Mandalorian

Brother @Simon Dixon crushing it! In this conversation, Simon Dixon argues that the world is not chaotic by accident - it is structured around money creation, debt, and control of capital. He explains that: 1. Governments operate like balance sheets - Modern states survive by rolling over debt, not by paying it back. - Citizens effectively become collateral in a system where governments borrow endlessly. 2. Power has shifted from politicians to financial institutions - Dixon claims that asset managers, central banks, and global financial players now shape outcomes more than elected leaders. - Access to capital determines influence far more than ideology or elections. 3. The debt-based system creates predictable outcomes - Wars, bailouts, inflation, and social instability all follow the same incentive structure: keep the debt machine running. 4. Bitcoin is positioned as an alternative - Dixon frames Bitcoin as a counter-system that removes the ability of governments and institutions to manipulate money supply. 5. Western political chaos is a symptom, not the cause - What looks like dysfunction is actually the logical result of a system built on perpetual debt and financial engineering.

What this analysis really highlights is how fragile our digital autonomy becomes when every layer of cyberspace - physical, logical, and cognitive - is increasingly absorbed into state power struggles and corporate empires. Once the infrastructure, the protocols, and even the interfaces that shape our perception are captured, the individual is no longer a participant in the network but a subject of it. For those of us who value the freedom to operate outside centralised systems of control, this is the core issue. Whether it’s the Splinternet of states or the technofeudalism of corporate blocs, the pattern is the same: consolidation, enclosure, and the narrowing of human agency. Decentralised networks, open protocols, and user‑controlled tools aren’t just technical preferences - they’re survival strategies. They’re how we maintain sovereignty at the edge, where individuals and small communities can still build, communicate, and organise without being folded into someone else’s geopolitical architecture. If cyberspace has become the new arena of empire, then opting out of its centralised choke points is a form of self‑defence. It’s also a way to preserve the possibility of plural worlds, plural cultures, and plural futures. Operating independently isn’t escapism. It’s a refusal to let our cognition, our data, or our social relationships become battlegrounds for powers we never consented to serve. Allahu Alim.

@Simon Dixon on What Bitcoin Did @Danny Knowles Highly recommended “The System Is Rigged & Bitcoin Is The Exit" 🎙️ Summary of the Podcast Episode Guest: Simon Dixon Host: Danny Knowles (What Bitcoin Did) Theme: Why the financial system is fundamentally broken — and why Bitcoin offers a credible exit. 🧩 1. The Core Argument: “The System Is Rigged” Simon Dixon lays out a blunt thesis: - The global financial system is structurally designed to benefit governments, central banks, and large financial institutions. - Ordinary people are left exposed to inflation, debt traps, and systemic fragility. - Bailouts, money printing, and fractional‑reserve banking create a cycle where risk is socialised and profits are privatised. He argues that this isn’t a conspiracy — it’s simply how the incentives of the system are built. ₿ 2. Bitcoin as the Exit Dixon explains why Bitcoin is the only credible alternative: Key properties he highlights: - Fixed supply → protects savings from inflation. - Decentralisation → no central authority to manipulate monetary policy. - Self‑custody → removes counterparty risk. - Global accessibility → anyone can opt in. He frames Bitcoin not as a get‑rich scheme, but as a parallel financial system that individuals can migrate to voluntarily. 🏦 3. Banking Crises & Lessons Learned Drawing on his experience with: - Banking failures - Bailouts - Regulatory capture Dixon explains how crises are used to justify more centralisation and more control. He argues that CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) will accelerate this trend. Bitcoin, in contrast, offers: - Transparency - Predictability - Personal sovereignty 🧭 4. Personal Responsibility & Education A major theme is financial literacy. Dixon stresses: - People must learn how money works. - They must understand custody, private keys, and risk. - Bitcoin requires responsibility — but rewards it. He also warns against: - Scams - Over‑leveraged trading - Trusting custodians blindly 🌍 5. The Global Picture He discusses: - Hyperinflationary economies - Capital controls - How Bitcoin empowers people in unstable regions - Why emerging markets may adopt Bitcoin faster than the West 🔮 6. The Future Dixon predicts: - More banking failures - More government intervention - More people opting out into Bitcoin - A long transition where both systems coexist He sees Bitcoin as a multi‑decade monetary revolution, not a quick flip. 📌 In Short The episode argues that: - The current financial system is inherently unfair. - Bitcoin is a peaceful, voluntary alternative. - Education and self‑custody are essential. - The shift to a Bitcoin‑based world will be gradual but inevitable.

'I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.' - J.R.R. Tolkien, born on January 3, in 1892.

Ashigaru (足軽) were the peasant foot soldiers of feudal Japan, literally meaning "light foot," who formed the bulk of samurai armies, evolving from untrained levies into disciplined, professional troops using spears, bows, and firearms (arquebuses) by the 16th century, becoming crucial to warfare and sometimes even rising in status, exemplified by figures like Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Initially lightly armored and armed, they grew in importance as armies needed more men, developing into vital, well-equipped units crucial for large-scale conflicts and sieges.

Ashigaru

Ashigaru

Self custodial, open source and secure Bitcoin applications that are private by design.