​ Applicants must demonstrate how their projects address specific regional issues and highlight the integral role of Llama models in their work. 

Today is America’s Independence Day, a celebration of our freedom from the British Empire and the tyranny of a bureaucracy removed by thousands of miles of ocean ruling over our lives. The Revolutionary War that won us that freedom is not something that happened overnight, or something that just sparked due to one event or circumstance in the short term, it was the result of over a century of an overbearing government influence on the colonists that resided in North America.

In the same way, Bitcoin was not a thing born out of the singular event of the Great Financial Crisis. Just like colonists for over a century dealing with increasing taxes, overbearing regulations, and general exploitation birthed the United States, decades of parasitic economic and financial actions birthed Bitcoin.

While America and the struggles that led to its creation were rooted in a bureaucracy disconnected by physical distance, Bitcoin was born from troubles rooted in a more existential disconnection rather than one of physical space. In the same way the King and his advisors in England had a disconnected and impersonal view of the human beings on the other side of the Atlantic, today’s bureaucrats have a disconnected and mechanical view of the human beings they rule over despite the lack of physical distance.

Politicians, regulators, bureaucrats, financial executives, none of them see the people they rule over, or make decisions drastically altering the course of their lives or circumstances, as actual people. They see numbers, they see statistics, they see stereotypes and generalizations. They see impersonal figures and patterns that someone seems to fit at a glance, and decide based on that.

They have no empathy, they have no understanding of an individual’s personal circumstances, or situation in life, or the problems they deal with because of automaton like decision making in the halls of Congress, or the SEC building, or a bank.

So why do we look to these people for approval, or a road to success, or some glimmer of hope that they will achieve that understanding? Imagine if a decade after achieving its independence America had turned back to England for help in achieving its success. Does that seem rational to you? Does that seem like a fruitful road to achieving success and prosperity?

The answer should be a resounding no. They don’t care about you, or me, or any of us.

So why do so many Bitcoiners look to these parasites and narcissists for salvation? It is an indication of completely losing the plot, the purpose of what Bitcoin was made for. In a way it is very similar to the current state of America as a nation, lost and disconnected from the purpose and ideals it was initially founded on. Liberty, self determination, justice.

These people are not here to help us, they are not here to turn Bitcoin into a beacon of individual liberty and freedom. They are here to exploit, to subvert, to maintain the position they hold in the world where they can remain callously disconnected from the rest of us in a position of security and luxury for themselves.

America was founded specifically because of the realization that England would not give them self determination or liberty. The founding fathers realized that, and so they set out to achieve it on their own terms, by building something new, something innovative that the world had never seen before.

Bitcoin is no different, but rather than holding fast to those principles and ideals, Bitcoiners seem content to go running back to England for permission to self determination. Asking permission to achieve their liberty.

This is a mistake. Bitcoin was created to be that new, independent, innovative thing the world has never seen before. It was built to stand on its own as a foundation of sovereignty, and self determination. Not something that we beg for permission to have, to build upon, to use.

We need to hold to that, not go begging politicians and regulators for an easy road to “success,” that in reality is simply a failure wrapped in a blanket of cope. Bitcoin is here, it was put here without asking for permission, without begging the King to allow it to be, and here it will stay.

Whether it succeeds or fails doesn’t come down to politicians, or regulators, or Wall Street money, it comes down to us.

Happy Fourth of July to those who still seek self determination instead of permission. 

​ Bitcoin was founded on the idea of self sovereignty, self determination, and freedom. Bitcoiners should not forget this. 

​ At the meeting, the FOMC said that although inflation has moderated, it remains high, necessitating a careful approach to monetary policy.