Ep. 46 - Vancouver's downfall: Pluralistic Ignorance

"Canadian strongman Justin Trudeau uses extrajudicial measures to suppress ongoing protests in the nation's Capital.  Using sweeping emergency powers never before used to silence domestic dissent."

This is what a headline would read if we weren't a 'western' country. If this same story was playing out in China, El Salvador, or any other 'non-western' nation we, alongside the US, would be condemning it. Instead, no one is saying anything. The west is silent.

If you aren't aware of what has occurred over the last few days – google it. It's important and unprecedented the sanctions in which Trudeau is enforcing on our banking system. Through the newly enacted 'Emergencies Act' if you're suspected of promoting or supporting the Trucker's protest your bank account can be frozen, along with other assets. Basically, your money is not yours. Never has been [CCP Capital = you must submit].

Canada's newly enacted regulation will encompass basically ever part of the financial system. The new rules make demands of a broad list of entities: banks, credit unions, security dealers, fundraising platforms, and insurance companies to determine whether they are in 'possession' of a person who's attending or promoting an illegal protest [i.e., the Trucker's protest].

Government's support protesting and public dissent until it starts actually working. Trudeau has lost the power, the narrative, and the social obedience. So, he went for the money.

So, what's the big deal and where do we go from here?

First, the truckers never had an opportunity to really win. Much can change, but it's difficult to win in policy and public perception, especially when the Prime Minister refuses to discuss the topic. This is fine, it's a valiant effort and well worth it.

On the other hand, Canada had numerous opportunities to win. They had an opportunity to win socially. However, lack of leadership and lack of censorship meant they lost.

Second, Canada tried to win the 'money game'. Restricting the financial flows to the truckers through sweeping financial sanctions. When governmental power wanes, they attempt one last power grab - money. So they lose power --> go after the money.

But they lost this game too because they don't have hard money. Nor can hard money be controlled [BTC]. So invariably they lost on all fronts.

Lose narrative --> lose obedience --> lose hard money.

This goes back to what I wrote last week when quoting Balaji: BTC > NYT > CCP.

Bitcoin [BTC] is better than Woke Capital [NYT = New York Times], which is better than Communist Capital [CCP = Chinese Communist Party]. We've been teetering between NYT and CCP. Ideally we want dimensions of all three, with the main ingredient being BTC.

With these new sanctions we land in CCP. CCP = you must submit to the state. It sounds drastic, but it's happening. Very publicly. Look at the difference between how Canada's silence of domestic dissent is documented versus India's [PS India held >50 discussions with the farmer's and the protest went on for months. Our government has held zero discussions, and it's been three weeks].

And maybe you're sitting there right now thinking "well Matt, the Emergencies Act is within their power, and these protests are harming the businesses in Ottawa!" I understand this, but there are short-term and long-term goals. I do think that some goals may be valid in the short-term [i.e., removal of blockades to improve economy]. But there is deep bureaucratic creep with this. It's one thing if a law is passed and enacted, this way if citizens don't like the law, the citizens don't vote that party back in. Simple.

With this however, there is no due-process or discourse. Sanctions like these can linger because once this power is attained, why stop? What ends up happening is people will become bankless. And being bankless in Canada is similar to being removed from society.

Wokers vs Workers

Pluralistic ignorance: It's used by psychologists to describe the phenomenon of "no one believes, but everyone thinks everyone believes." This occurs because people can't actually see what others are thinking. We learn through discourse, narratives, and media. For example, I think the fact we have vaccine passports is ludicrous. If you told your 2019 year-old self that come 2021 you'd need to show a vaccine passport to enter your community centre you'd likely scoff and laugh at the fact [and maybe be scared]. And that's what a lot of people think too, but everyone is too afraid to say it. So no one disagrees and it becomes the narrative.

This then turns into a life of its own. People will attack someone for disagreeing [cancel culture]. This is wokism.

And this is how we end up where we are. People begin climbing out of their pluralistic ignorance and realize what's occurring. Then, when the narrative and social obedience is lost, the government resorts to measures created for National Emergencies, terrorism, and domestic war. But in reality it's just a protest...

We find ourselves in a difficult situation. China will look at this and think "this is what it takes to silence public dissent - what's the difference between what we do and what you do?". India will look at this and think "at least we met with protesters - you're doing worse than us."

We lose credibility on a global stage. We continue descending.

Lastly, this is one large marketing campaign for Bitcoin. Not only can Bitcoin not be sanctioned [when they refer to cryptocurrencies being frozen, it's not that sample], but its supply, usability, and transportability across time and space is never suspended. Your keys = your wallet = your money.

I usually don't pay attention to politics, but this is fascinating. It could be the beginning of a major paradigm shift in Canada. Hopefully a solution is reached quickly and democratically.