(Conversation recorded on April 21, 2023)

Show Summary:

On this episode, Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation joins Nate to unpack how monetary policy and debt have increasingly extended the reach of colonial powers over recent decades and how bitcoin offers an alternative to the many people who are under this financial exclusion. How have the IMF and World Bank upheld the power of reserve currency countries in the Global North to exploit and extract resources and labor from the Global South under the guise of aid and development? What is the origin of the ‘petrodollar’ and how has it shaped geopolitical relationships since its creation? What exactly is Bitcoin and how does it provide economic and political freedom? Is Bitcoin compatible with a low energy future?

About Alex Gladstein:

Alex Gladstein is Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation. He has also served as Vice President of Strategy for the Oslo Freedom Forum since its inception in 2009. In his work, Alex has connected hundreds of dissidents and civil society groups with business leaders, technologists, journalists, philanthropists, policymakers, and artists to promote free and open societies. He serves as faculty at Singularity University and as an advisor to Blockchain Capital, a leading venture firm in the fintech industry. He frequently speaks and writes about why Bitcoin matters for freedom, and is the author of Check Your Financial Privilege. His new book, Hidden Repression: How the IMF and World Bank Market Exploitation as Development was just published in May 2023.

For Show Notes, Transcript, and More: https://www.thegreatsimplification.co...

00:00 - Greetings
02:41 - Background on Alex and HRF
11:50 - Approaching Human Rights Activism
15:15 - What is financial privilege?
26:01 - How does the U.S. Fed interest rate cause a global financial crisis?
31:40 - The Petrodollar
36:55 - The Petrodollar and Debt
46:10 - Monetary Colonialism
50:50 - Global North Siphoning The Global South
57:50 - Liberal Democracy Values
1:00:38 - Why Bitcoin?
1:03:01 - The US world order as a result of geology and hegemony
1:07:57 - Financial Privilege and Shame
1:10:45 - Anger Towards The Global North?
1:12:28 - Rise and Adoption of Bitcoin
1:19:38 - Who is Using Bitcoin?
1:23:01 - The Foundational Philosophy of Bitcoin
1:29:35 - Bitcoin Widely Used by 2030?
1:29:33 - What is Blockchain
1:35:02 - Proof of Stake vs Proof of Work
1:36:24 - Energy Intensity of Bitcoin
1:41:36 - Justification For Energy Use
1:47:55 - Energy Implication of the US Dollar and Debt
1:52:57 - Does The Price of Bitcoin Need to Increase?
1:56:04 - Is Bitcoin a Threat to National Currencies?
1:58:03 - The Cantillon Effect
2:02:01 - Bitcoin and The Great Simplification
2:05:04 - Can the Government Shut Down Bitcoin?
2:07:07 - Is Bitcoin Stable Enough for State Use?
2:12:45 - Bitcoin and Post-Growth
2:16:24 - Closing Questions

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