Is Bitcoin Making People Want To Kill Themselves? - TDV Week in Review: September 14th, 2014
Originally appeared at Bitcoinomics.Net
In the bitcoin community, discussion generally revolves around the success of the technology over the past five years. Rarely does it venture forth into a darker area of conversation: the psychological toll participating in a world-disrupting, extreme growth industry. In fact, bitcoin is much more than an extreme growth industry. It is perhaps the first example of a decentralized autonomous corporation, or peer-to-peer corporation. In this view, all of the participants in bitcoin are working towards preserving, growing and marketing the 24/7, global project. They are, in a way, contractors for the technology. This seems pretty exciting. But, there is a darker side. Like any job, helping to develop bitcoin and the bitcoin ecosystem can trigger stress and all its associated detriments.
Even when a person is in an industry beaming with success, they might not have the best of luck or make the “right” decisions. Anything could go wrong, and sometimes everything seems to go wrong. This leaves people oftentimes doubting their ability – their intelligence, their worth, and so on and so forth. It’s not easy failing, let alone while so many around you succeed. But, alas, this is the position many bitcoiners (or would-be bitcoiners) find themselves: calculating their opportunity cost, regretting poor decisions. In essence, kicking themselves for missing out. Warren Buffet has said “I wish I had bought bitcoin years ago.” He’s not the only one who has uttered this sentence.
For much of 2013, Jesse Angle, Chris Kantola and Paul harrison held no jobs and had no roofs over their heads. Thanks to Bitcoin, they survived – never having to go without food.
From April to September they lived on the streets in Pensacola, Florida, using their laptops and smartphones to acquire four to five bitcoins via donations and microtransactions in exchange for looking at ads and videos. For the summer, at least, they were full of (and assumedly comatose from) pizza and chicken tenders.
Eventually, they found a place to live thanks to a little help from the government. Life, you would think, is much better now. But, there is one problem – the bitcoin price. “The $600 (£366) we spent would now be worth $6,000 (£3669),” says Angle. “I wish we had gone hungry.”
Kantola echoes the sentiment. “We’re definitely kicking ourselves. We spent $5,000 (£3,055) or $6,000 on food!” he says. “Back in 2009, you could have bought four bitcoins for a dollar. If I could go back [and buy some then], I wouldn’t be here right now. I’d probably be in a mansion.”
Others have been overcome by self-loathing.
The above discussion on Reddit came from the “r/entrepreneur” section of that site. You will read one individual relating a story of success in Bitcoin, followed by two stories of regret. One individual even writes “I hate myself.”
When I searched the phrase “I wish I had bought bitcoin” there were more than 58,300,000 Google search results in 0.34 seconds.
One Reddit user simply asked:
I put in $16K into BTC since Nov 2013….. I had 21 BTC total but after gambling with Alt coins I have about 12 BTC left now… 12!!! Which have a value of about $5.3K now…. so I’m down over $10K. For me to even get even I would need 1 BTC to be ~$1350.
Should I just kill myself?
Unfortunately, there is at least one known suicide – that of Autumn Radtke – which might have had something (or everything) to do with Bitcoin. The 28-year-old was a determined entrepreneur and CEO of First Meta, a Singapore-based virtual currency exchange. Hailing from Silicon Valley, Autumn ultimately jumped from a 25-story apartment building. Her death has been classified as a case of unnatural death.
“Everything has its price,” Radtke said in commenting on an Inc. magazine essay she posted online titled “The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship.”
Autumn Radtke (left)
That article describes the lives of entrepreneurs, and the hidden struggles they face. My personal hunch is that bitcoiners and entrepreneurs have similar psychological makeups. Both, in their journeys, tend to face many hurdles along the way.
“There are traumatic events all the way along the line,” says psychiatrist and former entrepreneur Michael A. Freeman, who researches mental health and entrepreneurship.
Other questions remain. Do bitcoiners tend to neglect their health like entrepreneurs? Bitcoin is a 24- hour, 7 day a week market. Eating too much, eating too little and sleeping too little all negatively affect health. Are bitcoiners reclusive in their hobby? Does bitcoin overcome them and do they become obsessed with it, blocking out all other forms of human interaction? These are unknowns. Certainly, many bitcoiners are themselves entrepreneurs.
Researchers claim that entrepreneurs share certain character traits making them more prone to depression and suicide. “People who are on the energetic, motivated, and creative side are both more likely to be entrepreneurial and more likely to have strong emotional states,” Freeman told Inc. Those states may include depression, despair, hopelessness, worthlessness, loss of motivation, and suicidal thinking.Researchers from the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia found that many of the business owners and founders they interviewed many showed signs of clinical obsession, including strong feelings of distress and anxiety.
If bitcoiners, like business owners, are “vulnerable to the dark side of obsession?” then the coming ups-and-downs in the market – price volatility, failed startups, hacks and otherwise – could pose light-threatening events for many individuals in the community. Perhaps something upon which a light should be more thoroughly shone. Ultimately though this is true of any endeavor. There is risk in rolling out of bed in the morning. Just be prepared for trepidation, stay mentally resilient, and you will do just fine no matter where you spend your time.
If you are feeling depressed or suicidal, there are numerous ways in which you might alleviate your situation and start feeling better. The stresses of work and life in general can weigh heavy, but exercise, healthy diet, meditation, relaxation, spirituality and friends are all ways individuals cope and feel better about themselves and their current situation. High expectations and ambitions can cause individuals to overlook many of the beautiful things they already enjoy their lives.
Questions or comments? Join us at The Dollar Vigilante.
Justin O’Connell is the Chief Executive Officer of GoldSilverBitcoin. He is also the author of the first full-length bitcoin book, Bitcoinomics, and administrator of the Bitcoinomics website. Justin is also a co-host at Our Very Own Special Show, a lifestyle podcast about music, news, life and other topics, and head researcher at The Dollar Vigilante. He lives in San Diego, California.
If you’re interested in receiving articles beyond what you read here everyday, consider our weekly subscriber-only publications, like our Issue, Dispatches, and Homegrown. You may subscribe here.
On to the review…
Monday September 8
AMERICA’S BOOK CRITICS, SOVIET-STYLE
Wendy McElroy on “normal”.
“The term “psychopathological mechanisms” of dissent describes the political abuse of psychiatry in the former Soviet Union and other totalitarian regimes. Non-approved beliefs, attitudes or behavior are classified as mental problems, which converts them into a medical diagnosis that can be handled in an extra-legal manner. Dissenters or ‘the different’ can be detained indefinitely in mental hospitals where they are drugged or otherwise ‘cured’ into conformity.”
Tuesday September 9
THE MAFIA CHANGES THE RULES OF THEIR EXTORTION RACKET WHEN THEY LIKE
Jeff the USSA trying to take more of your money.
“Yesterday, US Treasury Department Secretary Jacob Lew said that it will decide “in the very near future” if it has the authority to strip tax incentives to American corporations relocating to foreign countries.
Lew is a proponent of such action, believing that US corporations leaving the US for better foreign tax rates, while maintaining headquarters in the US, should be violently opposed. The Obama regime has said it believes such legislative action should be retroactive, and authoritarians in the ranks are rising to the occasion to champion the tyrannical actions.”
Wednesday September 10
Hugo Salinas Price let us know how the dollar will meet its end.
“The Mexican Peso circulates and has value, because Mexicans have always been able to purchase dollars with pesos (except for a few days during the “Mexdollar” crisis of the early ‘80s). The price of the dollar in pesos has varied, but at any rate it has (almost) always been possible to obtain dollars in exchange for pesos.
If the new Islamic State “ISIS” should wish to have its own currency, it would have to be possible for its currency to acquire dollars, either directly or through some other currencies. (Just by the way, a 1/10 ounce silver coin would be the equivalent of the dirham, prescribed as money by Islam, and its value would not depend on the dollar or any derivative of the dollar. Maybe someone else will tell “ISIS” about this; I do not want to get mixed up with these people.)”
Thursday September 11
THE DAY THAT CHANGED OUR WORLD – EXPOSING THE 9/11 LIES
Jeff Berwick on the day that changed our lies lives.
“It has now been thirteen years since the largest criminal conspiracy and attack in modern history was planned and carried out by the “Project for a New America” cabal headed up by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Pearle, Paul Wolfowitz and a number of others on September 11, 2001.
On September 11, 2000, one year before 9/11, this faction, which has taken over the US government, according to retired General Wesley Clark (see video of that below), released their plan, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses”. This document outlined the need for a “new Pearl Harbor” in order to facilitate the expansion of the military industrial complex and the US empire.”
Friday September 12
GOD HAS CHOSEN AN EXACT DATE FOR THE DOLLAR COLLAPSE – HARBINGERS AND THE SHMITA
Jeff on TEOTMSAWKI and the supernatural.
“Having scoured the world for facts and information for years looking for what may be the lynchpin for the US dollar collapse here at The Dollar Vigilante the one area we had not investigated was the supernatural!
We’ve sorted through facts, figures, conspiracy theories and investigated almost every human aspect from the Rothschilds (if you can call them human) to ancient secret societies (Free Masons, Illuminati, Knights of Templar, Skull and Bones, etc.) in our quest for knowledge on the subject. We never thought to actually read the bible in this quest. Until this week.
And this video is the reason why. I urge everyone to watch it (it takes about 10-15 minutes before it starts to blow your mind) and comment on the validity of the claims being made. No matter if you are the most adamant atheist this is a must watch video for the reasons I will ascribe below.”
TDV VIDEO
Lots of new videos this week. Jeff interviews Kinglsey Edwards and Alex Fidel on the Anarchast. Plus, Jeff appears on Freedom Feens Talking Galts Gulch, EMPs, Molyneux and Investing.
Have a look at our wide array of informative videos featuring interviews, opinions, and analysis on TDV’s media page.
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Don’t forget, TDV is much more than a newsletter. We also offer many of the solutions to the problems we identify in the letter to help people internationalize their self and wealth to protect themselves from The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI). Check out all our services designed to help you gain more freedom in your life here:
Remember, if you have any questions, concerns, or issues with what you’ve read on TDV, write us at: [email protected].
Thanks as always for reading or subscribing!
Managing Editor
Source: http://www.dollarvigilante.com/blog/2014/9/14/is-bitcoin-making-people-want-to-kill-themselves-tdv-week-in.html#6535
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