When I was a baby, my grandparents invested in a College Fund for me. I gave college the old college try. I was excited about Eco 101 but in my first lesson I discovered that the economics professor, a former dean at Harvard, did not have the faintest clue who Hayek was. That was not for me, so I left. I thought I might invest some of the money into companies I believed in. I called up the savings institution. This was the conversation:
“Hello. Can I withdraw my money, please?”
“Sure. The bank account we have connected to this account, is under the name K Haines. Is that you?”
“No, that’s my uncle.”
“Well, we can’t send it there because he isn’t the account owner.”
“Can you send it to my bank account?”
“Sure! Fill out this form. We can do it together right now, and you can mail it to us.”
“OK, great.”
“Before you mail it, you are going to need a Medallion Guarantee. Its easy to get, just go to any bank.”
“I’m overseas. They don’t have a Medallion Guarantee here.”
“Really? Are you sure? I’m surprised because they have it most financial institutions.”
“Yes, I’m sure. What else can we do? Can you mail me a check?”
“Sure! We can mail you a check. Let’s see, your address is listed in Israel, correct? We can mail it to you there but we can’t guarantee when it will get there.”
“It does not make sense to mail a check around the world with no guarantee if/when it will arrive. I also have to been in the USA to deposit it. Can we change the mailing address to my uncle’s house?”
“Sure, but if you want to make a withdrawal in the next 30 days you are going to need a Medallion Signature.”
“What do you suggest I do?”
“I’m sorry, we don’t have a lot of leeway.”
“Let me call you back later.”
*Click*
Whose money is it?
Is it mine? If it is, then send it to me.
Why is it so difficult to transfer money? Why do I wait on hold for a full hour before I speak to a “Customer Service Representative”? What service are they providing?
If I had to wait an hour to search Google for “funny cat videos” I would switch to Bing.
Why does my friend get told by Wells Fargo that he can’t withdraw $10,000 because “we won’t have enough cash for the rest of the customers”?
If I was told by my favorite hummus place that I can’t order because they are “saving the hummus for other customers,” I would go to the hummus place across the street.
Why can the government deny you from investing in businesses?
Whose money is it?
What is ‘money,’ when there is 20% more USD then there was just one year ago?
What is ‘money’, when the largest companies in America are going bankrupt?
What is ‘money’, when in 2007 you are the seventh largest company in the world, and just a year later you receive billions just to stay afloat?
Bank, what is your business model? whose interests do you serve?
Were you helping you clients when you sold them CDOs?
This outdated money, cannot last forever.
As broken as the financial system is in the United States, it is a utopia compared to the system in Zimbabwe.
As an American, I have the luxury of a stable savings account and the worlds strongest economy behind me. In Zimbabwe, a person cannot save. In a few years their money will be inflated out of existence. A person in Zimbabwe cannot participate in the global economy. Nobody in the world wants Zimbabwe Dollars.
A some point a person is forced to choose a different system, a system that is not controlled by a corrupt government. A system where you can send money to whomever you want, whenever you want, instantaneously, with only a small transaction fee.
That system is Bitcoin.