Ines AissaniAn article by Nayib Bukele (current president of El Salvador) has just appeared in Bitcoin Magazine, available and downloadable in PDF version in Spanish language et English.
In this article, Nayib Bukele rejects the harsh criticism that was made following the legalization of Bitcoin in the country. In this article he wants to put an end to the arguments that he considers fallacious coming from politicians and journalists who belittle the acceptance of bitcoin in the country. He then explains why legalizing bitcoin was an “obvious decision” for the good of the country. He goes even further to say that “for those who understand, the real question is not if other countries will adopt Bitcoin, but when. »
Nayib Bukelé explains that accepting bitcoin implies putting oneself in opposition to the global political-financial system (including banks, States and International Organizations). This represents what Bukele defines as the “elite”. This would be opposed to Bitcoin, to the extent that it remains a tool for financial emancipation and independence for countries that are the most vulnerable, such as El Salvador.
The title of the article is titled “Stop Drinking the elite's Kool-Aid”.
If the expression may seem strange to us (for French speakers, at least), we must here recall the origin of this very widespread expression across the Atlantic.
💡 In fact, “Kool-Aid” is originally an American fruit juice brand. However, in 19878, in Guyana, a sect committed collective suicide after drinking Kool-Aid brand juices. Since then, the expression "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" has been used to warn followers of a doctrine who blindly believe in its validity. His article could be translated as “Stop believing all the lies of the elite”.
We decided to translate the text published by Nayib Bukele, for two main reasons. We think he is best able to talk about El Salvador as he has been president since 2019 and is the leader of the bitcoin initiative in the country. Furthermore, we judge that its position on Bitcoin is not always “understood” in a fundamental way. Therefore, it is our duty to spread his words, however controversial they may seem.
The following text is therefore the French translation of the text by Nayib Bukele, published on September 30, 2022, in “Bitcoin Magazine”.
“STOP DRINKING THE ELITE KOOL-AID”
On September 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country in world history to adopt bitcoin, the new global currency.
Remember these words because they will be etched in the history of currency.
However, we are in the beginnings of a new era, and opinions are stuck in prejudices claiming that it is either an unconscious gesture, an intelligent action, a stupid decision or that it is simply “a gamble”. .
Of course, that has nothing to do with any of this. It was the only obvious move, the only logic to follow. For those who look further ahead, the real question is not if other countries will adopt bitcoin, but when.
We are at the very beginning of this paradigm shift to the point where a logical, common-sense decision is controversial. There are many people who are in favor of this decision, and there are many, many detractors.
On this ground, I will not analyze the supporters here, but the detractors. They can be separated into three groups:
- Those who honestly think it was a bad decision.
- Those who think it's a good decision, but don't know the real motivations behind it.
- Those who are afraid of our decision.
In fact, what is interesting to note is that the first and second groups exist mainly because of the third.
Why?
Because the most vocal critics, the ones who fear and pressure us to reverse our decision, are the powerful global elites and the people who work for them or who benefit from them.
They used to own everything, and in a way, that’s still the case today. These include the media, banks, NGOs, international organizations and almost every government and business in the world.
And with that, of course, they also own the armies, the loans, the money supply, the credit ratings, the speeches, the propaganda, the factories, the food supply; In short, they control international trade and international law. But their most powerful weapon is control of the “truth.”
And they are willing to fight, lie, smear, destroy, censor, confiscate, print, and do whatever it takes to maintain and increase their control over the "truth" of everything. , and on everyone.
Just think of the hundreds, if not thousands, of articles about how El Salvador's economy was supposedly destroyed because of its "bitcoin bet", about how we are inevitably heading towards bankruptcy, that our economy has collapsed and our government is bankrupt.
Most of you have probably read these articles, right? They all say the same thing. Every financial publication, every major news agency, every newspaper in the world, every credit rating agency and every international financial organization says the same thing, as if they were a choir.
But is it true?
Well, just read their articles and listen to their “experts” say that all this happened after El Salvador lost about $50 million due to the fall in the price of bitcoin. Since we do not sell any bitcoin, this statement is fundamentally false. But to do a deeper analysis, let's say that what they say is true (which of course it isn't, but let me explain.)
Seriously? An entire country's economy was destroyed by a loss of $50 million?
Yes, El Salvador is a relatively poor country, but in 2021 alone we produced $28 billion in products and services. Accepting the idea that a loss of $50 million – less than 0,2% of our GDP – would destroy or even distress our country's economy is more than stupid; it reveals many other things.
You would think that the economic geniuses at Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, Deutsche Welle, BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, etc., would have enough well-versed analysts and editors in these topics to tell them not to post this nonsense. You would think that these absurd articles wouldn't pass editorial boards, but they do. And sometimes they even get a very large space, like a whole page in the New York Times.
So the argument that we lost $50 million worth of bitcoin is false, because we simply didn't sell bitcoin. And even if we were to accept this argument as true, then it would be ridiculous to conclude that a $28 billion per year economy will go bankrupt or default due to a 0,2% "loss" in one year, while in 2021 our economy grew by 10,3%, or $4 billion. These are the IMF's own figures!
And even if you want to take this absurd argument as true – which would mean you're ignoring basic math or logic – you still won't have to wonder why these global media companies would give so much time and space to a such a small country El Salvador.
Were they talking about El Salvador before (bitcoin)? Did they care about what was happening in our country? Did they report the $37 billion (billion) that previous governments stole from our country's treasury?
Ask yourself these questions; A few years ago, did you know where El Salvador was located on a map? Did you know the name of the former president of El Salvador? Did you know about their failed economic policies?
The answer to these questions added to the incredible absurdity of portraying, in hundreds of serious financial publications, that an economy that produces $28 billion a year will go bankrupt at a questionable loss of $50 million. That's all the proof you need to see that they are trying to fool you.
In fact, these are the real numbers, which are public information and can be found and double-checked quite easily:
In 2021, our GDP grew by 10,3%, tourism revenue grew by 52%, employment grew by 7%, new businesses grew by 12%, exports grew by 17%, Energy production increased by 19%, energy exports increased by 3%, and internal revenues increased. up 291%, all without increasing taxes. And this year, the crime and murder rate is down 37%.
These are real numbers, facts that cannot be distorted by stories. The only number that can be changed with their rhetoric is the price of our bonds, because they depend mainly on the official narrative and the credit ratings of their agencies; More “truth” than the truth.
They have said repeatedly, in over a hundred self-accredited publications, that we are unable to pay our debts and are heading toward default. We have even been ranked as the country with the highest default risk in the world. El Salvador would be more likely to go bankrupt than Ukraine. Yes exactly, that's what they say.
So to counter that narrative, we did the exact opposite of what they were saying. It's not so much that we don't pay our debts, but we even pay them in advance. And this is why we will buy back all of our 2023 and 2025 bonds this month, which the holders want to resell of course, at the market price.
They also told you that there were major anti-Bitcoin protests in El Salvador. There were, of course, but they were anything but important. Furthermore, why would my government have an approval rating of 85-90% according to all polls conducted last year, including several polls conducted by the opposition and several by independent international polling companies, if we are we managing things so badly?
By the way, how popular is your president?
So if you are in group one or two of the haters, my message to you is this; “Stop drinking the elite Kool-Aid and look at the facts.” Better yet, come ask people, see the transformations for yourself, walk the streets, go to the beach (Editor's note: Bitcoin Beach) or on our volcanoes, breathe the fresh air, feel what it truly means to be free, see how one of the poorest nations on this continent and the former murder capital of the world is evolving to quickly become one of the best possible place to live on Earth.
And then, ask yourself; why are the most powerful forces in the world against these transformations? And why should they even care?
You understand now, don't you? The reason for all this is that we are not just fighting local opposition, or the usual roadblocks that any small country may face, but the system itself, for the future of humanity.
El Salvador is the epicenter of Bitcoin adoption, and therefore economic freedom, financial sovereignty, censorship resistance, non-confiscable wealth and the end of kingmakers, their printing, devaluation and reallocation of wealth from majorities to interest groups, elites, oligarchs, and those in the shadows behind them, pulling their strings.
If El Salvador succeeds, many countries will follow. If El Salvador somehow fails, which we refuse, no country will follow.
They know this very well and that is why they are fighting us so hard.
Will you play their game?
Or will you realize the real issue?”
—
Final word on Nayib Bukele's article
Nayib Bukele's text is more than a plea for his policy and for Bitcoin. It is also a call to be vigilant regarding comments regarding El Salvador's politics and on Bitcoin in general. Bukele places himself here as a visionary politician, as a fighter for the established order and as a leader for other country leaders. We understand from his article that the adoption of bitcoin is an issue that goes far beyond the framework of El Salvador. All countries with fragile economies are – in reality – concerned…
We can salute the determination of Nayib Bukele and his courage despite the numerous unfounded criticisms.
As a “crypto newspaper”, we also have a duty to recall certain elements of our profession…
Behind the negative headlines in the press there is actually a lot of ignorance on the subject of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Was it necessary to simply consult the IMF figures to realize that bitcoin is improving El Salvador's economy?
Most articles are just “cut and pasted” from more eminent papers. Thus, journalists copy what others have said... We hypothesize that it is probably not a question of intellectual laziness but simply of incompetence. We prefer to choose this explanation. Bitcoin is much more than a cryptocurrency and you still need to find out and be informed to measure its full extent... Something that traditional journalists do not do, unfortunately...
Be careful what you read and check the skills of journalists who want to write on a subject whose theoretical foundations they definitely do not understand.
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Read other articles related to El Salvador:
- Bitcoin Beach: How El Zonte became a model for the rest of the world
- El Salvador accepts bitcoin as legal tender in the country
#salvador #nayibbukele #bitcoin
