I am still embarrassed by the embarrassing electoral propaganda that took place these days in the Spanish Congress of Deputies in a soporific format that only has the title of debate. The event was more like a bonfire of vanities on which to dump data and stories, empty of content and reliability.
If we talk about politics and Blockchain, it is inevitable to think of El Salvador and Nayib Bukele. While watching this interview I was thinking that, if Bukele stands out in something, it is in swimming against the current in a political scene where the main trend seems to be to compete for the podium to mediocrity.
Reasons that make Nayib Bukele a differential politician
Bukele recognizes that most of the relevant indicators for governmental organizations are generally fake and gives a graphic example to demonstrate that data such as the GDP add concepts to a supposed growth that in many occasions should be netted, ergo all that wealth would vanish, so they would not be measuring the real wealth and welfare of a society. They actively work on what they think is important: improving security, jobs, inflation and people’s savings, to which they attach special importance.
If you save, you are robbed by the system via devaluation and inflation. To illustrate this, he invites you to compare how harsh would be the sentence of a thief who steals any amount, which would be ridiculous compared to legal devaluations of 20% to Americans and non-Americans, to conclude that although “it is a moral crime, it is a legal crime, but people are beginning to realize it”. Countries like El Salvador are especially hurt in such monetary policies because they can neither print dollars, nor benefit from the binge of such spending.
“The Federal Reserve is neither Federal, nor does it have Reserves. You work 40 years and it turns out that your savings are not enough because you have been “legally robbed”. And he takes the opportunity to highlight the complexity of maintaining a healthy society when the underlying system is sick. He also points out that the growth of the BRICS bloc will soon make their GDP represent +50% and, although this weakens the FED, it is also evidence that the USA can only be defeated from within.
As for the advantages that the legalization of Bitcoin has brought to El Salvador, in addition to providing an alternative for its citizens to have the possibility of accessing this new economic system, it has increased its tourism by 95%, attracted foreign investment, and put El Salvador on the map.
As he quoted in an interview with the well-known U.S. anchorman Tuckler Carlson:
If you are a bitcoiner or are into issues like technology and/or are interested in the new economic system and unconfiscable wealth, you know El Salvador. […] A rebranding praised and promulgated by its public, where the criticisms of its detractors and the official media opinion, usually coincide with those of those international organizations that seem to dislike that it does not allow itself to be manipulated.
I am fascinated by how blunt he is with the traditional media with Nayib Bukele.
After acknowledging that although he was initially concerned about media such as the Times, CNN, Forbes, Financial Times, because he thought they were important, he has realized that they are increasingly irrelevant and no longer have a loyal or majority audience.
He specifies that they operate through a kind of franchising so that you can read the same thing in every country, and that they are kept going by their sponsors, who don’t seem to realize that people are no longer willing to pay for content that is not worth their money.
And it goes on:
- The newscast of El Salvador has a larger audience than CNN, not to mention the share of the total population of both countries.
- He knows that one of the advantages of people being hyperconnected is that if they are interested in knowing the truth, they can check everything on social networks, insisting on the fact that propaganda has always existed with examples such as the fact that without wars, weapons would not fulfill their function. And he attributes the fall of mainstream media to their loss of credibility.
- He insists on protecting freedom of expression, so hated by media and governments because to the extent that it implies giving space to some discordant voices, they face the loss of control of the official narrative.
- It also talks about how some areas of the USA, glorious 30 years ago, today would not be a desirable option for a Salvadoran. And that their decline, which seems that way by design, is probably the result of those spending policies that seem to impoverish the population to favor the welfare of bums and thieves. If you incentivize that, you’ll get more and more of it.
- What shocked him most, the scale of corruption, even and especially in developed countries, where it is simply more sophisticated.
As Bukele himself stressed in the interview:
“When you understand that the political system is corrupt, you understand that you can’t fight it, but you can keep your people safe and secure.”
It is clear to me that their success is due to their focus on values.
His transparency, his way of communicating and his courage. Bukele does not choose the usual path or the supposedly comfortable or easy way to have the approval of the usual people. He seems to be interested in other things.
His respect for fundamental issues, and in spite of dishing out God-level rapier (being his main victims the FED and the mainstream media) is centered on the shared universal principles of what is good and what is bad. On values that unite even those who disagree.
Coincidentally, and beyond its link to Bitcoin, not too long ago and by chance, I saw this absolutely heartbreaking documentary about the Maras. Bukele has tackled it while the official media narrative turns to attack him for violating the rights of such criminals. The UN, which has been unconcerned about the rights that threatened the freedom of these gang members, now seems to be preoccupied with the rights of extortionists and abusers.
And what about the rights of good people? This is how a politician who is convinced of the golden opportunities that Blockchain will provide defends himself.
Congratulations to Salvadorans, it would be an honor to be able to import it. If not him, at least some of his virtues for our supposed political elite. And congratulations, President. Keep it up.