By Bitcoin Magazine - 7 months ago - Ħin tal-Qari: 8 minuti
Bitcoin Bħala Fondazzjoni Għall-Bini tal-Komunità
Community is crucial and that never has been clearer to me than it was this last month, as wildfires claimed 10,000 hectares of the area around my home, leaving many people with nothing except the clothes they were wearing when they escaped.
Fl-aqwa tiegħu, in-nar tagħna kien qed jiġi miġġieled minn pompieri minn madwar il-Portugall kollu. Aktar minn elf raġel, 400 trakk tat-tifi tan-nar u 14-il ajruplan eventwalment rebħu. Rajna d-duħħan enormi u ħadd minna ma raqad ħafna għall-erba’ iljieli li ħaraq, rajna tiddix oranġjo toqrob jixgħel is-sema. Wara dan, issa li l-pompieri temmew il-kompitu erojku li joqtlu d-dragun tan-nar, hija l-forza tal-komunità li qed tiġi fuq quddiem.
Amongst the local small businesses, there is an almost festive atmosphere. Stories of last minute escapes are shared by those affected, damages are compared. Together, we take reckoning of what has been lost and celebrate the small victories over the fire. A home saved here, a family reunited with their livestock and pets there, a house not touched by the flames even though everything around it has burned.
People have poured in from far and wide to volunteer. Donations of food, clothing and household items are piled high against the back wall of a local restaurant and shared out amongst those who need them. Gender roles seem to be falling naturally into place amongst the volunteers, with the men mostly taking the heavy tasks of clearing scorched earth and charred trees to clear the way for people to start rebuilding and the women cooking for the teams of men and the families who have lost their homes. Now, a month on from the fire, the progress is very visible. Fallen roofs have been shovelled up and cleared, structures checked and cleaned in preparation for placing new beams and rebuilding. The melted pipes of irrigation systems have been pulled out of the ground and taken away. Personal possessions have been sifted through and what can be saved has been secured. We have received excellent information sessions on how to go about managing burned land, what to clear, what to leave, how to prevent land erosion and when and how to start replanting. With the first rain of the autumn coming in strong, the first sign of green is already showing again all over the blackened landscape.
A dear friend of mine, herself a dedicated bitcoiner, put it beautifully in a message to me when I told her how overwhelming it is to see people coming together this way. “This is what people do when they govern themselves,” she wrote, “It’s beautiful.”
Qatt ma ntqal kliem iktar veru. Ma naħsibx li qatt rajt komunità tiżloq daqshekk bla xkiel qabel. F’pajjiżi – bħall-biċċa l-kbira tal-pajjiżi Ewropej – fejn il-gvernijiet għadhom jiffunzjonaw sa ċertu punt (wieħed jista’ jargumenta, jiffunzjona żżejjed) ħafna nies jidhru li tilfu l-kuntatt mal-komunità. Filwaqt li darba l-knejjes kienu jipprovdu l-pedamenti għal din il-konnessjoni, il-maġġoranza tan-nies m'għadhomx affiljati ma 'xi assoċjazzjoni reliġjuża u jekk tistaqsihom dwar il-komunità jew it-"tribù" tagħhom, l-aktar jitfgħu tweġiba. Jitkellmu dwar grupp magħmul b'mod laxk minn ko-ħaddiema, ħbieb tal-isport, ħbieb li mhux bilfors ikunu qrib u ġirien li magħhom jaqsmu rabta ta' prossimità l-aktar koinċidenzali. In-nisġa tas-soċjetajiet tagħna issa hija nisġa miftuħa u ħafna individwi sempliċiment jiżolqu minnha f’iżolament, iżommu bi ftit ħjut ’l hawn u ’l hemm.
Minn perspettiva storika u soċjoloġika, it-telf tal-komunità huwa inkwetanti ħafna. Il-bnedmin ma ffurmawx komunitajiet għall-gost. Ma għamilniex grupp għax kien iktar pjaċevoli li nikkaċċaw jew nimxu s-swar tal-kastell ma’ xi ħabib (għalkemm x’aktarx kien hekk ukoll). Tul l-istorja tal-bniedem, tkun xi tkun l-era jew l-ambjent ġeografiku, il-bnedmin inġabru flimkien għax flimkien aħna u dejjem konna aktar siguri, aktar effettivi u aktar kapaċi ninfluwenzaw il-kuntest tagħna għall-ġid tagħna, kemm jekk niġġieldu nar, attakk tal-għadu. jew eċċessjoni politika. B’riskju li nħossu qisu slogan politiku, flimkien verament aħna aktar b’saħħithom.
In-nisa tradizzjonalment għandhom rwol kruċjali fil-ħolqien u l-irbit tal-komunitajiet, l-aktar minħabba li huma soċjalment u bijoloġikament inċentivati ħafna biex jagħmlu dan – l-ewwel protettur tal-mara għaliha nfisha u għal uliedha huwa ovvjament ir-raġel tagħha – iżda lil hinn minnu jew fin-nuqqas tiegħu hija tagħha. komunità li hija t-tieni linja ta’ protezzjoni tagħha u li tiddependi fuqha għas-sigurtà u l-għajnuna fi żminijiet ta’ bżonn. Jista' jiġi argumentat b'mod konvinċenti li huwa t-tqassim tal-komunità li huwa mill-inqas parzjalment responsabbli għall-istatistika li qed tiżdied ta' dipressjoni u ansjetà fost in-nisa ta' kull età iżda speċjalment il-ġenerazzjonijiet iżgħar fl-Ewropa ta' Fuq u l-Istati Uniti. Il-midja soċjali tidher li tirreplika komunità f'hordes ta' segwaċi, iżda bħala sostitut sempliċement ma taqtgħux, billi tipprovdi biss il-vizzju tad-dopamina minflok konnessjoni ġenwina. Mill-perspettiva tas-saħħa mentali, it-telf tal-komunità huwa diżastruż daqs kemm hu diżastruż meta jitqies minn lenti storika u soċjoloġika.
Ovvjament, mhux in-nisa biss huma vulnerabbli għal dan it-tnaqqis katastrofiku. Madwar is-sessi, l-istatistika għal saħħa mentali fqira inklużi l-iżolament, id-dipressjoni, is-suwiċidju u l-vizzju jagħmlu l-qari deprimenti u l-okkorrenza dejjem tiżdied tagħhom, minkejja l-faċilità ta’ għajxien dejjem akbar għal ħafna nies fid-dinja żviluppata, saħansitra aktar. Huwa nuqqas ta’ komunità li qed iħalli vojt bħal dan fil-ħajja tan-nies, fuq kollox nuqqas ta’ sens li dawn jikkontribwixxu għal kawża akbar mill-benesseri personali tagħhom. Forsi hija naïve – imma ma nistax ma nħossx li t-twaqqif u l-istimolu attiv tat-tkabbir tal-komunitajiet lokali jista' jkollu potenzjal oerhört ristorattiv għall-benessri kollettiv tagħna.
Which is just one of the reasons that it is so incredibly heartening to see a community here in full strength, drawing together to support and provide for one another, each member contributing what they have to offer. For some it’s money, which is being channelled straight into providing emergency relief or donated to the people whose livelihood was dependent upon their home. For others, it’s muscle and machine power, in chainsawing, clearing and cleaning. A few people have dedicated their time to coordinating the influx of volunteers. For those of us who have no idea how to wield a chainsaw and whose lack of muscle power threatens to make us more of a hindrance than a help on the front line of the clear up, it’s kitchen duty, providing food for those working and those in need. That community is vital on all the levels of Maslow’s pyramid of human needs is clearly exemplified in the wake of our fire.
Imma kif se terġa’ tintroduċi ż-żerriegħa u l-għeruq tal-komunità f’postijiet oħra, fejn bit-telf ta’ fidi kondiviża u relazzjonijiet soċjali kompetittivi fl-aspetti kollha tal-ħajja, ilha tant mitlufa, għal tant żmien? Nistgħu aħna bħala individwi u familji nrawmu dan it-tkabbir?
As a fellow bitcoiner, I think you know what I would propose. Besides its myriad other aspects, Bitcoin provides a unique foundation for community. We’ve all experienced it if we have attended Bitcoin events; I’d bet my bottom dollar (if either you or I still believed in the value of the dollar) that you had more in common with the person you had a five minute chat with in the queue of the bathroom at the Bitcoin conference than you do with your co-workers, who you have known and worked with for years.
Bitcoin is about shared values and a shared knowledge that the system we are living under just doesn’t work. Its capacity to lay the foundation for community (not to mention the rest of its cornucopia of economic, technical, social and philosophical gifts) is second to none. A community based around Bitcoin is a whole new and unique model which has the potential to fill the void which other failed (fiat) models of community have left.
Those of us who choose to already experience some of this Bitcoin community through Telegram, Twitter and Nostr. Amongst other Bitcoiners, we can, to put it simply, just go ahead and skip the small talk. Mostly, we’re all aware of the role governments, big pharma, mainstream media and the food giants play. Once these issues are no longer a topic of conversation, it’s beautiful to watch what emerges – we’re all pretty much in agreement about what has broadly gone wrong in the past so we tend to focus on the future. These conversations are incredibly valuable. I, for one, love the thought provoking contact and the sense of online community – but there’s the danger that those online communities and the people with whom I socialize and the businesses from whom I buy the goods I need in daily life can feel like two separate worlds. It takes some steps to bring those two worlds together but I do feel that they are very much worth taking. Shared values make for strong bonds and as you build a Bitcoin community around you, you get to experience the luxury of this.
Delivering regular Bitcoin education sessions and watching as businesses around me start to accept Bitcoin is, for me, planting the seeds of a whole extra layer of community. It could be said that we have an obligation – not only to ourselves and our families, but to our communities, to seed and foster the growth of new, Bitcoin based communities. Doing so will bring us huge benefits. Not only will we be able to transact and save in real money amongst ourselves, building parallel economies which are uncensorable and tailor made to fit our own needs (because we are incentivized to orange pill businesses we most want to buy from), we will have access to the social, philosophical and even moral benefits that being part of a true community brings and which most of us have never yet fully experienced.
Nista Bitcoin lead us back to a golden age of community, where all of us can experience these benefits? I think the answer is that it probably can. Some of the green shoots of it can already be seen growing out of the ash left by the collapse of fiat models of community. So if I may be so bold as to offer you some advice – go out there to that shop, restaurant or bar you go to often and say those magic words: “Do you accept Bitcoin għadu? ”
Dan huwa guest post minn Holly Young. L-opinjonijiet espressi huma kompletament tagħhom u mhux neċessarjament jirriflettu dawk ta 'BTC Inc jew Bitcoin Magazine.
Sors oriġinali: Bitcoin Magazine