I read a great article this morning in the Coinsdesk newsletter, Crypto long and Short. The article by Noelle Acheson centered around crypto's volatility which, she argues, crypto enthusiasts see in a positive light rather than a negative.
She talks about how the traditional stock market has safety triggers to prevent volatility.
Her main thesis of the article is: Volatility equals freedom. You can read for yourself here:
https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-markets-bitcoin-volatile-freedom
My article today is not intended to be a rehash of someone else's article. Instead, I am fulfilling a promise I made to @CryptoBabe.
CryptoBabe has been feeling the pinch of writing unique, fresh, valuable content that isn't mostly ranting and raving about her current emotions. She lamented the fact that she did very well in school but is struggling now.
You can read more about it here: https://read.cash/@CryptoBabe/die-in-order-to-live-11cc4721
I have been thinking about this writing prompt for several days, now. After reading the CoinDesk newsletter (I do recommend subscribing to it - lots of good stuff there) the idea dropped fully formed into my head.
The prompt is Freedom.
There are many kinds of freedom. I live in the United States which purports to have Freedom. Freedom of speech. Freedom to practice religion. Political freedom. Educational freedom. Granted, the freedoms offered by my country are far greater than some countries. But, they aren't really freedoms. There are restrictions on almost every freedom offered here.
The freedom that I think of most is the one I am most lacking.
Financial Freedom
In the U.S. there is the 1% (the wealthiest people) and the 99% (the rest of us). They say the middle class is disappearing. I, personally, have lived below the poverty line most of my life. I am fortunate in that I know how to survive. Even now, living on 30 acres with livestock and a kitchen garden, my combined household income is well below the poverty line. My state's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. In the small town outside of which I live, available jobs all start at minimum wage. Some jobs never pay more than the minimum. My husband works at a chain hardware store, part-time (because the store does not support income for more than one full-time employee), for just a few dollars above minimum wage.
He has no health insurance benefits, no paid vacations, and no room for financial advancement.
Our only prospect for financial freedom is cryptocurrency.
Not only is the decentralization of cryptocurrency very attractive, but we can get more bang for our buck by investing in Bitcoin Cash as a currency and in many other cryptos as commodities.
All of this will (hopefully) provide us with more financial freedoms than we had hope of before discovering crypto.
Financial Freedom is what springs to mind when I think of the word Freedom.
For this week's prompt, I want you to think about the word freedom. What does freedom mean to you personally? How will you go about achieving freedom, or have you already achieved it?
@VoluntaryJapan writes a lot about personal freedoms through voluntaryism. You could read some of his articles and watch some of his videos for inspiration. Definitely read the above-linked newsletter article.
No matter what you choose to write about, you have the freedom to accept this writing challenge, or not. I hope you accept. Please tag me in your article if you do.
Tagging a few people who might enjoy this prompt: @Bjorn @Glez @CryptoBabe @ChrisWrites @fantagira @PVMihalache
Please feel free to pass this challenge on to others by tagging them. If the challenge is successful, I'll do another next week.
Challenge rules:
Write about Freedom
Write 100% original content
Write at least 600 words
Tag me @JonicaBradley
Have fun
That's it. Feel free to comment below. I'm always looking for new sponsors and sponsees.
Lead image: Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash
Image 1: Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash
Image 2: Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash
Image 3: Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Just like you said, this is here forever and I intend to write on this challenge again before the end of today. Thank you for this great opportunity to express ourselves.