January 12th:
THE STRAIGHT PATH
"If you can see the road, follow it. If you can’t, then stop and consult the best guides. If some other thing stands in your way, proceed with caution and according to your best judgment, holding fast to what is right.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 10.12
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: Navigating the Path to Self-Sovereignty
The path to self-sovereignty is clear, but not always easy. If you can see it—if you understand the importance of holding your own keys, running your own node, and prioritizing privacy—then follow it with conviction. If you are unsure, stop. Consult the best guides: the original whitepaper, the foundational texts of the cypherpunks, the trusted educators in the space. If an obstacle appears—a regulatory threat, a technical challenge, a wave of FUD—proceed with caution, but hold fast to what you know is right: the principle of decentralization. Do not be deterred.
#bitcoin
#stoic
#nostr
#plebchain
January 11th:
THE FIRE OF TRUTH
"The flame of a lamp lights up and doesn’t lose its radiance. Will your truth, justice, and self-control be so easily extinguished?”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 12.15
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: The Unextinguishable Node
A single Bitcoin node, running on a simple computer, validates every transaction and enforces every rule. It is a flame of truth in a world of financial deceit. It does not ask for permission. It does not bow to authority. It simply broadcasts the truth. Will your own commitment to self-custody be so easily extinguished by the inconvenience? Will your demand for privacy be so easily compromised for a discount? Will your resolve for decentralization be so easily swayed by the promise of easy returns? Let your principles be as radiant and unyielding as the flame of a full node.
#bitcoin
#stoic
#nostr
#plebchain
January 10th:
IF YOU WANT TO BE STEADY
"If you want to be steady, side with logic and reason. But if you want to be carried away, then side with wealth and property. For the one is a matter of choice, the other of chance, and while you can choose to be patient, you can’t choose to be lucky.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 120.10
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: Protocol Rules vs. Market Chance
Do you want to be steady? Then side with the logic of the protocol. Understand the rules of consensus, the difficulty adjustment, the halving cycle. These are matters of reason. Do you want to be carried away? Then side with the market price. Obsess over the daily charts, the leveraged positions, the speculative fervor. This is a matter of chance. You can choose to be a patient holder, accumulating according to a rational plan. You cannot choose to be lucky in a casino. The Bitcoin Stoic sides with logic, not luck.
#bitcoin
#stoic
#nostr
#plebchain
January 9th:
WHAT WE CONTROL AND WHAT WE DON’T
"Some things are in our control, while others are not. We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion... We don’t control our body, property, reputation, position... Even more, the things in our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own.”
—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 1.1–2
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: The Uncensorable Private Key
This is the core of the Bitcoin ethos. You do not control the price. You do not control the headlines. You do not control the actions of governments. These things are weak, slavish, and not your own. But your private keys? Your choice to use a privacy-preserving wallet? Your desire for a censorship-resistant world? These are in your control. They are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed. Bitcoin’s genius is that it takes "property"—something Epictetus listed as external and not our own—and makes it internal. When you hold your own keys, your property becomes an extension of your own mind, and thus, truly your own.
#bitcoin
#stoic
#nostr
#plebchain
January 8th:
SEEING OUR ADDICTIONS
"We must give up many things to which we are addicted, considering them to be good. Otherwise, courage will vanish... Greatness of soul will be lost, which can’t stand out unless it disdains as petty what the mob regards as most desirable.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 74.12b–13
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: The Fiat Standard as an Addiction
The fiat standard is an addiction. We are addicted to the easy credit, the illusion of stability, and the comforting lies of the authorities. We consider these things to be good. But they are not. They are a poison that erodes our courage and diminishes our soul. To break free requires a greatness of soul that can look at what the mob desires—the latest consumer gadget, the status symbol bought with debt—and disdain it as petty. The path to sovereignty is a path of withdrawal. It is uncomfortable. It requires courage. But it is the only path to freedom.
#bitcoin
#stoic
#nostr
#plebchain
January 7th:
SEVEN CLEAR FUNCTIONS OF THE MIND
"The proper work of the mind is the exercise of choice, refusal, yearning, repulsion, preparation, purpose, and assent. What then can pollute and clog the mind’s proper functioning? Nothing but its own corrupt decisions.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.11.6–7
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: The Mental Model of a Cypherpunk
The sovereign mind has a clear set of functions. It is not a passive receptacle for media narratives. It is an active agent.
• Choice: To run your own node.
• Refusal: To store your wealth on a third-party platform.
• Yearning: For a world with stronger privacy guarantees.
• Repulsion: Of censorship and financial surveillance.
• Preparation: To secure your seed phrase as if your life depends on it.
• Purpose: To achieve and maintain self-sovereignty.
• Assent:To the mathematical certainty of the protocol.
What corrupts this? The decision to take a shortcut. The choice to trust, not verify. The lazy acceptance of convenience over security. Protect your mind from its own corrupt decisions.
#bitcoin
#stoic
#nostr
#plebchain
January 6th:
WHERE, WHO, WHAT, AND WHY
"A person who doesn’t know what the universe is, doesn’t know where they are. A person who doesn’t know their purpose in life doesn’t know who they are or what the universe is... So what to make of people who seek or avoid the praise of those who have no knowledge of where or who they are?”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.52
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: Locating Yourself in the Fiat-Bitcoin Universe
To not know the nature of the fiat system is to not know where you are. To not know the purpose of decentralization is to not know who you are. Why, then, would you seek the praise of those who are utterly lost? The talking heads on financial television, the tenured economists, the central bankers—they have no knowledge of where or who they are. They are cartographers of a crumbling empire. Your purpose is to build and inhabit a new world, founded on the principles of sovereignty, privacy, and censorship resistance. Do not be swayed by the applause of those who still worship the old gods.
#bitcoin
#stoic
#nostr
#plebchain
January 4th:
THE BIG THREE
"All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 9.6
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation:
Perception, Action, Will
1. Perception:
See the world as it is. Recognize the inherent fragility and injustice of the fiat system. Judge with clarity the soundness and necessity of a decentralized alternative.
2. Action:
Act for the common good. Run a node to strengthen the network. Practice self-custody to reduce systemic risk. Share your knowledge to empower others.
3. Will:
Accept with gratitude the reality of this invention. Embrace the volatility as a necessary trial. Find peace in the protocol’s immutable logic, for it is a force of nature beyond any single person’s control.
#bitcoin #stoic #nostr #plebchain
January 3rd:
BE RUTHLESS TO THE THINGS THAT DON’T MATTER
"How many have laid waste to your life when you weren’t aware of what you were losing, how much was wasted in pointless grief, foolish joy, greedy desire, and social amusements—how little of your own was left to you. You will realize you are dying before your time!”
—SENECA, ON THE BREVITY OF LIFE, 3.3b
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation:
A Fiat Critique on Wasted Time
The fiat system is designed to waste your life. It manufactures an endless stream of pointless grief (market crashes), foolish joy (speculative bubbles), and greedy desire (leveraged trading, altcoin casinos). These are not features; they are bugs in your soul. Every moment spent on these social amusements is a moment stolen from your true purpose. Learn the power of saying "No." No to the noise. No to the distractions. No to the manufactured desires that keep you tethered to a dying system. Be ruthless in protecting your time and attention, for they are the only resources you truly own.
#bitcoin #stoic
January 2nd: EDUCATION IS FREEDOM
Stoic Quote:
"What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly educated—tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom. We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.1.21–23a
Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: Knowledge is the Key to Sovereignty
Why do you study this complex, often counter-intuitive system? Not for the fleeting thrill of a price surge, but for the enduring harvest of the truly educated: tranquility in a world of monetary chaos, fearlessness in the face of censorship, and the profound freedom of self-sovereignty. The masses, chained to the fiat system, believe freedom is a gift granted by others. The student of Bitcoin knows the truth: only the educated are free. To understand the protocol, to grasp the significance of decentralization, is to forge the key that unlocks your own chains. This education is not optional; it is the very foundation of your liberty.
#bitcoin #stoic