We can learn a lot from the symbolism all around us. We can take them at face value, listen to how others interpret the metaphor, or come to our own conclusions. No matter what, there is a lot of information out there that is often left unparsed.

"Prepared for War or in Peace."

Sticks alone can be broken by a child, but sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.

From the eagle's perspective, it holds a bundle of 13 arrows in its left talon (referring to the 13 original states), and an olive branch in its right talon, together symbolizing that the United States has "a strong desire for peace, but will always be ready for war."

Does this still apply today?

Not really. The United States doesn't need the states to be united, and even goes out of its way to divide us into two binary political parties that "secretly" serve the same greed-monster. The war machine is strong enough to stand on its own and then some. It needs no allies and has already conquered all for the most part. Obviously if we had a strong desire for peace we'd stop playing the part of world police while trying to control everything in the most imperialist way possible.

Maintaining control becomes the most difficult task of the greed-monster. The Middle East is willing to light their oil fields on fire just to flip us the bird, so to speak. Vietnam was an absolute disaster because they simply would not surrender. The only reason why Japan bent the knee in WW2 was because we literally nuked a quarter-million civilians and threatened more.

Rule-by-fear requires an awful lot of brutality and results in massive blowback. Much better to rule by deception and have the peons fighting each other over trifles. Understanding tribalism and what makes people bend/break is an important part of controlling populations. Thanks Facebook.

For example, white-supremacy was seeded by the elite to pit poor white people against poor black people simply so they wouldn't work together to take their fair share of the pie. As history shows, most citizens are willing to sell out for instant gratification for an EXTREMELY discounted price. That's just how our brains are wired. People are people. Perhaps humanity is due for an upgrade; one can hope. This system is not scaling. Blah blah blah crypto.

The Eagle and the Arrow – An Aesop's Fable An Eagle was soaring through the air. Suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt the dart pierce its breast. Slowly it fluttered down to earth. Its lifeblood pouring out. Looking at the Arrow with which it had been shot, the Eagle realized that the deadly shaft had been feathered with one of its own plumes.

Moral: We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.

When looking at fiat as the enemy of crypto, how is each side contributing to the other's demise?

Bitcoin Only Matters Because The Game Is Rigged

To start, crypto should not even exist. If we could actually trust the people in charge we'd already be standing 100 years into the future. Bitcoin's birth is the culmination of DECADES of heinous corruption stifling the economy and humanity itself.

Even if 90% of the elite started out planning ahead and engaging in synergistic behavior, it only takes a few bad apples to lead by example and take those short-term gains. Just like with performance enhancing drugs in professional sports, all parties become financially incentivized to become bad actors, avoid getting caught, and making examples of other bad actors that do get caught.

Competition and Projection

On the other side of the coin, those who enter the cryptosphere project the old broken system onto this one. Everyone assumes every project is in competition with each other. Greed is everywhere and stifles progress just like the legacy economy. We see this even here on Hive/Graphene with our elected elite.

The olive branch is supposed to represent peace, but I view it as even more than that. To me, the metaphors of wheat and the olive branch represent resources: goods and services.

Money is only as valuable as what we can buy with it.

One big reason why the establishment is not afraid of crypto in the least bit is that these communities currently provide no such basic resources.

Food/Water/Shelter

As long as crypto communities do not provide these things, citizens remain grossly dependent on the old system. This is why I feel projects like Open Source Ecology and 3-D printing in general are key to moving forward. Depending on the legacy system to provide the basic resources required for survival is not an acceptable outcome.

Year Zero

I never listen to albums start to finish but today I made an exception. This one is pretty relevant for 2020, and it's somewhat disturbingly entertaining to read the recent comments of those who are just now realizing that dystopic settings mirror the real world.

Don't try to tell me that some power can corrupt a person You haven't had enough to know what it's like You're only angry 'cause you wish you were in my position Now nod your head because you know that I'm right, all right!

Well, I used to stand for something But forgot what that could be There's a lot of me inside you Maybe you're afraid to see

On hand and knees we crawl; you can not stop us all.

In the fire you can send us, from the fire we return.

Bow down in position Against the polished steel This is something different You'll like the way this feels No time for asking questions No time for wondering We've heard enough from you now We've heard everything We're going to play a new game You'll put on this blindfold You'll do what we tell you You'll do as you're told Used to be the leader But now comes the time to serve Maybe we show some mercy Maybe you get what you deserve

Count down to the end Gotta make it come faster Right around the bend Is a coming disaster, disaster Count down to the end And we're headed there faster Come on down my friend It's time to meet your master

Shame on us Doomed from the start May God have mercy on our dirty little hearts Shame on us For all we've done And all we ever were Just zeros and ones

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Return from Year Zero: Lessons of the Eagle to edicted's Web3 Blog