An Argentine Shares His Thoughts On Milei, How Inflation Steals From The Poorest, & The Barriers To Running A Business In A Hyperinflationary Environment.
“This is what’s horrifyingly offensive to me about the fiat system.” – Jimmy Song.
**This one feels like a long-ish piece, so please get your cup of coffee or tea ready, and get comfy.
Hello friends,
What a week it’s been!
Jack Dorsey (co-founder and former CEO of Twitter) reposted my invitation to subscribe to my newsletter. I could not believe my eyes. So grateful to him and others that share my newsletter!
I appeared on The Progressive Bitcoiner podcast. It’s the first Bitcoin podcast I’ve ever been on. I shared a bit about my story, my newsletter, marginal communities and the role of Bitcoin in helping uplift them, nostr, and so much more. I also aired some criticism of Bitcoin’s culture (as I believe they’re hindering adoption). I hope you will receive it with an open heart.
Finally, I’ve renamed the newsletter to “Notes From The Margin.” You can learn more about my decision to do so here and hopefully, you can expect to see the new title appear in your inbox next week.
Now onto today’s goodies!
I Asked An Argentine To Share His Thoughts On Milei’s Win Of The Primaries… Here It Is.
Context:
Javier Milei is a former TV personality who has also taught economics and served as Congressmen since 2021 (despite labeling himself as a political outsider). He’s considered a right-wing, libertarian, anti-establishment candidate who came first in the primary elections this past week (which will help determine the country’s next president this October).
He’s made some big claims like saying he would abolish Argentina’s central bank, dollarize the country, and privatize state-run firms.
I wanted to hear from an Argentine about their thoughts on Milei winning the primaries, how the general population has been reacting to this, and whether Bitcoin may play a role in Argentina should Milei become president. That’s how I came across Diego Gurpegui — Co-founder & CTO at Improve-in and a Bitcoiner — introduced to me by Marce (who wrote this piece).
Here’s what he had to say:
“The first disclaimer I would make is that my view of the current scene is likely very biased by my socioeconomic context, my social circles, and the media I consume. So I hardly speak for everyone, but instead, I'm some kind of proxy of a biased subset :).
Milei is definitely a phenomenon today in Argentina (and noticed outside). The results of the open primary election were a surprise for many I believe. There are those who thought Milei was just a guy who yelled crazy ideas [but] they now need to pay attention to. And [for] those who saw him as a savior (and are grateful to him), he seems to have a chance. In either case, almost no one believed he would reach the 30% he got, much less be the winner considering individual votes.
He always manifests strong ideas and went heads on against the politicians, who he calls "the caste [system]." Given the kind of message he spreads, the fact that almost a third of the population sees him as the best option speaks [to] how tired people are of the reality of Argentina.
The vote "against" is very common in Argentina. We've seen it many times and I think it's an important part of the success of Milei. This idea of "I will vote for who can be the best adversary to this one politician/party I hate." He has the appeal of being seen as an outsider, the one who comes to break the status quo.
For a very long time, compared to previous situations when someone came to "break" the status quo, Milei seems different. Good nor bad, but different. Even if many may not think too deeply about his economic arguments, they get attracted to the strong phrases he professes. And if you are doing bad with the status quo, then "different" is a compelling motive.
After the election, Milei's ideas and proposals became the center of the political public debate. For libertarians, it is a huge milestone that these ideas are finally part of the conversation, which is something not seen before, at least for a very long time. The public discourse (especially the media) is circling around the dangers of the changes he would supposedly make, and fear is the common word.
Even if the dollarization or the elimination of the Central Bank is subject to question and debate, the focus recently has been on health and education.
Usually, it's the fear of losing rights and other things; which sometimes is fear-mongering with a political agenda behind it. And other times it’s fear due to genuine concern and ideological differences. As always, the discussions are many times based on assumptions or ideological extrapolations rather than facts or actual comments by either supporters or haters of Milei.
Milei has been presented as a pro-Bitcoin candidate by some Bitcoin or crypto-related media. In my opinion, this is misleading and not a full depiction of reality. Those statements are mostly based on an interview he gave on Clarin a few years ago. He seems to have a high-level understanding of what Bitcoin is. And his libertarian ideas put him in a place where taking money out of government control and free competition between moneys is a good thing. He also acknowledges the limited supply of Bitcoin. That's about it. In that regard, we could say he is pro-Bitcoin in the same way we could say he is pro any other privately issued money. From what I saw he never mentions Bitcoin unless someone asks him about it.
In recent days the discussions about politics in the media and social networks began to get heated and even aggressive. Between fanatics on every side of the spectrum, the clash of *fear* (of social detriment) versus *hope* (of a prosperous country) is the main battle. In the middle of those two extreme emotions Milei generates there's skepticism about the viability of what he says he's going to do. Either it's because the plan is technically not viable or because his opposition won't let him do it.
It is not just a question of whether he's going to become president but also whether his promises are going to become a reality if he does.”
These are important times for Argentina as they’ve seen year-on-year inflation above 115%, one in four Argentines living in poverty, the local currency (peso) plummeting, and predatory IMF loans sinking them deeper into poverty.
"We are the true opposition, we are the only ones who want a real change, because remember, a different Argentina is impossible with the same old people, with the same old people who have always failed, with the same old people who have been failing for 100 years." – Javier Milei
One thing’s for sure, I will keep an eye out for this development and continue rooting for the success and financial freedom of the Argentinian people.
Quote On How Inflation Steals From The Poorest Of The Poor (From Jimmy Song).
“One of the human rights things that I pay attention to is North Korea.
One of the things I learned about their black market, largely due to COVID and a bunch of other things, but also the inflation, is that the prices in the black market just double overnight almost. So, really, what this inflation is hurting is orphans in North Korea that can’t buy something to eat. Like all of this money printing that we’re doing is hurting those people.
If you’re in the U.S., in a first-world country, you’re doing ok. [There are] all sorts of social programs and things like that. But you’re an orphan in North Korea, you’re gonna starve. Those are the people [whose monetary value] is getting stolen from.
So, for me, when you’re talking about the moral argument for bitcoin, this is what it is: [with the fiat system] you’re taking from the poorest of the poor, the people that have like zero power, no representation whatsoever – we at least have the right to vote and maybe influence some policy that can eventually eliminate the Fed and change their policy – but a North Korean orphan has zero rights, zero influence, they can’t do anything. And those are the people getting stolen from in favour of the investment bankers on Wall Street that are using 100X leverage to do an FX trade to make 13 bips on a trade so they can afford a house in the Hamptons as a result.
This is what’s horrifyingly offensive to me about the fiat system.” – Jimmy Song, author, Bitcoiner, programmer
The Friction Of Running A Business Under Zimbabwe’s Hyperinflationary Environment.
I recently learned about how difficult it is to do business in Zimbabwe. One reason for this is because exchanging Zimbabwean dollars for U.S. dollars (USD) is essentially controlled by the central banks, which adds an extra layer of friction to running a business.
Say for example you have a business in Zimbabwe and you want to buy goods from South Africa. To pay for these goods, you’ll need USD. Because the Zimbabwean central bank controls the exchange between Zimbabwean dollars and USD, you have to ask the central bank for that amount of USD to be exchanged for you.
Here’s where it gets tricky.
Every week, the central bank sets the rate between the Zimbabwean dollar and the USD. Then they grant the business their requested USD account.
But it’s not like the bank gives the money to the business to pay for their invoice (those goods they wanted to buy from South Africa). Instead, the central bank pays on their behalf, sometimes missing the 30-day limit that is needed to get orders filled, effectively forcing the businesses to start the process all over again. These seem like unnecessary and painful barriers to running a business.
It’s for this reason many people want cash.
The second best option to pay for goods and services is through mobile money (via a service provider) which lets people send money via text messages. The problem is you can’t send mobile money out of the country and no one from the outside world can send money to you. And yes, you could have bank accounts but they can apparently be expensive and bureaucratic in Zimbabwe. And of course, there’s the danger of being locked out or censored. In many cases, the government – via the central bank – can shut down your bank account.
“I know some people who unbanked themselves, despite the fact that they could use the bank. And they are living off bitcoin. So they hold it and whenever they need USD, they exchange it peer-to-peer on the ground.” – Anita Posch, Bitcoin educator, author, and founder of Bitcoin for Fairness
There are plenty of examples provided in this video below about the deep implications of inflation and the difficulties of running businesses in hyperinflationary environments like Zimbabwe, Lebanon, and Argentina.
Invitation to Help.
I’ve been invited to attend the Des Femmes mentorship training program in Paris, France from October 1-6. Des Femmes is a community-driven media company that provides women a community, education, networking opportunities and prints an annual magazine.
During the week, ten women in the Bitcoin space will come together to collaborate, attend peer-led workshops, and get mentorship training. I would love to go but unfortunately cannot afford it, so I thought maybe I could try my luck crowdfunding (thanks to the encouragement of Leigh Cuen, Des Femmes co-founder and editor at Forbes Crypto).
If you’d like to help me get there and help offset costs (for flights, accommodations, food, etc.), I would gladly accept your generous donations. And please know I’d be forever grateful to you!
For Bitcoin donations:
Donations ONCHAIN: bc1qa4dglpm6ejy72wsg9ft3nlzvdtcehfdal9wvh4
Donations on LIGHTNING: ayelenosorio@coinos.io (went with coinos to help support a local Vancouver bitcoin wallet)
Dollar donations: go to Paypal go here.
If this week reminded me of anything is that life is full of surprises. You never know who is reading/supporting your newsletter, or what podcast you’ll be a part of, or who you might meet that will change your life. Isn’t that kind of cool?
Stay open to the subtle opportunities turned blessings in your life… and always, always, always have a grateful heart. Gratitude breeds more things to be grateful for, right?
Until next week. Take care of yourselves!
– Ayelen xx