fan of them at all but you can understand the meme that is spend your

389
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:48,520
spend your dollars save saving your bitcoin you know yes but the

390
00:38:48,520 --> 00:39:00,320
so the way that stable coins are backed is u.s debt so 85 percent of i think it's i think it's

391
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:09,440
tether 85 percent is backed by u.s um debt right um so what they do is the money from the countries

392
00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:16,060
that are desperate and use it as a lifeline then are feeding back to keep the u.s hegemony alive

393
00:39:16,060 --> 00:39:21,600
which then exports their inflation to these countries and then people justify it by saying

394
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:26,600
it's a lifeline and they use that lifeline and it goes back and it just becomes quite an ugly cycle

395
00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:37,300
which is actually um once again i think the u.s is quite desperate for people to for for people to

396
00:39:37,300 --> 00:39:42,920
buy their treasuries and that's another reason why they quite like stable coins of course but

397
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,120
Do you think they've allowed Tether to exist?

398
00:39:45,300 --> 00:39:51,960
Yeah, but don't you think that Tether usage aids Bitcoin adoption?

399
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:52,560
Yes, I do.

400
00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:54,120
So do they not know that?

401
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:57,560
Because Bitcoin defunds the government pretty much.

402
00:39:58,080 --> 00:39:59,560
So does it matter to them?

403
00:39:59,660 --> 00:40:02,140
Or are they not thinking about it in those terms?

404
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:08,020
Because that would seem like that would be quite an ironic turn,

405
00:40:08,420 --> 00:40:09,500
that this would happen.

406
00:40:10,300 --> 00:40:11,820
No one's buying US Treasuries,

407
00:40:11,820 --> 00:40:18,060
so they so they have to create this liquidity so they push stable coins on the world and because

408
00:40:18,060 --> 00:40:23,080
stable coins are the way that you interact with bitcoin from the dollar yeah the then bitcoin

409
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:34,520
becomes much more widely used and that defunds the government so yes unless you have a plan to

410
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:44,040
centralize bitcoin i mean it is becoming more institutionalized and i have concerns around

411
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:48,880
centralization risks i mean we talk all the time about how bitcoin is a decentralized currency and

412
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:56,400
yes it is but when you look at the centralization of mining you look at the centralization of mining

413
00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:04,960
pools um 40 of the current hash rate is in the u.s of fact transactions have been censored

414
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:11,580
hypothetically well marathon have proven that you can censor of fact transactions if the u.s got over

415
00:41:11,580 --> 00:41:22,380
51 of the hash rate you know it would make censorship more possible so with all the

416
00:41:22,380 --> 00:41:26,780
The Bitcoin that's now being bought, most of it is being bought through ETFs and treasuries.

417
00:41:28,020 --> 00:41:34,360
So you could argue that although it's feeding Bitcoin, maybe, maybe, I don't know,

418
00:41:34,660 --> 00:41:36,860
they've seen that it can't be stopped.

419
00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,420
So they're just finding ways to capture it.

420
00:41:39,420 --> 00:41:48,100
Or like you said earlier, the KYC rails will be so inhibitive that by default,

421
00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:51,900
you can't even spend your Bitcoin unless you swap it directly with someone else,

422
00:41:51,900 --> 00:41:58,440
which is the point of it and the the optimist in me goes great it's just going to take a long time

423
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:04,120
before we're all on a bitcoin standard because we will be forced to do that in the same way that

424
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:11,140
people are being forced to use vpns now for example or they're being forced to to do whatever

425
00:42:11,140 --> 00:42:17,320
move leave the country or whatever i don't know i mean it's like i say i as i said right at the

426
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:24,020
start i feel like at the moment it's i mean i'm ecstatic and i'm really depressed at the same time

427
00:42:24,020 --> 00:42:30,560
about the about what's going on i feel the same feeling exactly the same but is that i when i kind

428
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:38,320
of when i think about it i think that's because technology is neutral and all you're doing is

429
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:42,600
looking at the people that are using it for freedom and the people that are using it for

430
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:47,220
authoritarian and they're both doing it at the same time and i mean i would argue that we've got

431
00:42:47,220 --> 00:42:52,100
the better team because it's decentralized and people are more passionate about it i think

432
00:42:52,100 --> 00:42:59,920
but nevertheless i'm not sure where to position myself sometimes do you know what i mean i do

433
00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:06,100
i mean are you relatively are you not a nomad you you have a fixed abode do you you i've got a

434
00:43:06,100 --> 00:43:11,860
family yeah so me too yeah it's really difficult when people say we just move i can't i've got two

435
00:43:11,860 --> 00:43:17,080
kids that are at secondary school and they quite like where they live you can't you can't just up

436
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:23,600
and leave and then the question is where do you go because is there anywhere that has the perfect

437
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:31,180
setup i haven't found anywhere yet yeah the perfect setup no but there are places that are

438
00:43:31,180 --> 00:43:38,280
working better than us i think it's fair to see where would you go i well i i would have two

439
00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:44,100
strategies currently i'm in the same position as you i i i've got at least another 10 years

440
00:43:44,100 --> 00:43:47,640
where I have to stand still because my kids love it where we live.

441
00:43:47,780 --> 00:43:48,960
I don't want to disrupt their life.

442
00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:50,540
They don't need to know about any of this stuff.

443
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:52,300
They just need to know they're sorted.

444
00:43:53,180 --> 00:43:55,960
You know, I'm looking out for them and steering them in the right direction.

445
00:43:55,960 --> 00:44:00,080
But when they're free, and we've already talked about it,

446
00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:02,040
that, you know, me and the missus,

447
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:05,200
that there's much better places to position ourselves.

448
00:44:05,460 --> 00:44:05,480
Where?

449
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:07,660
It would either be one of two.

450
00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:11,080
One route would be the kind of Switzerland type route,

451
00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:17,000
which would be you go and hang out with all the rich people basically the other route is you go

452
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:23,660
to the other end of the spectrum you go to the places that haven't quite made created a system

453
00:44:23,660 --> 00:44:32,640
that paraguay mexico you know those kind of things or you you we get lucky in the next 10 years and

454
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:39,900
there is some kind of a political renaissance um unfortunately that doesn't look too good i mean

455
00:44:39,900 --> 00:44:44,560
look at the uk is a good example at the moment we're obviously going to get a regime change at

456
00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:50,380
the next election if if what's happening now is anything to go by and it will be as exciting as

457
00:44:50,380 --> 00:44:55,940
probably when trump got in but i don't think it will have any longevity because i think the same

458
00:44:55,940 --> 00:45:01,260
thing happened with trump trump getting in was like oh my god this is amazing for so many people

459
00:45:01,260 --> 00:45:08,820
who didn't like the former regime um but when you actually can't get into power and it would be the

460
00:45:08,820 --> 00:45:14,520
same in the uk i think if the one of the reform type parties or all these new kind of like freedom

461
00:45:14,520 --> 00:45:22,900
oriented parties get in they'll just hit the the the kind of immovable object of the system the

462
00:45:22,900 --> 00:45:31,980
blob yes the blob and the blob requires that you print money and you sell treasuries and you do all

463
00:45:31,980 --> 00:45:36,820
this stuff that's why rachel reeves had a breakdown because she looks she looked at everything she's

464
00:45:36,820 --> 00:45:41,460
like i can't actually do anything yeah but isn't right does rachel reese even know anything about

465
00:45:41,460 --> 00:45:47,140
the financial industry do any of them i don't think at the moment no i think it's this is what

466
00:45:47,140 --> 00:45:52,620
i was saying earlier i think that i mean you know our whole government at the moment is a complete

467
00:45:52,620 --> 00:45:59,700
shit show it's an embarrassment it's full of people who you never associate with in in real

468
00:45:59,700 --> 00:46:05,560
life these these are that literally the kind of social outcasts and the worst kind of people

469
00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:13,620
um but i i think with the new there's going to be a turnaround at the next election there's gonna be

470
00:46:13,620 --> 00:46:18,400
a lot of business people coming into positions of power again i think but they're still going to come

471
00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:23,300
up against the same problem and the problem is because trump did it trump was really vocal about

472
00:46:23,300 --> 00:46:27,700
a number of things and do you remember that doge stuff it's like oh my god they're really going to

473
00:46:27,700 --> 00:46:33,300
make the government smaller they're gonna and they didn't they made it bigger because they can't make

474
00:46:33,300 --> 00:46:37,480
it smaller this is the answer to all these problems the answer is a smaller government

475
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:42,480
yep and how do you get there separate money and state yeah but that's the long-term strategy

476
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:57,940
like in the short term you need to sack a load of people and run your and if you were a business and you went into the government as a business you just sack most people Yes Because they not they not they just eating up resources

477
00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:00,080
Isn't that what Elon did when he took over Twitter?

478
00:47:00,940 --> 00:47:01,680
Apparently, yeah.

479
00:47:01,780 --> 00:47:04,060
I don't, I mean, you know, you never know what's true.

480
00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:05,400
No, that's very true.

481
00:47:05,540 --> 00:47:10,400
I know he sacks a lot of people, but the government,

482
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:13,020
the problem with the government is it doesn't make money

483
00:47:13,020 --> 00:47:16,180
other than from you and me and everyone else.

484
00:47:16,180 --> 00:47:19,040
and trying to convince people to lend it money.

485
00:47:19,140 --> 00:47:20,740
It's like the worst relationship.

486
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,740
It's either, either I'll lend us some money, buy some of these,

487
00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:25,760
you know, I've got some treasuries, buy some of these,

488
00:47:25,900 --> 00:47:29,100
or it just comes up to you at gunpoint and says, give me some money.

489
00:47:29,260 --> 00:47:31,840
It's like, it's a really abusive relationship.

490
00:47:31,980 --> 00:47:35,800
I don't think many people ever think of it like that.

491
00:47:37,480 --> 00:47:42,260
There's this very commonly held belief that nothing functions without the government.

492
00:47:42,260 --> 00:47:48,240
and the truth is we're at a period in history i think i'm pretty sure this is the biggest

493
00:47:48,240 --> 00:47:52,080
governments have ever been i think the u.s government is the biggest government in history

494
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:56,620
like when you do it by by the number of people that actually work there very depressing well

495
00:47:56,620 --> 00:48:03,000
that's the bit it's at least the problem is quite simple it appears there's a there's an institution

496
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:11,220
there's a there's a body which is soaking up like is making bad decisions and causing normal people

497
00:48:11,220 --> 00:48:17,040
certainly middle class people to give up doing things that the government really wants them to

498
00:48:17,040 --> 00:48:23,060
do like start businesses be productive join in with them it's just sending them out overseas

499
00:48:23,060 --> 00:48:26,760
you know i don't know many people starting businesses at the moment i don't know many

500
00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:34,480
people feel you can't they're leaving they're leaving the uk exactly and i mean but they're

501
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:42,300
going somewhere yes america i think is one of the top places that they're going and um and the uae

502
00:48:42,300 --> 00:48:51,180
yeah the uae almost taxless but i wouldn't move there would you well it depends it's not really

503
00:48:51,180 --> 00:48:57,260
a place for freedom lovers is it no but what it depends what you want because it's an interesting

504
00:48:57,260 --> 00:49:05,340
place in as much as there's no political sphere there it's what i find interesting about dubai is

505
00:49:05,340 --> 00:49:10,740
it it sort of smashes a lot of the myths that we have about things like for example

506
00:49:10,740 --> 00:49:19,980
dubai is 10 local people so 10 emiratis 90 immigrants so that that whole idea about the

507
00:49:19,980 --> 00:49:25,820
immigrants are taking from us you know that you know you can you can see that that's not necessarily

508
00:49:25,820 --> 00:49:31,860
true obviously they don't have a social care system in the same way you don't go to dubai to

509
00:49:31,860 --> 00:49:37,960
take you go to make money you go you're a trader you're like a you go to dubai to make money you

510
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:42,600
don't go there to vote either you don't care who's running the place you care whether your business

511
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:48,700
is making money and so in these terms it's actually an interesting place i live under a

512
00:49:48,700 --> 00:49:54,940
two-tier system is like really because you have you do have like you said the 10 that the arabs

513
00:49:54,940 --> 00:50:00,060
are treated they treat people differently and then you've got the other 90 and they have different

514
00:50:00,060 --> 00:50:06,720
services it's almost like an apartheid almost and men and women are very much kept separately

515
00:50:06,720 --> 00:50:14,260
um and and it was built on slavery when you actually look at the way that it was built i

516
00:50:14,260 --> 00:50:18,820
remember going back there in 2005 and i think this has really stayed with me which is why i don't

517
00:50:18,820 --> 00:50:23,320
think i could ever consider living there is because i saw the people that were working on

518
00:50:23,320 --> 00:50:28,800
those buildings and I saw how they were treated and everything about it makes me feel really sad

519
00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:36,180
arguably though there's no place in the world that you could say is is crystal clear is is

520
00:50:36,180 --> 00:50:44,320
you know perfect no has it has a has a history um and also I I used to work a lot in the UAE

521
00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:49,380
I used to go a couple of times a year and for start I mean all the emirates are slightly

522
00:50:49,380 --> 00:50:55,660
different they're different personalities and i did i didn't find that women were necessarily

523
00:50:55,660 --> 00:51:03,720
oppressed in in many i used to work in charger which is the emirate emirate next to buy and um

524
00:51:03,720 --> 00:51:10,160
i agree that there is a difference between the emiratis and everyone else and that's by

525
00:51:10,160 --> 00:51:19,120
kind of that's on purpose you know the the emirs look after their own first and foremost

526
00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:24,800
which is something that you would say in the UK a lot of people are saying you know why don't you

527
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:30,520
look after the British people first you know it's not it's a very gray area that whole thing.

528
00:51:30,740 --> 00:51:36,460
The term British people is a bit looser I'd say if you were going to separate it out I'd say

529
00:51:36,460 --> 00:51:44,040
taxpayers maybe you know because my um my grandparents I'm second generation immigrant my

530
00:51:44,040 --> 00:51:50,660
grandfather came over from Poland and my grandmother came over from Italy and they

531
00:51:50,660 --> 00:51:54,500
came over to do the rubbish jobs that the English people didn't want to do so

532
00:51:54,500 --> 00:52:00,560
it worked in factories and actually went to Bedford which now has a yeah and that was where

533
00:52:00,560 --> 00:52:05,660
I was born it's now really bizarre that it has a big queen connection really you're born in Bedford

534
00:52:05,660 --> 00:52:09,620
I was yeah let's talk about that afterwards because it's really fascinating what's going on

535
00:52:09,620 --> 00:52:17,420
there anyway come on so um my non-law came over and worked in the brick factories in bedford and

536
00:52:17,420 --> 00:52:24,120
they were very proud and they they did all those awful jobs that that the english people didn't

537
00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:28,920
want to do they had a house they went on holiday once a year they had a car they had everything

538
00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:34,640
that they needed and the system was working for them they were unskilled workers but they still

539
00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:41,820
had a home their pride and everything that they needed that was before money was really truly

540
00:52:41,820 --> 00:52:49,040
broken but I don't think London would run without immigration they're very it's a very very important

541
00:52:49,040 --> 00:52:57,540
part of our history and our economy and it's it's really important that we we I don't like

542
00:52:57,540 --> 00:53:03,060
segregation I don't like separating people out I don't like putting people in order of you're more

543
00:53:03,060 --> 00:53:09,160
important or you're not and so that's why I don't think I could ever really get on board with the

544
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:16,360
two-tier system that they have in in Dubai but immigration is vital for our country and I think

545
00:53:16,360 --> 00:53:21,300
we need to change our mindset and actually treat them well because they're people that are not only

546
00:53:21,300 --> 00:53:26,160
providing a service but they're actually paying tax into our system and quite often they don't

547
00:53:26,160 --> 00:53:33,420
take out what they put in I think though isn't the gray area at the moment who is actually

548
00:53:33,420 --> 00:53:40,000
taking and who is putting into the system I think if you look at the general meme of in the country

549
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:48,000
yes people rightly or wrongly are super angry because they think people are coming in you know

550
00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:53,740
and just taking and it's there are people doing that and there are people who aren't doing that

551
00:53:53,740 --> 00:53:58,780
and who are actually coming here i think probably i wouldn't choose to be an immigrant to the uk

552
00:53:58,780 --> 00:54:05,380
currently it's not the greatest place to there's lots of better places to go to but um but i suppose

553
00:54:05,380 --> 00:54:12,160
that's what the problem is people rightly or wrongly and i don't know if it's true what the

554
00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:15,680
relationship is between the number of people that come here and take and the number of people that

555
00:54:15,680 --> 00:54:20,900
come here and and add to the system or here but you know what i mean in the uk yeah well anyway

556
00:54:20,900 --> 00:54:32,100
I don't know those numbers either, but I do think there's an awful lot of people here that don't contribute to the system that are native to the country.

557
00:54:32,380 --> 00:54:34,780
And in a funny way, I don't even think that's their fault.

558
00:54:34,840 --> 00:54:40,660
And I think that that comes back to broken money because we know that we came off the gold standard in 1971.

559
00:54:41,180 --> 00:54:47,860
And since then, the gap between earning wages and the cost of living has grown.

560
00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:49,100
The gap has got bigger.

561
00:54:49,100 --> 00:54:54,480
so before when you could live on one salary now you need two and then in the future you'll probably

562
00:54:54,480 --> 00:55:02,520
need three to be able to have the same lifestyle that you had before if working paid if an unskilled

563
00:55:02,520 --> 00:55:09,340
person could go to work earn a salary have a house and everything that they needed i don't think

564
00:55:09,340 --> 00:55:14,040
they'd be sitting at home on benefits i think it's definitely a broken system that is forcing

565
00:55:14,040 --> 00:55:19,400
them down that road you're right to do you know what's going to be next after two salaries i think

566
00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:25,400
it's going to be two salaries and ubi oh my goodness because but they go kept with ubi you

567
00:55:25,400 --> 00:55:30,840
say that but that's kind of what's happening one thing when the penny dropped of what was actually

568
00:55:30,840 --> 00:55:38,200
happening with um tax credits you get full-time working people having to go cap in hand to the

569
00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:44,560
government asking for extra money a full-time working person I don't care if they're unskilled

570
00:55:44,560 --> 00:55:49,580
you know they're providing a service it doesn't matter like we shouldn't that's another thing that

571
00:55:49,580 --> 00:55:53,360
we shouldn't be doing is like prioritizing oh you're a professional or you're better or you

572
00:55:53,360 --> 00:55:59,040
we you know you just I don't know work in a factory therefore you're less than that that's

573
00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:04,840
just utterly ridiculous all work should pay and regardless of the job and regardless of the skill

574
00:56:04,840 --> 00:56:28,220
level and and also i don really think that say investment bankers that earn a lot of money they not exactly contributing to society are they they not adding anything of value they they the extractors really when you when you actually think about it yeah i think i think the way that mostly at least the way that wages work out work themselves out

575
00:56:28,220 --> 00:56:36,420
is based on a spreadsheet of how much do you make compared to how much do you make for the company

576
00:56:36,420 --> 00:56:42,000
and how much xyz i don't know how it works with people that flip burgers at mcdonald's or whatever

577
00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:48,200
i think that's just minimum wage but even that all that stuff um it doesn't solve the problem

578
00:56:48,200 --> 00:56:52,840
putting up people's wages doesn't solve the problem we know that it's broken yeah it just

579
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:57,540
causes it just puts the price of everything else up if you put up the minimum wage to 30 quid an

580
00:56:57,540 --> 00:57:05,740
hour it won't last long before the price of a uh twix doubles and your 30 quid gets half as much

581
00:57:05,740 --> 00:57:30,200
You know, that's the kind of system we live in. And I think most people that I know understand that have taken precautions. You know, especially to do with Bitcoin, it's obvious Bitcoin as an asset that they can park their money in and it insulates themselves from kind of stuff like that.

582
00:57:30,200 --> 00:57:39,460
However, going back to what we were talking about earlier, it's no good having your wealth stored nicely if you can't spend it the way you want to spend it.

583
00:57:39,640 --> 00:57:42,020
And that is serious.

584
00:57:42,140 --> 00:57:46,880
And I think that is what's suddenly becoming serious now.

585
00:57:47,440 --> 00:57:55,100
The KYC, you know, all the stuff we were talking about, the online safety, it's real.

586
00:57:55,520 --> 00:57:56,440
It's really happening.

587
00:57:56,780 --> 00:57:57,520
It's real now.

588
00:57:57,520 --> 00:57:59,480
It's not people just talking about it anymore.

589
00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:07,820
you are now becoming criminalized in in a very normal life not you know like i don't i think

590
00:58:07,820 --> 00:58:14,280
many of my friends would class themselves as criminals um but they're only one step away from

591
00:58:14,280 --> 00:58:21,620
becoming a criminal because they require privacy which is yes and that's become a dirty word as

592
00:58:21,620 --> 00:58:27,640
well it's bizarre how you we all want privacy that you got blinds there for a reason because

593
00:58:27,640 --> 00:58:33,180
you you haven't got anything to hide but you want people don't want people looking in when you're

594
00:58:33,180 --> 00:58:39,660
walking around when you've just got out the shower you know the privacy is is is normal but even that's

595
00:58:39,660 --> 00:58:45,740
being demonized because it's the mantra if you haven't got anything to hide what's the problem

596
00:58:45,740 --> 00:58:52,800
and that's the psyop that's what people have been led to believe and part of this system is convincing

597
00:58:52,800 --> 00:58:59,440
people that they need or like like it's for the children you know it is just convincing people

598
00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:05,140
that all these horrific things that they're putting on us is is is normal and okay and and

599
00:59:05,140 --> 00:59:11,860
the things that you want that's then you get treated like a pariah but what do you think

600
00:59:11,860 --> 00:59:17,960
the solution is then i mean beyond don't don't just say bitcoin oh of course i was gonna say that

601
00:59:17,960 --> 00:59:34,600
You can't. You can't say that. I want a realistic answer. The truth is, like, for example, soon, like this is pretty obvious what's transpiring now. Soon everything gets KYC'd. Everything.

602
00:59:34,600 --> 00:59:43,420
thing at that point you're using a special type of money that is programmable and requires you

603
00:59:43,420 --> 00:59:49,700
to be obedient if you want to use it yeah basically long and short of it and that's gonna happen now

604
00:59:49,700 --> 00:59:54,820
i'm pretty sure the only way that doesn't happen is a complete collapse of the system which is that

605
00:59:54,820 --> 01:00:02,340
is what could happen that that's actually what i was gonna say is that i think we need a reset

606
01:00:02,340 --> 01:00:10,280
you sound like klaus schwab now is it a great reset by any chance well that you know it's funny

607
01:00:10,280 --> 01:00:17,000
because when they said that about how you will own nothing and be happy i was wondering when i first

608
01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:22,840
heard that how on earth are you going to do that and then i looked at the way things were progressing

609
01:00:22,840 --> 01:00:30,660
everything's a subscription we don't even own music anymore everything is about you know renting

610
01:00:30,660 --> 01:00:36,560
people can't afford homes and and now i can actually see how that is going to play out

611
01:00:36,560 --> 01:00:41,740
i thought the home one is is a big one for me because i've always been a homeowner

612
01:00:41,740 --> 01:00:51,180
and what started occurring recently was that when houses become a liability because wealth is taxed

613
01:00:51,180 --> 01:00:57,060
that's how they'll get you even the people that own their houses you know because at the moment

614
01:00:57,060 --> 01:01:03,140
you could say the the you'll own nothing and be happy lot are looking right no one can afford a

615
01:01:03,140 --> 01:01:07,540
house except black rock or something exactly right yeah yeah but the people that own houses are

616
01:01:07,540 --> 01:01:11,340
sitting there thinking well you know i'm all right i didn't have a mortgage on my house a lot of

617
01:01:11,340 --> 01:01:18,940
boomers but actually if they bring in some kind of wealth tax or even you know then you your house

618
01:01:18,940 --> 01:01:23,020
will then become a liability and if you unless you fork up say you own a million pound house you

619
01:01:23,020 --> 01:01:30,460
might have to it goes up 25 grand one year and they say right we're going to tax that or um that's

620
01:01:30,460 --> 01:01:35,080
how people even in that echelon of society start saying do you know what i'm just going to rent

621
01:01:35,080 --> 01:01:39,480
because it's a lot less it's not a liability renting is not a liability i can you know walk

622
01:01:39,480 --> 01:01:44,680
away yeah um that was a bit of an eye-opener for me because i always thought that there was

623
01:01:44,680 --> 01:01:54,940
a defense mechanism against and do you know and unfortunately because the the you will that the

624
01:01:54,940 --> 01:01:59,580
idea that you will own nothing and be happy seems seems quite sinister but you can actually see it

625
01:01:59,580 --> 01:02:05,300
as a positive as well and i'm definitely not channeling schwab now no no i know you could

626
01:02:05,300 --> 01:02:12,420
basically live a quite successful life just renting things and not owning things because

627
01:02:12,420 --> 01:02:17,540
it's the ownership of those things that is actually the liability for you i've i've come to that

628
01:02:17,540 --> 01:02:25,200
conclusion myself actually that the the less you are attached to the happier you are i know but

629
01:02:25,200 --> 01:02:33,460
isn't that claus rob winning do you see what i mean about it there's a lot of there's a lot of

630
01:02:33,460 --> 01:02:38,660
weirdness in the world at the moment or it backfires and it just gives people the freedom

631
01:02:38,660 --> 01:02:44,300
that they need to move where they need to move to and they're not shackled well yeah well like i say

632
01:02:44,300 --> 01:02:49,140
which is which would be a phenomenal thing i mean geo-arbitrage and the ability to move and if you

633
01:02:49,140 --> 01:02:54,840
own a house it's much harder yes the ability to move is very liberating yeah super liberating

634
01:02:54,840 --> 01:03:00,880
because it and we and in a way it's necessary to have that in the world if you want governments to

635
01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:06,420
be more competitive yes because they should want to attract you it shouldn't i've always thought

636
01:03:06,420 --> 01:03:12,580
that the way it should be working is that a country should want to attract people not try and keep them

637
01:03:12,580 --> 01:03:22,160
out or keep them in or keep them in and bring them in i mean keeping them in is the big red flag

638
01:03:22,160 --> 01:03:26,680
when they're stopping you from leaving no no keep them in because you want to stay not because you're

639
01:03:26,680 --> 01:03:32,880
going to get taxed on your overall wealth because it's a good place to be that's how they should

640
01:03:32,880 --> 01:03:38,180
keep you not because you leave and then you get taxed but because isn't that the case in the u.s

641
01:03:38,180 --> 01:03:46,220
what exit taxes yeah lots of countries have them um it's it's but to renounce your citizenship

642
01:03:46,220 --> 01:03:51,660
you've actually got to pay that haven't you that's the only way to not no are you talking about

643
01:03:51,660 --> 01:03:58,960
being taxed in the u.s no matter where you live yeah yeah so you have to unless you renounce yeah

644
01:03:58,960 --> 01:04:05,920
but then you get charged well what do you mean you i thought i could be completely wrong i thought

645
01:04:05,920 --> 01:04:10,940
that that's when you also had to pay the exit tax if you announced your yes that's what happened to

646
01:04:10,940 --> 01:04:17,440
roger vere right he became he went to japan and um he took all his bitcoin with him and didn't pay

647
01:04:17,440 --> 01:04:23,580
anything and now that's why he's that's i think that's basically what happened but i mean i would

648
01:04:23,580 --> 01:04:29,440
say that the reason why so many people are leaving the uk at the moment is because an exit tax will

649
01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:34,240
probably happen and they're just getting out now that would that would make a lot of sense to me

650
01:04:34,240 --> 01:04:40,360
because i think also it's impossible to run a business there they they are crushing innovation

651
01:04:40,360 --> 01:04:49,880
yeah so you know high taxes impossible to run run a business of course you're going to leave i don't

652
01:04:49,880 --> 01:04:53,560
think it's just the exit tax i think it's the actually what's happening now they can see which

653
01:04:53,560 --> 01:04:59,940
way the wind's blowing and it's it's impossible to be a innovator and be successful but what about

654
01:04:59,940 --> 01:05:05,960
yourself though like you said you said you're tied a bit like me because you have kids but is

655
01:05:05,960 --> 01:05:13,240
that forever do you do you ever do you have a particular connection to the uk that you never

656
01:05:13,240 --> 01:05:17,000
leave or you want to stay and fight because there's definitely two groups there's two types

657
01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:21,360
of people there's the stay and fight and the go and create something new and live in it somewhere

658
01:05:21,360 --> 01:05:28,980
else i want to stay and fight for the time being um while my kids are there they are very attached

659
01:05:28,980 --> 01:05:43,940
to the uk which really surprises me i would move in a heartbeat they love where they live um and they like they like they like it i i don understand i always wondered where would I go what would I do I mean I moved to New York for a little while I moved to

660
01:05:43,940 --> 01:05:49,420
New Zealand for a little while for some reason I always seem to come back it just happens not

661
01:05:49,420 --> 01:05:55,040
necessarily because I want to but actually um my husband did actually say to me um the other day

662
01:05:55,040 --> 01:06:00,140
he said so so imagine you've got all the money that you need and you don't have to worry about

663
01:06:00,140 --> 01:06:07,160
anything where would you go and I think that I would probably live on the road I'd probably buy

664
01:06:07,160 --> 01:06:14,280
a boat I'd probably just sail from one place to the next I'd get an Airbnb in New York for a couple

665
01:06:14,280 --> 01:06:18,980
of months and I don't think I'd have anywhere fixed I would I would love to just live a life

666
01:06:18,980 --> 01:06:25,880
of adventure and if money wasn't a concern I'd just move around I've lived like that for for a

667
01:06:25,880 --> 01:06:35,120
long time and it's a great life but um it's it's i live the complete opposite life now i live

668
01:06:35,120 --> 01:06:40,080
very settled in one place and they're both as good as each other there's no

669
01:06:40,080 --> 01:06:47,140
coming to the end of being a nomadic person was the best feeling ever okay and i think coming to

670
01:06:47,140 --> 01:06:52,140
the end of this particular thing and going back to some form of moving around the world will

671
01:06:52,140 --> 01:07:00,120
probably be the best thing ever I think in in you know you get you they both they're both great in

672
01:07:00,120 --> 01:07:06,660
the end they're not having a home base and it's great until you miss home after three years and

673
01:07:06,660 --> 01:07:10,880
you're like you know I've got to move again I'm going to a new place I'm going to this that and

674
01:07:10,880 --> 01:07:16,800
the other but um I yeah we've ended up coming back to the UK we we've been all over the world

675
01:07:16,800 --> 01:07:22,040
as well. Why did you come back to the UK? So what, so you were moving around and then before you had

676
01:07:22,040 --> 01:07:26,940
your family, you decided to come back here and then settle. Kind of. I moved around as a single

677
01:07:26,940 --> 01:07:33,580
guy. I was on the move for almost 10 years working. I was a filmmaker and a photographer. So I, and all

678
01:07:33,580 --> 01:07:37,700
my work was around the world. So quite often I would end up just living in that country while

679
01:07:37,700 --> 01:07:43,780
we were doing something. And then, you know, then I met my wife and we were living in Germany

680
01:07:43,780 --> 01:07:51,380
and she got pregnant and she wanted to move close to her mum so that was an obvious move i was

681
01:07:51,380 --> 01:07:59,100
in either way you know the uk was a kind of nicer place back then um in the end we during the

682
01:07:59,100 --> 01:08:04,220
pandemic when that hit that was a big wake-up call for me and we went we went took off on the road

683
01:08:04,220 --> 01:08:11,400
um and we went to mexico el salvador you know before the right around the time of the bitcoin

684
01:08:11,400 --> 01:08:17,240
law and everything no way before that actually or was it was it anyway it was the state of emergency

685
01:08:17,240 --> 01:08:23,540
when we were in el salvador but we were in mexico us we went to from my side it was a i was just

686
01:08:23,540 --> 01:08:28,700
having a look around because at that particular time heart in the heart of the pandemic people

687
01:08:28,700 --> 01:08:34,380
were starting to really talk about hey where are we going to live because my country is not what i

688
01:08:34,380 --> 01:08:41,700
thought it was you know um a lot of we ended up we ended up coming back again in the end because

689
01:08:41,700 --> 01:08:49,500
my wife didn't want to be far from a family if it had just been me i'd be living in right now i'd

690
01:08:49,500 --> 01:08:53,200
probably i'd be living in honduras i'd be living in prospero which is a one of the free city

691
01:08:53,200 --> 01:09:01,700
projects that um because it's just the cutting edge of governance at the moment and i would have

692
01:09:01,700 --> 01:09:07,200
to be there i'd have to be because i would have to be part of it you know or i would be in you know

693
01:09:07,200 --> 01:09:14,600
doing the geo arbitrage somewhere like argentina living in buenos aires you know you know but when

694
01:09:14,600 --> 01:09:19,680
you have a family you can't i mean not only are you thinking about your partner but you're thinking

695
01:09:19,680 --> 01:09:25,180
about your kids and my kids are having the best childhood i don't want to take that away from them

696
01:09:25,180 --> 01:09:33,260
even though they would i mean they they are now nine eleven and thirteen and really similar to

697
01:09:33,260 --> 01:09:40,020
mine so uh 12 and 15 right and but and they've lived abroad and they know what it's like to

698
01:09:40,020 --> 01:09:44,700
travel and they will travel one my eldest is quite a home girl she loves the british countryside

699
01:09:44,700 --> 01:09:50,060
she loves riding horses she she wears green clothes she's that kind of a person my middle

700
01:09:50,060 --> 01:09:55,760
one is all over can't wait to get back out to mexico you know doesn't really know why she just

701
01:09:55,760 --> 01:09:58,920
knows she wants to go every time you see something on the tv she's like i want to go there i want to

702
01:09:58,920 --> 01:10:04,360
go there and my youngest son he doesn't really he's not really making his mind up about anything

703
01:10:04,360 --> 01:10:14,340
these days yet but i i must admit in the last um it's probably only a year and a half i've been

704
01:10:14,340 --> 01:10:20,820
through a process of letting go of the UK and it's been happening bit by bit inside me and I noticed

705
01:10:20,820 --> 01:10:29,140
I noticed it first when we bought a new house in the last couple of years we moved and I knew this

706
01:10:29,140 --> 01:10:33,380
is the last one I knew that we weren't going to get another one after this and it was a doer upper

707
01:10:33,380 --> 01:10:40,920
and I couldn't wait to get started and then slowly but surely I'm like I can't bother to do this house

708
01:10:40,920 --> 01:10:45,340
up you know what i mean and that's a big sign because you know our last house we did it up over

709
01:10:45,340 --> 01:10:51,500
seven years we completely transformed them and i've just realized that there's no future and it's

710
01:10:51,500 --> 01:10:57,820
slowly i'm like why would i why would i pump all my hard-earned money into this house when i actually

711
01:10:57,820 --> 01:11:03,100
a don't think i'm going to stay here long term and b i don't even think it's going to hold its

712
01:11:03,100 --> 01:11:08,240
value either i think like i think houses are going to start to become a liability either through

713
01:11:08,240 --> 01:11:14,500
taxes or just through the financial system realizing that parking your money in property

714
01:11:14,500 --> 01:11:20,240
is not residential property is not a good idea because it's it's you don't get too much hassle

715
01:11:20,240 --> 01:11:26,360
not a good return on your money all that kind of stuff and and and then you realize especially if

716
01:11:26,360 --> 01:11:31,040
you're my age you realize you've got quite a lot of money stored in your house but you're never

717
01:11:31,040 --> 01:11:35,680
going to be able to use it because one house is one house isn't it exactly you then move from one

718
01:11:35,680 --> 01:11:40,620
house to another exactly but you you we've we've we come from this culture where it's it was thought

719
01:11:40,620 --> 01:11:46,600
yeah do your house up add an extension do this it's all good because it increases the price of

720
01:11:46,600 --> 01:11:51,200
your property well because the value of your money is going down yeah exactly but it's not

721
01:11:51,200 --> 01:11:55,660
the thing is is it's because we don't look at houses for their utility factor

722
01:11:55,660 --> 01:12:03,120
we look at houses as an investment and it's not that the value of your house is going up because

723
01:12:03,120 --> 01:12:08,980
your house has become more valuable it's because the value of your money is decreasing and also

724
01:12:08,980 --> 01:12:15,060
because um yeah and the way that debt comes into the system and how easily that flows in because a

725
01:12:15,060 --> 01:12:19,640
lot of people don't even understand how money comes into the system and how debt is created

726
01:12:19,640 --> 01:12:27,060
so when you get the money for your mortgage that wasn't sitting in honeyfax's account ready to

727
01:12:27,060 --> 01:12:31,280
transfer to you it gets created in that moment i mean you just got to look at the bank of england

728
01:12:31,280 --> 01:12:37,660
they've talked about debt creation and how it comes in i i mean on the on the positive note i

729
01:12:37,660 --> 01:12:44,560
think concepts like quantitative easing and um credit creation and all that kind of stuff i think

730
01:12:44,560 --> 01:12:51,620
they are becoming kind of more commonly understood now good i've noticed a few people in my life who

731
01:12:51,620 --> 01:13:00,180
you know cousins uncles who really normally just say whatever the bbc says starting to talk about

732
01:13:00,180 --> 01:13:07,180
things like inflation is not the rise in prices you know the rise in prices is causing inflation

733
01:13:07,180 --> 01:13:11,580
which i've heard so many times in the past it's like they're actually starting to realize that

734
01:13:11,580 --> 01:13:17,320
the increase in the money supply is inflation yes and who does that it's it's the government

735
01:13:17,320 --> 01:13:24,780
and the central banks so are are we the problem are greedy businessmen trying to put their prices

736
01:13:24,780 --> 01:13:29,800
up to try and take more money off you when they sell you it yeah or or are they just trying to

737
01:13:29,800 --> 01:13:34,240
compete and and everything's so bloody expensive they have to put their prices up and the reason

738
01:13:34,240 --> 01:13:41,380
they do is because someone in the government is just spending too much money yeah yeah so they

739
01:13:41,380 --> 01:13:47,480
the government pretend to be on your side and then they create these problems and then they create

740
01:13:47,480 --> 01:13:51,580
more problems because they put rules in place that then exacerbate said problems

741
01:13:51,580 --> 01:13:57,080
and they don't admit that they created the problem in the first place but then they put in a solution

742
01:13:57,080 --> 01:14:04,540
to fix the problem and it's just it's a really ugly cycle i think it is and so come on back to

743
01:14:04,540 --> 01:14:12,240
my original question what do you do about this completely effed up system that we in you know

744
01:14:12,240 --> 01:14:20,000
but can i say you can't no i that might be the conclusion i've come to not that not that i can't

745
01:14:20,000 --> 01:14:27,040
for the system like i can make my own decisions about how i'm going to position myself and that

746
01:14:27,040 --> 01:14:32,940
happens on a day-by-day basis at the moment it's like they'll they'll come a point i hope it doesn't

747
01:14:32,940 --> 01:14:37,300
happen in the next 10 years but there may come a point where i feel like i'm forced out of the uk

748
01:14:37,300 --> 01:14:43,620
not for any other reason that there are certain rules that i won't follow because i i deep i i

749
01:14:43,620 --> 01:14:49,680
disagree with them in a deepest part of my core you know well give me an example well the

750
01:14:49,680 --> 01:14:54,140
The KYC thing like someone I saw someone ranting the other day on

751
01:14:55,560 --> 01:14:57,560
Noster about how

752
01:14:58,140 --> 01:14:59,980
Someone came to the door with a parcel

753
01:15:00,700 --> 01:15:06,740
And it was something now that has to be, you have to be over 18 to receive.

754
01:15:07,160 --> 01:15:07,700
You know what I mean?

755
01:15:07,760 --> 01:15:11,360
Like maybe they ordered something online and it was an over 18 thing only.

756
01:15:11,440 --> 01:15:15,380
And the guy came with the parcel and said, I need to see some ID.

757
01:15:15,820 --> 01:15:19,120
There's a kind of like 45 year old person standing at the door.

758
01:15:19,480 --> 01:15:20,600
They say, I need to see some ID.

759
01:15:20,720 --> 01:15:22,960
And it's like, come on, bro, just give me the parcel.

760
01:15:23,260 --> 01:15:24,520
You don't need to see my ID.

761
01:15:24,820 --> 01:15:26,780
No, I need to take a photo of it.

762
01:15:26,780 --> 01:15:31,740
And in the end, he just caused a stink and sent the parcel away because it's true.

763
01:15:31,740 --> 01:15:32,900
It's like, hold on a minute.

764
01:15:33,340 --> 01:15:39,240
No, I'm not going to give you a bloody copy of my passport to receive a parcel.

765
01:15:39,620 --> 01:15:41,100
You know, it's like, stop it.

766
01:15:41,340 --> 01:15:42,300
Stop all this stuff.

767
01:15:43,100 --> 01:15:44,620
And it's become normalized.

768
01:15:44,780 --> 01:15:46,180
Yeah, doing it.

769
01:15:46,300 --> 01:15:48,800
And they're not even understanding the repercussions.

770
01:15:49,520 --> 01:15:49,680
Yeah.

771
01:15:50,420 --> 01:15:51,420
But that's what I mean.

772
01:15:51,460 --> 01:15:52,100
So come on.

773
01:15:52,100 --> 01:15:59,220
there's only so much you can stay and fight because it's like walking through treacle yeah you get you

774
01:15:59,220 --> 01:16:05,760
get more and more of these little jabs and digs and and that guy's just doing his job he can't

775
01:16:05,760 --> 01:16:11,120
give you the parcel until the computer says yes because he has to take the photo of your id and

776
01:16:11,120 --> 01:16:17,640
you're going no so you end up not getting that thing you know yeah like what and the only long

777
01:16:17,640 --> 01:16:22,680
term result is you move somewhere where they don't do that on your parcels and that's kind of

778
01:16:22,680 --> 01:16:27,800
you know which is why when you were talking about bedford i found the bedford story quite

779
01:16:27,800 --> 01:16:34,140
interesting because that is a very well-known bitcoiner from bedford and he is doing something

780
01:16:34,140 --> 01:16:40,840
in bedford which arguably he's a stay and fight guy he's trying to get involved in the political

781
01:16:40,840 --> 01:16:48,240
realm he's doing his podcast now has turned into a mouthpiece for everyone that isn't mainstream

782
01:16:48,240 --> 01:16:54,360
politics which is phenomenal and it's great and he's even employing a private um you know

783
01:16:54,360 --> 01:17:01,540
security forces in the middle of bedford because the town's turned into such a shithole you know

784
01:17:01,540 --> 01:17:07,340
and i think it's all phenomenal to be fair it's been a shithole for a long time like having

785
01:17:07,340 --> 01:17:15,180
gone there for you know decades because my grandparents if they say for the first 30 years

786
01:17:15,180 --> 01:17:20,000
of my life I was going there it was like a second home to me and like I said they were they were

787
01:17:20,000 --> 01:17:27,320
second I'm second generation they were immigrants you know they weren't rich they lived in a in the

788
01:17:27,320 --> 01:17:32,280
poorer part of Bedford so I would I would have seen all of that and it's been like that for the

789
01:17:32,280 --> 01:17:37,080
whole of my life but did they have people walking into shops and just picking things up fully out

790
01:17:37,080 --> 01:17:43,320
no but that's not a bedford thing no i agree yeah but that's why they have a private security force

791
01:17:43,320 --> 01:17:48,340
that's why pete mccormick's paying for a private security for you know in the middle of town and

792
01:17:48,340 --> 01:17:53,940
was the middle of town full of people off their heads drinking and being just generally disrupting

793
01:17:53,940 --> 01:18:00,460
either now no no no i know it's not a bit but that's because people are desperate it's it's

794
01:18:00,460 --> 01:18:08,120
broken money it's because the system isn't working for them so although i understand that

795
01:18:08,120 --> 01:18:14,280
law enforcement is is lacking because now if you have your house broken into they probably won't

796
01:18:14,280 --> 01:18:19,940
come and likewise if you suddenly had a horse tackle me um the ambulance won't be there in

797
01:18:19,940 --> 01:18:24,880
five minutes now you know all the services that we took for granted they're just not there and i

798
01:18:24,880 --> 01:18:33,140
think is all of this stuff is happening because people are desperate so going back to my grandmother

799
01:18:33,140 --> 01:18:39,480
my nonna she came from a very small little village in italy in the south of italy just outside of

800
01:18:39,480 --> 01:18:45,020
naples called campagna and it was a tiny little village one road in one road out everyone's

801
01:18:45,020 --> 01:18:52,280
related to each other they all know each other laws exist in italy obviously they do but that's

802
01:18:52,280 --> 01:18:58,740
not what kept people in line what kept people in line with the communities and the structure the

803
01:18:58,740 --> 01:19:02,920
the non-ners you know you wouldn't do anything wrong because you knew that there'd be somebody

804
01:19:02,920 --> 01:19:07,960
over there ready to tell you off and then tell your mum that what you know what you're up to so

805
01:19:07,960 --> 01:19:15,640
I think you can put all the laws that you like in place you can put all the policing that you like

806
01:19:15,640 --> 01:19:23,020
in place but unless you fix the fundamental problem of why people are so desperate I don't

807
01:19:23,020 --> 01:19:29,680
think it's going to improve I don't I don't think putting more powers in place to stop this and stop

808
01:19:29,680 --> 01:19:34,360
that because I don't think that's how society polices itself I think that it's the breakdown

809
01:19:34,360 --> 01:19:41,080
of community that has actually led us to this and until we rebuild communities and that's why

810
01:19:41,080 --> 01:19:46,820
that's another reason why I love Bitcoin because it gives power back to the people currently we're

811
01:19:46,820 --> 01:19:54,460
going through quite a another depressing centralization of everything everything is

812
01:19:54,460 --> 01:19:58,900
being centralized which means that people aren't making decisions over their local communities the

813
01:19:58,900 --> 01:20:04,100
decisions are being made at a central level and until we give that power back to people and it

814
01:20:04,100 --> 01:20:09,960
actually empower them to have a stake in their environment in their community and in the people

815
01:20:09,960 --> 01:20:12,000
then I just don't think it's going to fix itself.

816
01:20:12,160 --> 01:20:18,320
And as much as I understand why you would want to put an additional police force in place,

817
01:20:18,440 --> 01:20:21,140
it doesn't stop the underlying problem.

818
01:20:21,380 --> 01:20:24,540
And until we fix that root cause, I think we're pretty fucked.

819
01:20:25,280 --> 01:20:28,960
I think in the case of centralized government,

820
01:20:29,840 --> 01:20:36,400
I think this is why a lot of people quite like the way, for example, Switzerland works,

821
01:20:36,400 --> 01:20:58,510
Because I think it 90 of all the money that a local council derives off its you know community 90 goes to central government to be sort of given back to them in in with stipulations whereas they make their own choices don they they very much because i know but in switzerland

822
01:20:58,510 --> 01:21:03,990
yeah i think it's like it's the i think don't quote me on it but i think 60 remains in the

823
01:21:03,990 --> 01:21:11,290
local locality and only 40 goes to the central government so you when you pay your tax it goes

824
01:21:11,290 --> 01:21:16,110
straight to your local government which would make much more sense to me 100 i i don't give a

825
01:21:16,110 --> 01:21:22,590
shit who what happens in london i i would much rather my money goes to herefordshire council

826
01:21:22,590 --> 01:21:28,910
because not that i think that they do good things with it but sending it back to head office and then

827
01:21:28,910 --> 01:21:34,590
basically only getting stuff back because you you you pray really hard and do exactly what you're

828
01:21:34,590 --> 01:21:38,270
told is not a good thing because london's a different place to where i live i live in a very

829
01:21:38,270 --> 01:21:43,810
rural community yeah of course we need to empower people and people need to feel like they have skin

830
01:21:43,810 --> 01:21:52,850
in the game yes come on i still i still need a i want some concrete things that we can do

831
01:21:52,850 --> 01:22:01,530
um we have to be mindful that whenever you're kind of being forced into something it's usually

832
01:22:01,530 --> 01:22:08,770
under the guise of convenience so don't always take the easy route and understand what it is

833
01:22:08,770 --> 01:22:14,050
that you're doing and why you know like we have our phones and we have apps and it's so easy to

834
01:22:14,050 --> 01:22:19,230
download this and do this and everything's been put in one place to make it easier for that or

835
01:22:19,230 --> 01:22:22,530
but you know sometimes you might actually have to put a bit more effort in and actually

836
01:22:22,530 --> 01:22:30,110
not take the convenient route have you ever wondered what could be a tipping point for

837
01:22:30,110 --> 01:22:37,210
mass adoption of these kind of ideas of um hold a minute this is wrong because most people

838
01:22:37,210 --> 01:22:43,910
don't even think about this stuff and especially in the uk we've got that britishness well well

839
01:22:43,910 --> 01:22:50,390
you know yeah muddle on you know we'll just get through it yeah um but what what what could be a

840
01:22:50,390 --> 01:22:55,490
tipping point because i agree with you that you have to make in your own personal life you have

841
01:22:55,490 --> 01:23:00,410
to make all those little things you have to say no to this you have to not do that you have to

842
01:23:00,410 --> 01:23:06,790
but when it's only like so back when there's only 10 of you doing i know it's exhausting it no it's

843
01:23:06,790 --> 01:23:11,730
not only exhausting but it doesn't really achieve anything no it's a personal it's just your personal

844
01:23:11,730 --> 01:23:19,290
thing and i and that's not to demean that because i have made some decisions in the last five years

845
01:23:19,290 --> 01:23:26,270
which were very unpopular and proved right and it made me a stronger person you say you didn't

846
01:23:26,270 --> 01:23:32,050
get the vaccine then i'm not saying anything about the vaccine because i i really respect

847
01:23:32,050 --> 01:23:39,970
all the people that held out i got it i regret it deeply regret it and the reason why i got it is

848
01:23:39,970 --> 01:23:46,530
because i had just i'd been homeschooling two very young children and i was trying to work at

849
01:23:46,530 --> 01:23:51,790
the same time and it broke me and the amount of health problems that I got during that time just

850
01:23:51,790 --> 01:23:59,390
due to the stress and I just and I feel ashamed even saying about saying it now but I was so

851
01:23:59,390 --> 01:24:06,030
utterly broken by that time I just wanted to go on holiday and I wanted something to be easy and

852
01:24:06,030 --> 01:24:14,090
I didn't want it to be hard and I just wanted to go away and not have all that shit it's the same

853
01:24:14,090 --> 01:24:19,550
story from a lot of people that i know um like i say though if there's any consolation

854
01:24:19,550 --> 01:24:25,530
and it's not just about not necessarily the vaccination whether you chose to do that or not

855
01:24:25,530 --> 01:24:35,170
but any decision you make which was is hard um after you've made it it makes you a stronger person

856
01:24:35,170 --> 01:24:40,950
and the more people that probably disagree with you when it's something you really believe in

857
01:24:40,950 --> 01:24:48,250
in my experience it really does um mean a lot on a personal level it may not necessarily make

858
01:24:48,250 --> 01:24:51,890
much difference in the in the real world but it will make a lot of difference to you

859
01:24:51,890 --> 01:24:56,490
and it will probably make a lot of difference to your kids when they see you doing things like that

860
01:24:56,490 --> 01:25:05,050
but but it's even so like i say that kind of stuff still doesn't um offer me much hope

861
01:25:05,050 --> 01:25:12,770
on a grand scale you know i'm looking for i'm looking for a result i want everyone you know

862
01:25:12,770 --> 01:25:18,570
like i even would just be happy with the way things were when i was a kid you know i know

863
01:25:18,570 --> 01:25:22,770
that we can't go back to that and i know that they did that the internet is the reason why

864
01:25:22,770 --> 01:25:29,490
authoritarianism is so emboldened now but it's also the reason why we have all these other tools

865
01:25:29,490 --> 01:25:32,810
on the opposite side of the fence.

866
01:25:33,510 --> 01:25:38,830
But I would just like to see a really, you know,

867
01:25:39,170 --> 01:25:42,350
not such a tiresome experience in life

868
01:25:42,350 --> 01:25:46,290
where everyone is doing,

869
01:25:46,550 --> 01:25:48,950
a lot of people are doing a lot of illogical things,

870
01:25:48,970 --> 01:25:52,870
like the guy who's there trying to get a 45-year-old person

871
01:25:52,870 --> 01:25:54,410
to show them his ID.

872
01:25:54,630 --> 01:25:56,230
Not because he doesn't believe you're 45,

873
01:25:56,450 --> 01:25:58,850
but because the computer says, I've got to do it.

874
01:25:58,850 --> 01:26:05,070
you know but you know when you listen when you talk to people who grew up in communist societies

875
01:26:05,070 --> 01:26:12,230
they tell you they'll tell you all the same kind of ridiculous stories yeah and and you you listen

876
01:26:12,230 --> 01:26:16,470
to those and you think yeah but that could never happen here yes it's happening here i know it is

877
01:26:16,470 --> 01:26:22,050
it's happening here they're about to that i saw this on your timeline they're taught the labor

878
01:26:22,050 --> 01:26:29,730
government is talking about banning vpns vpns just give you privacy on the internet they're

879
01:26:29,730 --> 01:26:33,310
talking about banning them and they're not talking about banning them because you're a criminal

880
01:26:33,310 --> 01:26:48,920
they just they saying it because your kids need to be protected from porn or something it ridiculous it so they need to be protected from addictive technology whatever they don give them the phone well

881
01:26:48,920 --> 01:26:54,860
exactly but even that they the the the phone is they don't it doesn't matter like none of this

882
01:26:54,860 --> 01:27:03,880
stuff matters you're you're you're using the excuse of um that you know you're using the excuse

883
01:27:03,880 --> 01:27:10,280
of safety of your children for something to to ban something which is nothing to do with that

884
01:27:10,280 --> 01:27:15,680
it's illogical like you say it doesn't make sense yeah i mean well it makes sense if you're if you're

885
01:27:15,680 --> 01:27:23,020
the government because vpns do stop people being able to snoop on you another way there'll always

886
01:27:23,020 --> 01:27:31,780
be a workaround always yes there will but but the the point is that yesterday you weren't a criminal

887
01:27:31,780 --> 01:27:38,520
no tomorrow you might you might actually be a criminal and all you're doing is just saying to

888
01:27:38,520 --> 01:27:44,140
the girl or someone in the government office no you can't see what i'm looking at on the internet

889
01:27:44,140 --> 01:27:49,380
it's none of your business that's all it is you know like or or no i don't want you to have my

890
01:27:49,380 --> 01:27:56,380
banking details freely because you lose them not just lose them there's actual real life examples

891
01:27:56,380 --> 01:28:02,860
where data because it's a central honeypot for hackers we know that they their systems are weak

892
01:28:02,860 --> 01:28:09,740
and that they won't look after our data and it actually has real life consequences so there's

893
01:28:09,740 --> 01:28:14,840
going to come a point where an exchange a coinbase gets hacked you know and someone can see how much

894
01:28:14,840 --> 01:28:22,640
bitcoin that you've bought and it's attached to your address that can cause physical harm that's

895
01:28:22,640 --> 01:28:28,680
not just a oh it's a data breach oh that's unlucky oh my data's out there oh it isn't it actually

896
01:28:28,680 --> 01:28:34,480
transpires into the real world and physical harm like and i just don't think they understand that

897
01:28:34,480 --> 01:28:41,260
and so they want they want everything from you and they won't protect you they just won't and

898
01:28:41,260 --> 01:28:45,360
they're not and that's what's so bad and you've said the word hope a couple of times

899
01:28:45,360 --> 01:28:53,560
that is what bitcoin gives you you want an answer outside of bitcoin i can't give you that

900
01:28:53,560 --> 01:29:00,060
bitcoin is the only thing that gives me hope if it wasn't for bitcoin i don't i honestly honestly

901
01:29:00,060 --> 01:29:07,980
do not know what i would do well i i know what you mean i mean but bitcoin is when i look at the

902
01:29:07,980 --> 01:29:14,940
sort of macro landscape it's a very long-term strategy i i think it's inevitable that it will

903
01:29:14,940 --> 01:29:24,600
reorganize the landscape of society in the end yeah and it for the good and one of the main things

904
01:29:24,600 --> 01:29:32,080
that it'll do is it will defund governments which is phenomenal and you could argue it's just come

905
01:29:32,080 --> 01:29:40,620
at the perfect moment because they're at their height so something did need to be something did

906
01:29:40,620 --> 01:29:46,760
need to be discovered that might do that but it's a it could be a 250 year plan i don't know i've got

907
01:29:46,760 --> 01:29:52,120
no idea because really when you think about it like we were saying earlier one of the worst things

908
01:29:52,120 --> 01:29:57,900
about the modern world is that it's all very well you might have some bitcoin but unless you can

909
01:29:57,900 --> 01:30:05,540
spend it in the real world um it's not much use and almost certainly that is one of the capture

910
01:30:05,540 --> 01:30:12,980
roots one of the ways that people who don't like bitcoin would would use to to and it's already

911
01:30:12,980 --> 01:30:18,260
happening we can see it we can see it you can't you can't really buy a car with bitcoin like you

912
01:30:18,260 --> 01:30:23,940
said no it's not possible yeah you i mean you can sorry you can buy it you've got to jump through

913
01:30:23,940 --> 01:30:30,600
quite a few hoops yes but if you want any kind of financial privacy you can't um yes you will be

914
01:30:30,600 --> 01:30:38,840
able to you i think you will be able to so that the technology to make your transaction private

915
01:30:38,840 --> 01:30:45,900
kind of already exist and will definitely in the future the problem is you still might not be able

916
01:30:45,900 --> 01:30:53,320
to buy that house because the the system that you're living in might in might insist that they

917
01:30:53,320 --> 01:30:58,560
need to know like i've just bought a house and unfortunately i was just swapping one house for

918
01:30:58,560 --> 01:31:04,640
another but the guys that were buying our house were using lots of money from different sources

919
01:31:04,640 --> 01:31:10,400
and i was chatting to him it's unbelievable that you know they were having their grandparents were

920
01:31:10,400 --> 01:31:16,320
giving them some money for you know in order just to help them out and they were asking them to say

921
01:31:16,320 --> 01:31:21,880
where that money came from and track back and you know it was it they had like all these it was it

922
01:31:21,880 --> 01:31:26,220
was absolutely ridiculous you know a lot of people do justify that of course because you have to stop

923
01:31:26,220 --> 01:31:31,020
money laundering that you know but they don't stop money laundering this is the problem most

924
01:31:31,020 --> 01:31:36,920
money laundering happens through HSBC JP Morgan they're not stopping it all they're doing is

925
01:31:36,920 --> 01:31:45,240
making normal people jump through these hoops normal law-abiding people it stops nothing it

926
01:31:45,240 --> 01:31:52,420
doesn't change anything they're going after the wrong stuff well I mean I think probably

927
01:31:52,420 --> 01:32:01,700
it does stop a little bit like for example it's quite work around yeah i know they are but what

928
01:32:01,700 --> 01:32:07,360
i mean is the way the government thinks or the way that the the the people that want to police

929
01:32:07,360 --> 01:32:15,000
that think is without these checks and balances it's much harder to buy property to launder money

930
01:32:15,000 --> 01:32:19,560
which is true but it's now it's it but i don't think it warrants it because i think

931
01:32:19,560 --> 01:32:38,050
You basically yeah it a minute number of people that you actually penalising the whole of a country for Or anyone who wants to buy a house i yeah i agree with that but so you you obviously heard of the fourth turning yes so what we going from weak men

932
01:32:38,050 --> 01:32:45,250
into hard sorry into hard times is there a solution no this is cyclical it's almost

933
01:32:45,250 --> 01:32:51,190
it's pre-planned this we're gonna head into choppy waters potentially war i think that

934
01:32:51,190 --> 01:33:00,190
it could lead to collapse and I think it's all um predictable all right go back to my

935
01:33:00,190 --> 01:33:05,190
original question it's what do you do in this fourth turning like what have people done in

936
01:33:05,190 --> 01:33:13,370
previous fourth turnings um I had a very very difficult and miserable time really yeah wow

937
01:33:13,370 --> 01:33:20,050
we're normally quite positive and then you then you come out the other end then there's an end to

938
01:33:20,050 --> 01:33:27,030
it so it'll be probably a 20 year period of of difficulty lessons will be learned it will be

939
01:33:27,030 --> 01:33:33,890
really really difficult and then you go from hard times it with hard men and then hard men lead to

940
01:33:33,890 --> 01:33:40,990
good times so it's it's a cycle i think is that correct have i got that that right even if it's

941
01:33:40,990 --> 01:33:46,750
not correct everyone knows what you mean we all we all know the cycle i'm like you i can't

942
01:33:46,750 --> 01:33:50,830
necessarily pull it out of thin air every time and say all the right words i remember concepts

943
01:33:50,830 --> 01:33:56,610
and not i can't remember anything verbatim it's really frustrating yeah i'm the same i'm not

944
01:33:56,610 --> 01:34:01,530
academic like that i have to write a lot of things down but i get the general gist

945
01:34:01,530 --> 01:34:07,790
we've both got our notebooks full of just like words yeah my doodles anyway look we should

946
01:34:07,790 --> 01:34:13,630
probably wrap it up here um i do want to leave on a positive note though i want i want people

947
01:34:13,630 --> 01:34:21,450
listening to this to go away thinking hmm do you know what yes it's all shit and yes you know we're

948
01:34:21,450 --> 01:34:28,250
going through hard times or we will but it doesn't matter actually because I've got this solution

949
01:34:28,250 --> 01:34:36,850
that I've got I'm doing the best I can to insulate or to yeah insulate myself and my family and loved

950
01:34:36,850 --> 01:34:43,230
ones from this putting myself in the best position I can what would that be for you you're someone

951
01:34:43,230 --> 01:34:50,630
who's probably quite representative of a lot of people you live in a country uh where you're tied

952
01:34:50,630 --> 01:34:58,610
to for many reasons and also that country is is is functioning in a in a way that you don't like

953
01:34:58,610 --> 01:35:06,450
so what what are your how are you how are you weathering the storm i focus my energy on the the

954
01:35:06,450 --> 01:35:16,130
hope aspect that is why I obsess over Bitcoin Bitcoin is hope it really is so my suggestion

955
01:35:16,130 --> 01:35:23,410
would be study it learn it understand it and see why it's going to change the world because

956
01:35:23,410 --> 01:35:30,190
the most amazing thing is I actually feel really privileged to be living in this time I can't

957
01:35:30,190 --> 01:35:35,410
believe that Bitcoin has actually come at this time at a time that I'm alive to actually help

958
01:35:35,410 --> 01:35:43,710
you know further that cause and it's a little bit like planting a seed or an acorn and you'll

959
01:35:43,710 --> 01:35:49,590
never see that oak grow I don't think that I'll see the fruits of my labor but I do know that I'm

960
01:35:49,590 --> 01:35:56,290
planting that seed and I believe that it will lead to a much brighter better future

961
01:35:56,290 --> 01:36:04,630
study bitcoin then that's the takeaway yeah I I would agree with you I would agree with you I think

962
01:36:04,630 --> 01:36:12,690
i would say study bitcoin um i would also but once again i still i always come back to that

963
01:36:12,690 --> 01:36:19,470
point it's like right i've studied it i understand it it's all good but in the meantime how do i deal

964
01:36:19,470 --> 01:36:24,890
with keir starmer being a douchebag you don't have to do you know what you do you do what you're

965
01:36:24,890 --> 01:36:29,710
doing you build something you have a podcast you educate people you teach people stuff you give

966
01:36:29,710 --> 01:36:36,110
people food for thought you give them extra um homework or something to go away you're doing it

967
01:36:36,110 --> 01:36:40,950
you're you're doing it i'm doing it through my writing we're all doing it in our own little way

968
01:36:40,950 --> 01:36:48,830
we're spreading a hopeful message we're saying there is there is a lifeboat and you can jump on

969
01:36:48,830 --> 01:36:58,930
that lifeboat study bitcoin cool all right lifeboats away susie thank you for

970
01:36:58,930 --> 01:37:07,750
taking the time to come into my um my commie chic apartment i love it yeah well inside it's not too

971
01:37:07,750 --> 01:37:11,050
bad but you see from the outside you have to come in a little alleyway at the side

972
01:37:11,050 --> 01:37:16,610
into the grottiest little staircase but there's something gritty and lovely about it though i

973
01:37:16,610 --> 01:37:22,730
loved it when i lived in berlin we used to live in a former kgb listening building no it was

974
01:37:22,730 --> 01:37:28,030
amazing it was was there an energy to it though was it um it was amazing i liked it was right in

975
01:37:28,030 --> 01:37:32,550
it was right in the middle of all the good stuff where everything was going on it was a crazy place

976
01:37:32,550 --> 01:37:37,690
but it had been completely renovated so it didn't feel like that at all but but all the buildings

977
01:37:37,690 --> 01:37:46,190
were like this giant blocks of a you know before real 60s brutalism destroyed architecture you had

978
01:37:46,190 --> 01:37:51,990
this kind of stuff which is like the walls oh yeah they're all massive all the rooms are massive

979
01:37:51,990 --> 01:37:58,310
yeah yeah and but anyway thanks for coming to visit and thank you for having me good luck on

980
01:37:58,310 --> 01:38:03,130
your journey and um and yeah it was good talking to you thanks thank you