Steve Adler, Mayor of Austin, Texas, believes the City’s economy and the locals’ well-being could improve by adopting bitcoin.
Adler has introduced two new initiatives in Draft Resolutions. The first aims to ensure that the city promotes the benefits of bitcoin technologies and “promotes equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion” in the technological ecosystem. It directs the city manager to explore how the city can utilize Web3 and bitcoin technology in 20 fields from smart contracts to identity verification.
The second resolution intends to improve people’s lives by collecting taxes, fees and penalties using bitcoin. It orders the city manager to conduct a “fact-finding study” on how the city could adopt Bitcoin. Adler says in a tweet:
“Austin is excited to support the businesses and innovations that will turn the promises of Web3, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology into reality.”
Austin will likely follow Miami and New York in adopting bitcoin. Miami’s Francis Suarez was the first politician to receive his salary in bitcoin. New York Mayor Eric Adams also receives his salary in bitcoin. He has said he wants to transform the city into the global center of digital asset technology.
The Wisdom Of Bitcoin
We hope that as governments start to learn about bitcoin, they will come to understand one of Lao Tsu’s most fundamental lessons:
“Whenever you advise a ruler in the way of Tao, Counsel him not to use force to conquer the universe. For this would only cause resistance.”
Bitcoin can help enormously in the struggle for “equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion” that these politicians care deeply about. By eliminating the layers of middlemen and power brokers from our interactions, we will remove much of the potential for discrimination.
Distributing the power back among the people from whom it originates solves many problems. The corruption, nepotism, and greed that are caused by the concentration of power in the hands of a few will disappear.
This may yet turn out to be just another instance of “embrace, extend and extinguish” by the power brokers. Even so, they may learn something from Nakamoto’s original white paper, and change their minds a little. And as always, it’s all great publicity.
