Sunday Ramble
Our family is back in the Peruvian jungle again. We gracefully missed a seven-day huayco (the Quechua-rooted word for flash-flood) and managed to bring the sun back with us. Quite alright by me since being trapped indoors for days on end with pounding rain is not my favorite — but the creek that’s magically appeared by our home does make for peaceful sleep. Lucky us, we’re sure to catch at least one more huayco since the rainy season runs through March. Yippee…
My blood has run more than a bit cold this week watching the antics of the Justin Trudeau-led Canadian government — not “yippee” at all. Ok, that’s not entirely accurate. My blood turned cold, realizing that not a single western leader had condemned the actions. Yeah… not one, unless you count Nayib Bukele, the El Salvadorian President and Bitcoin advocate. It suggests the other western democracies are watching to see if Trudeau can get away with his power overreach —a more than chilling thought.
Trudeau’s just taken steps to stop the occupation of Ottowa by truckers, right? Nope. It wouldn’t be a problem if he took judicial steps to quell an uprising, but when a government goes outside the court system to force compliance, that’s bad news bears. It means the suspension of the rule of law for increased governmental power. Let’s get into some specifics before you think I’m over-dramatizing the situation. On Tuesday, the Canadian government invoked the never-before-used Emergency Act from 1988. Its original purpose was to allow the government increased rights (at the cost of citizens) if its security was threatened either externally or internally. The government has argued that the largely peaceful assembly of truckers blocking downtown Ottowa qualifies.
Setting aside the legality of invoking the Emergy Act, used explicitly if legal means are no longer sufficient, the powers granted are draconian. Draconian in the sense that they undermine the most basic freedom in a democracy — the freedom to transact. Think about this: if you’d like to express your freedom of speech, you’re going to need to buy a pen, paper, microphone, computer, etc… to get your voice outside your bedroom walls successfully. Or how about the desire to peacefully assemble? Surely you’ll need to purchase some fuel, a bus ticket, or airfare if you’d like to gather with other like-minded people. The freedom to transact underlies all other freedoms a democratic republic is built upon.
That’s precisely the power the Emergency Act gave the Canadian Government and they’ve moved quickly since its invocation. All banks in Canada have been deputized to stop individuals supporting the trucker convoy from using their money. If you think I’m over the top, listen directly to the Deputy Prime Minister explain it:
Immediately after the announcement, the confidence in the Canadian banking system shook, with several banks going offline amid rumors of a bank run. There are also many credible reports of family members of protesters now having trouble banking. To clarify that this IS political, here’s the Canadian Justice Minister claiming that significant donors to pro-Trump campaigns ought to be worried:
It’s not even enough for the Canadian government to break up the Ottowa protest at this point. The Ottowa Police Chief states that they will pursue protesters even if they go home:
Here’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen watching clips of the Canadian government debating policy — complete pretense that a question about the WEF’s involvement couldn’t be heard:
My serious question in all this: can Canada still be called a democracy? I can’t see how anyone can claim it is with a straight face, though I don’t know if dictatorship, totalitarian regime, fascist state, or police state are appropriate. I’m just not up on my less-than-democratic defining adjectives.
But there is hope! It comes in a new way to transact outside the banking system, restoring the freedom that underlies democracy. You know I’m leading us back to Bitcoin, right? Here’s a beautiful video showing the power of censorship-resistant money in action:
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Stunning is right! 1
Bitcoin Price Prediction
Weekly Range: $35k - $44.7k
The price action for Bitcoin was disappointing this last week if you are in the bullish camp. The price went as high as $44.7k but is set to close the week near $38k. However, all is not lost for the bulls. If the price closes over $37.8k this week, hope lives on that this is a bottoming process playing out. On the other hand, we could see a decent breakdown if the price drops below $36k. If you’re confused by my description, that’s to be expected — things are getting complicated as the price consolidates. I sense that we’re going to see continued consolidation for another month or so, and perhaps a breakdown if the macro-backdrop with war spooks the equities markets. All that is to say, we don’t want to lose $36k this week. On the other hand, a price jump over $43k isn’t too likely either.
Bitcoin Q & A
Q: Did the Canadian government “freeze” Bitcoin wallets?
A: No.
Like every other entity, the Canadian government cannot stop Bitcoin from being transacted from any Bitcoin wallet address. However, they can ensure that the Bitcoin transacted from a specific wallet address is not allowed into the banking system. They can accomplish this by blacklisting any exchange from working with Bitcoin from the blacklisted addresses.
Blacklisting does not prevent people from transacting directly for goods and services. On the contrary, it’s likely to increase the adoption of Bitcoin in the long run as people realize they can operate outside the traditional banking paradigm.
The tweet below is a smile-worthy response to the government trying to freeze Bitcoin.
Do you have questions or Ramble topics? Leave a comment or reply to the newsletter to reach me.
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Thanks for the share, Adam R.
A better written piece by David Sacks, a PayPal founder: https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/a-social-credit-system-arrives-in?utm_source=url