A couple of weeks ago, @JonicaBradley made a prompt on the subject of freedom. I left a comment on her article and kept the idea of writing my own on the topic. But it wasn't until now that I found inspiration after reading some @Fantagira articles. One of which she did on the occasion of Jonica's prompt. And because it's better later than ever, here I go.
Although it's not my first article here, I've never introduced myself before. My name is Eliana. I'm Venezuelan and live in Caracas. I'm married and have a teenage son.
Living in the country where I live, the term Freedom goes far beyond the long-awaited financial freedom, but I'll write about that later on.
Where did my financial freedom go?
Until my 30s, I considered myself a person with financial comfort. I wasn't rich, and I did care about the price of things. But with a pretty good corporate job, I felt I was lucky at that time. And that I've achieved a lot. I could indulge myself once in a while. I travel as much as I could. I bought an apartment and had married the guy I loved.
Suddenly everything in the country began to change. For me, the first great turn in our recent history was the oil strike of 2002 that ended with the massive dismissal of the vast majority of Venezuela's oil industry workers. From that moment, our lives changed. At first, we didn't notice it. And although my good corporate job disappeared, because like many others the company just closed. I was able to have another good job that allowed me to move on with my life.
But the structural damage in the economy of the entire country was already underway. And we started to see the consequences later on. The country lived for years under strict exchange control and price controls as well. Each day, the local currency, the bolivar, weakened. And when in 2015 oil prices fell, the nightmare began. The country began to sink into an unprecedented economic crisis, a terrible shortage of basic products, and deplorable public services. Because, in all the years of the oil boom, the government didn't invest in improving the country's infrastructure.
Back then, I had quit my job. The wages in the country were getting worse. And having a corporate job didn't mean that I could continue to lead my life in the same way. So, I started working with my husband on a couple of projects he had. And I've also started using the internet as an additional source of income. Soon after, I reached the world of cryptocurrencies as well.
During that time, we'd had to make long lines for hours to buy basic things, like toilet paper, soap, rice, coffee, flour, and so on. The shortage continued to worsen during 2016. Basic food purchases became a nightmare. And a black market for basic goods began to flourish everywhere. Although the situation in the country was terrible, I considered myself lucky. I had some extra income from freelance jobs I found on the internet. And in 2016, I had started to earn my first satoshis. At that moment, to have some extra income and some savings in dollars made a big difference in a country with salaries of less than 10 dollars a month.
But in the country, everything was getting worse. At the end of 2017, we officially went into hyperinflation. And we are on our way to our fourth year. We've seen the need to reinvent ourselves. Some of us have relied on cryptocurrencies since our local currency has ceased to have value. The government was forced to lift exchange control. And bank credit in local currency doesn't exist anymore. We've been forced to adapt ourselves to an environment that changes day by day. In 2019, we had a national blackout. The electrical system collapsed. And we were without electricity for more than a week.
Water service failures are part of our daily lives. In 2020, a major fuel shortage took place. A country with such big oil reserves as Venezuela had run out of gasoline. And the fuel went from being practically free to be one of the most expensive in the region.
My family and I didn't escape the terrible effects of this situation. But I must say that I am lucky if I compare myself with other Venezuelans. We had to reinvent ourselves, to look for extra sources of income to move forward. And in this sense, cryptocurrencies are my great bet to find the financial freedom I'm looking for.
And what does financial freedom mean to me at this point? I would like to have enough money to don't worried about my future. I want to be able to give my son the financial boost to pursue a career abroad. And the truth is that I don't want to buy expensive things, like clothes, jewelry, or a fancy car. But I do want to be able to travel a lot. And I wouldn't be upset to be able to retire in a house with a view like the one in the photo. But in a place where the freedoms that I will talk about below, been guaranteed. Of course, at this point, I have big hopes for cryptocurrencies and BCH to achieve my financial goals.
And is it only financial freedom that worries you?
Of course not. At this moment of my life and after the last twenty years in Venezuela. I've seen that our political and civic freedoms have been increasingly restricted every day. I've seen hungry people digging the garbage to eat. I've witnessed how many lives have been lost in vain. And how a country has been broken into a thousand pieces. Thousands of people have had to leave it. Some leave following new opportunities. But others, just because they are hungry and have no choice. Even if this may seem unreal, some have even left the country walking. And it's sadly true.
Freedom for me at this point, it's also to live in a place where to protest it's not a crime. A place where you don't run a risk of being putting in jail for expressing yourself on social media. A place where there are free media. Where electricity, water, and internet at acceptable speeds, if I pay for them, are a right and not causality.
I want to be able to travel freely within my country, without fear of a fuel shortage or fearing that a misnamed authority felt with the right to prevent me without a good reason, just because it can. Here it's easier to travel to Istanbul than to travel between two cities inland. I want to live in a place where people don't settle to live with the money crumbs the Government gives them to buy their loyalty.
I would really love it if that place where I want to live in Freedom could be Venezuela. Although for now, it seems impossible. But who knows, maybe a stroke of luck changes the future.
But since that is not in my hands to achieve. For now, I'm focusing on achieving my goals. I'm working hard with the help of cryptocurrencies to obtain the much desired financial freedom. And I hope that this will allow me to achieve the rest.
It could be wonderful if it's here. But If not, I will be happy in the place that it has to be, as long as my dearest family being with me.
I leave it up to here. If you have reached this point, I thank you for reading me.
If you want to write about this topic, please tag @JonicaBradley and me.
Photos by me.
I´m a Cuban living in Cuba and as the situation in both countries is so similar, I highly agree with everything you write and feel it as if it was myself who is talking. It´s the saddest feeling knowing how our countries are going down and nothing seems to stop this fact.