Hello fellow Steemians,
Being born and raised in Cuba (currently living in Miami) I’m very familiar with how communist governments operate and also how the black market and decentralized networks grow, resist their power and eventually fundamentally change or topple them.
In order to understand the past, present and future of the decentralized crypto networks I believe one of the best comparisons from history (that has already played out) would be that of the illegal importation of westerns films on VHS cassettes to communist Romania in the late 1970s and 1980s and the “El Paquete” phenomenon (currently playing out) in Cuba.
The widespread circulation of pirated VHS tapes in Romania corrupted the very ideological bases of the regime, contributing greatly to its collapse on December 1989. There were many decentralized “sneaker networks” that spanned the entire country back them and supplied every household with fresh western movies every week. No matter how much the then dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, tried to stop this, it was completely impossible for the regime to crush it because his own officials were corrupt, were profiting from it, and also consuming it with their families every night.
The Cuban El Paquete
In Cuba, we have a very similar phenomenon currently playing out called “El Paquete”. It’s a collection of foreign multimedia files that circulates throughout the entire island and bypasses the government’s monopoly on information. The government likes to think they control it (see the Five Stages of Grief below) but they really don’t since there are as many offshoots of it as there are Cubans. Most of its content consists of American action movies, South Korean glamorous and colorful capitalist soap operas, Miami TV shows that openly criticize the dictatorship, Discovery and History Channel documentaries etc, hardly the kind of content that would be "blessed" by the Cuban Stasi trained government censors.
Corrupt officials are the main source and also consumers of all this content never before allowed in the island. Only these officials have access to the high speed internet connections required to download it and later sell it to street distributors.
The ideological bases of the formerly entrenched communist regime from the 80’s are completely corrupted today thanks to this, not even they believe in communism anymore. It’s only a matter of time before the regime collapses or is replaced silently and subtly by a completely different version of it. Some might even say this has already happened since they are embracing state capitalism more and more every day.
The Cuban “El Paquete” explained on this video by Vox
In both Romania and Cuba they passed through the five Stages of Grief that governments and banks are going through right now with crypto.
The five stages of grief - Government reactions to decentralized networks
Deny it (it’s too small to have an impact, they say at this stage)
Ban it in anger (this thing is growing, we have to crush it)
Realize impossibility of a ban (because of their own corruption mostly, they use it themselves but don’t want the common folk to use it)
Try to control it, coopt it, and mold it to their likes. They believe their own illusion for a while and think they have managed to do it but the reality is they have lost control completely. (This is the stage the Cuban government is at right now with “El Paquete”)
Capitulation and collapse of the monopoly. The old regime is fundamentally changed or violently toppled.
In China, they will go through these stages as well, corrupt officials will be the main users of crypto currencies to protect their wealth and profit from the arbitrage opportunities in the black market. Eventually, the Chinese financial landscape will look very different from what it is today. Those same corrupt officials will fight tooth and nails to secure their elite status in this new order. It’s very unlikely they will protect and move their wealth around the world with Yuans or devalued Dollars…
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Tell me what you think of this post in the comments below. This is not professional investment advise. I'm not your financial advisor. Only invest money you can afford to lose!
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Happy crypto investing!
Keep it up..
nicely done
“You can't hold a man down without staying down with him.”
― Booker T. Washington
Regulating Cryptos will hurt the Chinese government in the long run. They have a very myopic approach.
History has proven time and time again that free markets lead to development and prosperity.
Amen to that mr! Just look a satellite pictures from South Korea and North Korea and compare the lights... Hey what's up with the Soros pic?
I dunno, really. I write about his wicked ways quite a bit so I thought I'd add him as a profile pic.
Haha cool! As long as you are not him collecting steem in disguise for killary haha
Wow, I really love your insight to this very important issue.
You having experienced it, really adds to the credibility of what you are saying also.
Nicely done.
Upvoted and resteemed.
Did you know that upvoting comments and replies can really help those that are making the comments? It's true. Please upvote this comment. :)
Thank you for commenting big silver. BTW, I also have some silver in my portfolio, I'm not all about cryto only, I love me some heavy metals too as insurance against the next global crisis ;)
Agree completely.
I have much more in silver than I do in Crypto. :)
good morning friend
Good morning mr Prash!
Excelente post amigo. Te sigo. saludos desde Venezuela.
Interesting view of facts, i do not agree 100% but your text give me some thoughts to consider, thank you!
@cryptoeagle got you a $1.77 @minnowbooster upgoat, nice! (Image: pixabay.com)
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interesting and informative post... thanks for sharing upvoted!!!
Spot on...you nailed it.
Thank you for the insight into Communism...something that most of us dont have...an inside view.
Even without that knowledge, I know that China has no prayer of banning cryptp (I believe they dont want to anyway...they want to control it, not ban it). People say the Chinese wont be able to be buyers....bull crap...much of the Chinese money is out of China. In the US from 2013-2015 many single family homes were bought for cash using...wait for it...Chinese money. They also were investing in gold mines, copper fields, and probably '57 Chevys...anything to get out of the Yuan.
The Chinese will buy crypto regardless of what the Chinese government wants. There are more technologies coming about that will allow the chinese inside the country to bypass the state's filters and get on the world wide web.
It is a done deal...cryptos are beyond government control.
By the way, it looks like Dimon is at stage 2 of grief...lashing out like a little kid.
I have great expectations from descentralized exchages. Already own some bitshares to play with this new technology. Communism is the worse thing to have happened to humankind but it can't survive with so many liberating technologies around. I'm optimistic. Thanks so much for commenting taskmasfer as usual! My best regards
I agree although the system in the US, while not as bad as communism, is still a banker run system meant to enslave. While not quite as overt as in Cuba or China, there still is a definite caste system where only the certain few at the top profit while the rest are left with scraps.
That is why I am a big fan of crypto...picks some more up when I awoke this AM including some steem...
I think the entire sector will be huge....decentralized exchanges will only add to it.
BTW, did you notice how close "Dimon" is to "Demon". In Spanish we would actually pronounce the "i" as the "e" in "Demon", spooky right? Always nice to talk to you!
LOL I never noticed that and get the pronunciation....studied some spanish and italian...enough to know how the vowels are pronounced.
Many believe the international banksters are devils...or reptilians...or arcons....David Icke has a whole series on that stuff if that is your thing LOL
Either way, he is a snake and a crook along with the rest of them....I will love watching (and helping all I can) the demise of the banksters. They enslaved the world for far too long.
Well, I do believe they are demons, just not the reptilian kind... ;) Reptiles would be offended by the crimes these people make. He however provided an unintended good service this time, thanks to him I bought the millionth of supply of some of the top coins I didn't have yet on the very cheap. Saludos
Great post @cryptoeagle . And thank you for including my favorite photo of all time. The brave student who stood fast in front of the procession of tanks in Tienemen Square. That photo nearly makes me tear up every time I see it.
Thank you Dan,
This is also one of my favorite photos ever. I've seen these scenes repeat again and again in every communist dictatorship. Just this week people took to the streets in Havana to protest the lack of food and water after Hurricane Irma but you don't see these things on the MSM. Hopefully crypto currencies will make it much harder for repressive governments to buy tanks in the first place...
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/04/21/venezuela-nude-man-bible-rubber-bullets/
I hope so.
Thank you very much for sharing such great experiences with us!
that's very helpful post!!
thank you ;)
Is it not lovely how the people now have a currency the governments can't do anything about?! (:
Unrelated:
When I was young I traveled with my parents to Cuba. Loved it.
On the way home our plane got struck by lightning and had to land in Miami where we spent one night while our plane was fixed. :P
Good thing you spent the night in Miami and not in Cuba without dollars, totally different experience...
Hahah cool! Finally fiat currency I can trust to hold value
Chuck Norris doesn't have to spend BTC. BTC just buys him whatever he wants
=p
Also, there is a difference between el Paquete and crypto. As long as internet access is not personal, cryptos aren't either. You can't just hand someone BTC in an alley. With the surveillance by the OSes, KYC regs, and various other means, buying, selling, and trading cryptos isn't secure.
Also, I don't think the banksters are at all sincere in their statements about BTC. I am far more cynical, and believe they are actually intending to use it to replace fiat. It will make taxation so much easier. Every transaction IS an audit. No where to hide...
Chuck Norris has Satoshi's private keys, he beat them out of the CIA director hahah
Good to hear a dissenting opinion. What you are saying makes sense. I guess if Bitcoin becomes mainstream other, actually anonymous coins, will take it's place in the black market and Bitcoin could actually become "the man", a scary thought indeed but there will always be ways to escape surveillance, it will just be more sophisticated and high tech for criminals and freedom loving people.
Great content! Thanks for sharing
Wow, nice post @cryptoeagle, another winner!
Lol im so used to crummy content, halfway in, im like oh snap, this is really good!
You are right, I've encountered a lot of crummy content as well here but also some gems! Such as your channel, checking it out
thanks!
Thank you much! may your nick become true for us all steemers! Best regards
Its a very helpful post,,,,,,,,,,, Thanks
Digital currencies and Blockchain are wrong. Blockchain can not stop anyone. New world technology.
Wait...Chuck Norris bought down Communism in Romania? :D
Bless his beard. Is there anything he can't do?
He can't beat himself, he tried once but there was such a big bang our universe was born ;)
Lol
Thank you Bro, very informative as usual
Great incorporation of the Five Phases of Grief here. I cannot agree with you more. This ban in China is temporary. It will only end when the government figures out a way to control cryptocurrencies, or they succumb to them.
The road is sure to be rocky from here on out as the major players with the most to lose, China and the United States, wage war to preserve their currency dominance. Oddly enough, they are at war with each other on this very thing. Divided, they can be beaten.
It was a really very helpful post sir... Keep posting such stuffs Sir.
Chuck Norris once ate four 30lb bowling balls without chewing.
like it
good one!