Truth and transparency

Born Honest

• I believe: We are all born good, as in honest and truthful, even reliable.
• ‘I believe some of us, and potentially all of us, can be seduced by self gain, power, riches and prestige, into dishonest acts, if we feel we won’t get caught.

The problem

• Our current financial systems are not entirely trust worthy, and not transparent.
• ‘Our current system contains ledgers or records of account which can be altered.
• Thats a big concept, so let me explain:
• • A ledger is a record of account, which reflects all financial transactions, payments, credits, deposits, withdrawals and even promises to pay.
• • A ledger, or Record of Account, is a centerpiece of any economy. And here I mean economy as the system where you work, your paid, you deposit your pay, and you pay for food, clothing, shelter, and other things you want.

The ledger is important

• Because the ledger is the Record of Account, it is very important that it is trustworthy.
• ‘In other words if you work 40 hours, and get paid, the ledger or record of account must record that payment.
• ‘And if you buy food, and pay rent, the amount subtracted from your account should be accurate, and you need to trust that it is correct.

The problem, again

• Now that we have established the important function that ledgers or records of account play in our economy, we should discus an unpleasant topic; dishonesty.
• ‘You know intuitively, that not everyone can be trusted. Some are honest, some dishonest. Some were honest, and become dishonest because they are given opportunities to enrich themselves by the current ledger system, which underlies our current ledger of account.
• ‘This occurs in many specific ways to numerous to list, but as a generalization, I categorize them in two ways:
• • Lies Dishonesty by altering the ledger or dishonesty by entering false transaction.
• • Manipulation Dishonesty by manipulating the rules to their economic benefit, or taking advantage of other peoples ignorance of the rules of the ledger, to unfairly enrich themselves by removing money from the accounts of others, under the disguise of penalties and fees.

These two types of dishonesty; Lies & Deception are made possible by our current ledger system.

Let’s take a moment here, to state emphatically this:

• Some of you will be offended by this statement.
• ‘I ask you to realize that even if you work for a bank, or work in the financial industry, this criticism isn’t directed at you, and it’s not about you.
• The system we have, came before you, and existed before most of us, our parents and our grandparents were alive.
• So don’t be offended, this is not about you, it’s about the system.

Now let’s move on.

• First, the current ledger or record of account is not immutable, which means it doesn’t always reflect the correct transaction and it can be altered. The record of a transaction is created by a human, after the transaction is started by person A, and finished by person B, who interacts with person C at the bank.
• • This means the record of the transaction is vulnerable to Lies Dishonesty by altering the ledger or dishonesty by entering false transaction.
• Second, the rules governing the current ledger are not immutable as in constant and unchanging. The rules are the opposite: They are inconstant and ever changing, so they vary from place to place, and can be changed by those who control them, without discussion with those whose money the ledger contains, and without their consent.
• • This means it’s vulnerable to Manipulation Dishonesty by manipulating the rules to their economic benefit. Or by taking advantage of other peoples ignorance of the rules of the ledger, to unfairly enrich themselves by removing money from the accounts of others, under the disguise of penalties and fees.

Lies and Manipulation, these are strong terms; is it fair and just to say these things?

• When I was a child of 9 years old I had a paper route, as in I delivered the local newspaper, and was paid for my labor.
• But I needed to pay for the newspapers, buy a bicycle, buy a newspaper carrier, which hung on my bike, and collect money from my customers.
• I also needed to open a bank account, learn to write checks, and pay my bills.
• As a child I felt my relationship with the bank was unequal.
• I felt the power they had over me, and I felt the power they had over my parents.
• And it made me uncomfortable because I sensed or felt it was wrong.
• As an adult I have continued to work with banks, and increasingly I felt the power imbalance between us, and I sensed that it was wrong.
• Why?
• — - The bank is always right. They decide how much you got paid, even if you and your employer dispute their records.
• • • They keep the ledger and they can correct it if you convince them the entries are incorrect, but if you can’t convince them, you lose money.
• • • Occaisionally their employees falsify the ledger to steal your money. And if you can prove it to their satisfaction they will make you whole, but if you can’t you lose money.
• • • They make the rules about how to deposit money, withdrawal money, and pay your bills.
• • -‘But these rules change, and violating them costs you money, and some of these rules seem to serve only one purpose, to create situations where you break those rules, and the bank keeps your money.
• So as a child I felt these things, and as an adult I recognize them for what they are: lies and manipulations.
• Sorry, but not sorry.

Bitcoin or Blockchain done correctly, fixes this problem.

• The beautiful simplicity of the blockchain is, that it is a ledger, which accurately records transactions because the record of the transaction, creates the transaction, so it is always right.
• The beauty of the blockchain is that the ledger or record of transactions can never be changed.
• The beauty of the blockchain is that the rules of the ledger or record of account can never be changed.
• The beauty of the blockchain is that the ledger or record of account is visible to everyone.

So when . . .

• Your boss pays you, he/she enters a transaction into the ledger or record of account, and the record can never be altered or changed. Everyone can see what your boss paid you.
• When you pay someone for something or withdrawal money, the same rules apply.
• ‘In this way the ledger or record of account is always True, as in Truth.
• ‘In this way the rules and the record are always transparent. Everyone knows the rules, and they never change. Everyone can see the record.

Truth and Transparency.

• These are the gifts of the blockchain.
• Simplicity is often the true source of honesty, while complexity is frequently the birthplace of dishonesty.
• This is my explanation why the most important thing we can do now is educate people about the blockchain, as the first step towards eliminating lies and manipulation, and bringing forth truth and transparency.

Penned by my hand,
@shortsegments