Over the past three years, my wife and I have undergone a major transformation. We used to be not so happy boring artists/intellectuals who were dependent on state funding and felt kind of trapped in life without knowing why. Following my personal crisis and burnout, we eventually decided to embark on a journey to become much freer and independent individuals with two children, a large white dog, home on wheels and a tremendous amount of flexibility. Finally, we managed to stop the rat race, step aside and look at our lives from a perspective. Many old patterns suddenly ceased to make sense. And even today, after two years of freedom, we are occasionally surprised at how beautiful life can suddenly be and how easy it was not to see it before.
After departure with our van, we used to be into all sorts of weird stuff - ascetism, meditation, esoterics, ecology, spirituality, yoga - you name it. We've become true-blue hippies through and through. Our hair has grown long and wild as we've explored various hippie communities and gatherings. We've begun to live day by day, independent and carefree (and maybe a bit smelly)... this was a major step towards freedom. HOWEVER, something still didn't quite fit. It's not that hippies are necessarily die-hard leftists, but for the sake of peace and love, they often harbor an aversion towards money and lean towards socialism (especially when it comes to "helping the helpless and the poor"). At first glance, it all seems very alluring. Who wouldn't want to help the poor? But after some serious contemplation, one finds gaps in the consistency of these beliefs and realizes that it's not compatible with freedom, nor effectivnes. I think, that many hippies just do not think it through enough and if they did, they would not advocate for socialist ideas so much (although I do believe that voluntary and temporary socialism at the local level - like at Rainbow gatherings - can be and often is highly possible and free).
By those wild hippie times I would not have believed that when we finally reach our personal nirvana in the future, we would ultimately become NOT an ecological activists, but rather a capitalists in the most extreme form (anarcho-capitalist) advocating for a free market and money (once the devil's instrument). That instead of being tied to trees and puncturing car tires, we would be excited about some strange digital money that doesn't even exist and unnecessarily consumes lot of electricity. But here we are...
Did our values change? Our goals? Did we want something different before? No. We have the same goals. Truth, Love, Peace, Freedom, etc... We just realized that the path we were walking towards these values was actually leading us into a pit. And we were already falling into that pit when we realized it. So, the confused leftist hippies became a happy capitalists hippies.
From this 180-degree turn, I have learned two important lessons:
1- Let us never forget that our ideological opponents often have very similar goals and values as we do. They are not evil. Nor dumb. They just think they will get there through a different path - such as central planning and socialism. I know it may seem crazy to you, but it's important to remember that those who oppose your beliefs may view you in the same way. Unfortunately, I often see ideological opponents getting stuck on these assumptions and unable to engage in meaningful dialogue. We should behave like fellow travelers discussing which way to the same destination is better, not like enemies destroying each other's bridges and signs.
2- Let us never sell our soul to any box. Let us never be infinitely loyal to a particular direction (democracy / anarcho-capitalism / crypto-anarchism / Lunarpunk / Solarpunk / vegetarian / carnivore / or even the holy BItcoin). We are seekers of truth (and freedom) and should always be prepared to abandon our position and silence our ego if we find that the truth lies elsewhere (even on the other side). It's hard, but it's doable. Let us never allow our boxes to become us. We are not anarchocapitalism. We are not bitcoin. We are truth and freedom seekers and those things are just our tools, which can always be abandoned for something better (and eventually will be in the future - it is inevitable).
So... I am an anarchist and capitalist and bitcoiner now. I have changed my opinions, but I haven't abandoned absolutelly everything from my past. Even among esotericists, hippies, socialists, leftists, and environmental activists, there are ideas that are worth considering. Therefore, I remain a very unusual combination - deep down in my heart, I'm still the dirty ascetic hippie who doesn't shower, wears a poncho, dances to the rhythm of the fire, eats magic plants, and lives day by day with almost no property. At the same time, while cooking a communal dinner over the fire with other hippies (whom I love), I claim to be a capitalist and during breaks between playing djembe and didgeridoo, I offer non-KYC bitcoins for purchase, explaining why free money is important even for hippie brothers and sisters.
While this odd combination may surprise many people, I believe that those who understand bitcoin, money, and markets are not as taken aback. After all, bitcoin is currently associated with the world's largest movement for freedom and resistance to state authority, just as the hippie movement did in the 1960s. These two worlds have more in common than many people think, except the latter emerged during a time of new (more digital) tools.
Sometimes it's hard to share this view with people in my hippie social bubble, especially when my brothers and sisters are closed off in the aforementioned point 2 and value defending their existing identity more than seeking the truth. However, I still believe it's worth it and I hope that one day even environmental activists will realize that things like bitcoin does not have to be enemies and vice versa.
