Financial Innovation and the Political Scene in Venezuela

Last week there was a live Q&A about Bitcoin in the Emerging World at Zapchain, where a group of Bitcoin innovation leaders disposed themselves to answer questions about the ongoing projects being brought about in developing countries by leveraging the potential of Bitcoin and the technology behind it.

An impressive stream of questions were asked, provoking answers that confirmed the fascinating potential this technology brings to most countries in the midst of financial difficulties.

I was driven to ask the following question:

How do we deal with governments that exert excesive control over finance and other areas of society?
As a venezuelan citizen, I expressed my concerns about government policies that could hinder technological and financial innovation by "excesive control" of currency and other areas of society.

It was a genuine question, as it reflects a concern shared by many people in the venezuelan community, and it puts on the table a matter for relevant discussion.

Something curious happened, though. Even when I expected this to generate a controversial debate on the subject, no one answered. In fact, this was the only question left unreplied.

At first, I was taken aback... I thought "How is it possible that no one has anything to say on such an issue?".

Then, during this weekend, something happened. I suddenly understood... The question was left alone, because the one who most needed to find the answer to that question was myself.

And the answer came clearly.

When you believe in the transformative potential of a project, you just do it.
When you see the helpful nature of a paradigm innovation, you just adopt it and do what it takes to make people know about it.

You just do what you have to do, regardless of how many people don't (yet) understand or like what you are doing.

The Fetters of Fear
Everytime we act (or avoid acting) out of fear, we are just holding back our own personal and collective growth. It is fear what generates fearmongers. It is fear what creates the very roadblocks that impede our progress... We could say it's akin to a "karmic" phenomenon: as long as we have fear of something, reality makes us confront this "something" until we actually learn the required lesson.

People in Venezuela is filled to the brim with fear. We live in fear of crime, fear of injustice, fear of scarcity, fear of not getting what we "deserve", fear of getting our dreams frustrated, fear of being challenged, fear of fear...

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We just don't realize that it's the same fear what creates the obstacles we face day by day.

Of course, the obstacles are real. But most people will be reluctant to take any responsibility for them.

We are stubbornly grasping to the idea that everything that seems wrong with our lives is someone else's fault. We might think it's the government and its radical politics, others think it's the failure of previous political leaders, others might even blame it on other countries... In any case, everyone is blaming it on something else, and thus the individual is always waiting for the problems to be somehow fixed from the outside.

We spend most of our energy worrying about the external situation, rendering ourselves uncapable of objectively watching our own inconsistencies. We are then left without the necessary energy and enthusiasm to create, hence falling into a vicious circle of fruitless complaints or visceral protesting, without ever trying to actually transform our reality from the totality of our creative potential.

The socio-economic situation in Venezuela is undoubtedly complicated. I won't by any means insinuate that everything is just in our heads. What I'm trying to point out is that solutions start with a shift in focus.

If we just let ourselves depart from the idea that the only way to solve our problems is to replace the government, the gates of progress might actually open.

We are a bunch of talented people, and this age is bringing us fascinating innovations that allow us to create truly new models that defy the status quo. We just need to get "out of the box" and focus on innovation.

As Mr. Buckminster Fuller brilliantly said once:

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
At The Gates of Disruption
Bitcoin is an extremely interesting technology, as it presents itself as an alternative financial paradigm where the possibility of separation between money and state is for the first time exposed and proven practical. This might inevitably generate fear in governments, banks, and practically anyone that doesn't yet understand the vast sea of potential such paradigm could bring in favor of everyone.

Separation between church and state was also feared at some point in history, nonetheless it turned out to be beneficial to the state, as it allows political action to be focused on its most relevant matters. Eventually, decentralization and delegation of power is ought to be realized as an act of optimization of the management processes.

Certainly, this won't be a smooth transition.

Real revolutions, however, are rarely smooth. Yet we must be attentive and realize how we can't afford keep on living in fear. Life is to be lived, and the world is for ourselves to get exposed and be challenged by it.

In a country where the excesive attachment between money and state has brought many of our present problems, a currency like Bitcoin is precisely what is needed. Many might fear the idea of losing control, but let us not be afflicted by it. Our task as mature citizens is to create, and nothing should affect our motivation to do so. By adopting and building new models is that we can bring true social growth to our communities.

If we fall into the trap of being afraid of innovating because the current system is too restrictive, we are just collaborating to feed the rigidity of such system.

Every crisis is a chance to shift our way of looking at things, thus transforming ourselves. And by transforming ourselves, the spaces we live in are unavoidably changed.

Carlos A. Bruguera