Читать книгу Bitcoin Hamster. How to succeed in cryptocurrencies - - Страница 5

The middle class is an educated, independent, and relatively self-sufficient layer of the population. They read, think, and analyze. They have the time, money, and energy to ask questions, participate in politics, create businesses, and organize. They can influence: vote, invest, change the rules of the game. A system built on inequality and control does not want people to think and unite. It wants consumers, not investors; workers, not employers; dependent people, not free ones.

The middle class as a mass stratum is disappearing; it is being mercilessly erased. You are either given pseudo-stability (a mortgage, loans, a survival job), or you wake up and climb upward, against the system. The richest keep getting richer (capital works on capital). Assets (stocks, real estate) rise in value – those who have them win. Those who don’t fall behind forever. Wages don’t grow at the same pace as prices and the cost of living. Central banks inject money into the system this drives up prices, but not ordinary people’s incomes. The rich know how to minimize taxes; the poor pay everything. “Benefits” keep you on the edge of survival but prevent you from moving up.

What is the expropriation of capital in the modern world? It is a systemic process in which resources – money, assets, time, energy – are taken from the population, small businesses, or inexperienced investors without visible violence. This can happen through economic mechanisms, informational influence, financial illiteracy, psychological and behavioral traps.

Who does this, how, and why?

1. States and central banks

Why? To redistribute resources, control inflation, and bail out major players.

How? Inflation: printing money reduces the purchasing power of the population. Increasing taxes. Pension reforms, where you pay but don’t receive. Devaluations and currency restrictions.

2. Corporations and banks

Why? For stable profits, maintaining power, and controlling consumers.

How? Pushing loans, mortgages, and leases with appealing promises. Subscription services where you never truly own what you pay for. Complex investment products with deliberately unfavorable terms.

3. Stock and crypto markets (including major players)

Why? To enrich themselves at the expense of retail investors.

How? Creating hype → attracting the crowd → dumping → selling assets at the expense of newcomers. Manipulation through media and influencers. “Pump and dump,” insider trading, false news.

4. The education system itself

Why? To keep you an obedient worker and consumer.

How? Financial illiteracy – you don’t know how money works. Propaganda of “stability” and fear of risk. Social programming: “wealth is not for you,” “money corrupts.”

How does this look in practice?

You spend 30 years paying off a mortgage – for an apartment the bank can take away from you. You keep money in the national currency – and watch your savings shrink. You are afraid to invest – and inflation eats your capital. You work for someone else your whole life – and retire with pennies.

What to do about it?

Increase financial literacy. Think strategically, not emotionally. Diversify: don’t keep everything in one basket (currency, assets, knowledge). Learn to spot risks and manipulations before you fall into them.

You are not poor because you have no money. You are poor because someone convinced you that you cannot keep it and do not deserve to be wealthy. Before we move on to crypto specifically, you must understand: no one is genuinely interested in your well-being neither the state, nor your friends, nor your boss. On the contrary, everything around you wants to take what little you have, or what might appear in the foreseeable future. You live in a system where, by default, you are a resource, a slave. You are not taught to earn you are taught to obey, consume, spend, and fear losing your job. You are given the illusion of stability: a salary once a month, a 30-year mortgage, a “free” healthcare plan. But it’s all a trap. The longer you stay in it, the harder it is to escape. And if you suddenly decide to break free start asking questions, studying finance, exploring investments or crypto – you will be called naive, greedy, strange, “too smart.” This is the system defending itself against the crowd. You must understand: the path to freedom does not go through seeking others’ permission. You will not get approval. You will not wait for the “right moment.” You will not be saved by telling yourself: “I just need to endure a little longer.”

Crypto is not just an investment. It is a protest. It is an exit from subjugation. It is a tool that works for you if you are ready to think independently. In the future, people will divide into those who understood and those who laughed and walked past. The only question is which group you will be in.

Mechanisms of Capital Expropriation from the Middle Class and Elites at Different Stages of History:

1. Antiquity (up to roughly the 5th century AD)

How capital was taken:

War spoils and plunder. Victors in wars seized lands, livestock, valuables, and slaves from the defeated.

Debt slavery. If a person could not repay a debt, their property could be confiscated, and they themselves could be enslaved.

Taxes and obligations. City-states collected taxes from the population, taking a portion of wealth.

Example: In Ancient Rome, emperors often confiscated the property of executed or exiled opponents. In Athens, debtors unable to pay lost both freedom and property.

2. Middle Ages (5th – 15th centuries)

How capital was taken:

Feudal system. Land belonged to feudal lords; peasants worked it and gave part of the harvest (rent) or labor (corvée).

Church taxes. Tithes claimed a significant portion of income.

Confiscations for “crimes” against the lord or king. Property could be seized, and titles revoked.

Inquisition and heresy. The Church could confiscate property from those accused of heresy.

Example: In England, after the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror confiscated land from Anglo-Saxons and gave it to his vassals. In Russia, peasants had to pay rent or work for the landowner, effectively losing property rights.

3. Early Modern Period (15th – 18th centuries)

How capital was taken:

Colonial plunder. European powers (Spain, Portugal, England, France) seized lands, resources, and people (slavery) from indigenous populations.

Religious confiscations. During the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, church property was often seized in Protestant countries.

Revolutionary confiscations. After 1789, the French Revolution confiscated aristocratic and church property to finance the revolution.

Example: The Spanish conquest in the Americas seized gold, silver, and land from the indigenous peoples. In France, revolutionaries confiscated noble estates to fund the army.

4. 19th Century

How capital was taken:

Abolition of serfdom. Peasants were freed but often had to buy land, sometimes losing capital in the process.

Nationalization and land reforms. Some reforms redistributed land, sometimes forcibly.

Colonialism. Resource expropriation from colonies continued.

High taxes and levies. States imposed taxes to fund industrialization and armies.

Example: In Russia in 1861, peasants were freed but had to buy land from landlords. In India, the British confiscated lands and resources from local principalities and communities.

5. 20th Century

How capital was taken:

Socialist revolutions. In the USSR (1917), China (1949), and other countries, land and enterprises were nationalized, and private property was abolished.

Repressions and deportations. In the USSR, property was seized from kulaks and other repressed groups.

The Great Depression. In the US and Europe, taxes and regulations redistributed wealth.

Postwar reforms. Nationalizations of strategic industries in Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Corporate takeovers. In the 1980s—90s, transitional economies often experienced raider attacks.

Example: In the USSR, property was confiscated from landlords, capitalists, and church officials. In China, the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution involved mass expropriation.

6. Modern Period (21st Century)

How capital is taken:

Nationalizations and privatizations. Some countries nationalize large enterprises, while others experience corruption and corporate raiding.

Financial sanctions. In international politics, assets of countries or individuals may be frozen or seized.

Anti-corruption and anti-money laundering. Assets are confiscated from those suspected of corruption.

Cybercrime. Capital can be stolen by hackers and fraudsters.

Example: Nationalization of the oil industry in Venezuela. In 1990s Russia, corporate raiding of enterprises was widespread.

If you’ve ever wondered how it’s possible to have so many generations behind you and yet today not own a single piece of property as inheritance – not a key, not a corner of land – here’s your answer…

Expropriation of Capital and Savings in Tsarist Russia (approximately until 1917)

Main methods and mechanisms:

Serfdom and corvée labor. Until 1861, peasants were serfs and belonged to landowners. They did not own land and were obliged to work for the landowner, giving a significant portion of their labor (corvée) and harvest (obrok). This effectively limited their economic freedom and prevented them from accumulating capital.

Redemption payments after the abolition of serfdom (1861). When serfdom was abolished, peasants were officially granted freedom, but the land was not given to them for free – they had to pay redemption payments to the state and landowners. This created a form of debt bondage and limited their economic opportunities.

Taxes and obligations. Peasant communities and merchants paid high taxes – poll taxes, trade duties, and military conscriptions. The state extracted a significant portion of their income.

Confiscations and fines. In cases of accusations of treason, uprisings, or other crimes, property could be confiscated. This particularly affected political opponents.

Economic dependence on landowners and state monopolies. Monopolies on salt, tobacco, and alcohol, as well as control over trade and industry, restricted opportunities for accumulation and free disposal of capital.

In Tsarist Russia, capital was expropriated through the system of serfdom, taxes, redemption payments, and strict control by the state and nobility.

Expropriation of Capital and Savings in the USSR (1917—1991)

Main stages and methods:

Nationalization and confiscation after the 1917 Revolution. After the October Revolution, all private property of large capital (land, factories, banks) was nationalized. Landowners and the bourgeoisie lost their property without compensation.

Dekulakization and confiscation from peasants. In the 1920s—30s, during collectivization, so-called “kulaks” – peasants with relatively large farms – were dispossessed, their property confiscated, and many were sent to labor camps or exile.

Repressions and seizures from “enemies of the people.” In the 1930s—50s, during Stalin’s purges, all property of those accused of “sabotage” or political crimes was confiscated: apartments, houses, and savings.

State control over all economic resources. Private property was almost entirely eliminated; all enterprises, land, and housing were state-owned. People could use property and housing only with official permission.

Taxes and mandatory contributions. Although there was formally no private business, the state levied taxes on collective farms, state farms, and workers through centralized planning and distribution.