This is the great bete noir of our time.
We have known for a long time that the way Bitcoin REALLY gains value is at the cost of social stability. And we are seeing it play out in real time today.
And it is like a race. We are becoming paper millionaires, and even higher, but at the same time the unit of account we use today is melting down.
$10,000,000 BTC is a bad thing if a loaf of bread is $100k.
I think there are SOME people whose plan (or hope) is the financial system melts down completely so we can bring forth (pick your story here) socialism, and CDBCs, or freedom and BTC.
And of course WE are all rooting for the latter. But we will also be affected by the absolutely and dire misery that this road leads to.
But a slow orderly march to a sound monetary system??? Chances of that? Seeming to get smaller by the day to me.
The longer the Bitcoin network is able to grow while the legacy financial system is still working (such as it is), the smoother the transition may be. It is essential for the alternative to be more or less ready when the old system collapses, otherwise the ensuing chaos will scare us into appointing strongmen promising to rebuild what was before.
Atheism doesn't arise after you burn down all the churches. In the same way, monetary freedom doesn't arise after the legacy financial system is destroyed. In both cases, we first have to change peoples' minds by showing them that alternatives not only exist, but are far more preferable to what is now. For that, the alternatives have to cross a threshold of accessibility and in Bitcoin's case also scalability.
Sometimes I think back to times before Bitcoin and how difficult it was to be in a position of criticising the status quo. Inevitably the question would come, delivered by a smug normie driven to use their last best fool-proof "gotcha": "if you are so smart then what is your proposed system? What is your solution?" *cricket noises*
Today I can point them to the white paper and depending on how charitable I'm feeling that day, either help them get on their way to understanding, or simply wish them the best of luck within the old system & HFSP.
EDIT: This made me think...how does everyone feel about explaining crypto to newcomers nowadays? Or participating in crypto discussions in general?
I am quite burned out on this. Back when I got into BTC I gave literal lectures to audiences about it. I would talk with anyone interested, sometimes for hours. But today? I feel like I've heard it all before one too many times. Replying to the media-driven FUD du jour. Hearing the same tired objections for the 1000x. Seeing the gargantuan chasm in understanding that even well-educated and smart people have to cross to get from normie-brain to Bitcoin understanding. I rarely engage with any of this anymore. Thinking there are enough resources to help you understand. In the end, everyone buys BTC at the price they deserve to.
I know how you feel about explaining to noobs.
For me I still have a go. If they seem genuinely interested then I give them a quick overview and then point them to some YouTube sources explaining the basics.
I also refer them to “the Bitcoin standard” by A. saifdean.
I also tell them that it will take quite a while to get to grips with even the basics and will engage with them further once they have done some basic homework.