Just watched the first 30 minutes of this and there's two things that immediately come to my mind in regards to bitcoin.
First is that it starts with people occupying a physical intersection. In contrast, today protests have for the most part moved online. We'll comment and repost our outrage, but most people - particularly in bitcoin - rarely take to the streets.
The idea is that bitcoin will help you escape this system, so many don't see a need to protest. This is good for the exploiter class, because it doesn't actually make life uncomfortable for them.
Second, it's that raging against the IMF and World Bank used to be a socialist cause. Their protests were an act of solidarity for others who suffered under these policies. The goal wasn't profits, but a fair and just world for all.
In bitcoin, the majority of talk on IMF and World Bank policies is not born out of solidarity. Rather, we cheer on autocrats like Javier Milei and Nayib Bukele, who in turn promise to make life easier *for us*, all the while cracking down on the poorest in society. Don't like it? Well they, too, can just buy some bitcoin and stop concerning themselves entirely with their fellow human beings.
The sentiment seems to be that we don't need to care for the people around us. Bitcoin is a lifeline that has somehow turned a community cause into one of pure self-interest, where anything is warranted as long as it pumps the bag – ultimately strengthening the very institutions that we claim to oppose.
I wish more people existed that did what the people in this film were doing.
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