A better society depends upon personal responsibility more than anything else. Without personal responsibility, we cannot expect anything other than what we've already got.
Bitcoin is not a political manifesto. And it's certainly not a self-help book. It's a computer protocol designed to perform a specific function. But Bitcoin does offer commentary on our current situation, because it did not emerge within a vacuum. It emerged as a result of the global mess we currently find ourselves in. If all was well in the world, Bitcoin likely wouldn't exist, because it wouldn't need to. Instead, Bitcoin exists precisely because everything is not well.
The world faces serious problems. Because societies begin as constructs of the human mind (albeit very complex ones), the problems we face today are ultimately rooted in our thinking. For those willing to look, Bitcoin points to a simple but inconvenient solution: What matters most in the pursuit of a better world is personal responsibility. Everything else is secondary.
Human beings are social creatures. We've organized ourselves in communities since time immemorial and it's undeniable that we can achieve more when we cooperate rather than go at it alone. The effects of solitary confinement prove beyond any doubt that we need other people around us to remain functional. Something as simple as friendship, family and parenthood illustrates just how often (and without a second thought) we put the well-being of others first. That being said, if we cannot take responsibility for ourselves, we're the ones in need of help.
If we extrapolate that idea from the microcosm of a family to the macrocosm of entire societies, what sort of world can we expect when millions of government officials (governing billions of people) are unable to take responsibility for their own lives? Addiction, depression, schizophrenia
