Episode notes
Location: Remote Date: Friday 4th February Project: @HondHondHodl
Covid-19 mandates have evolved across the world over the past few years. Such mandates involve limitations on what many previously assumed to be universal freedoms. Whilst restrictions were widely and voluntarily accepted in the early phases of the pandemic, people across the world are now starting to question their efficacy and fairness.
Rules imposed by bureaucrats are increasingly being viewed as myopic to wider societal impacts and seemingly slow to account for the latest science. This is resulting in growing dissent. The rejection of government-directed coronavirus measures is arguably most ardent when it affects people's livelihoods.
Canada in January imposed a new rule requiring that truckers must be vaccinated to cross the US-Canadian border. Given the geography in Canada, trucking invariably requires trips to and from the US. So, for unvaccinated truckers, this rule would effectively mean they couldn't work.
A resultant protest lit the flame for wider discontent about Covid-19 health restrictions. This rapidly spread such that a nationwide protest movement has been ignited, centred on the nation's capital Ottawa.
The two sides are becoming increasingly entrenched: truckers are preparing for a long period of resistance, whilst the government is increasingly using more draconian measures to break up the protest. The most contentious action, though, has been GoFundMe withholding millions of dollars raised for the truckers.
Bitcoin is now being used to support the truckers: the utility of uncensorable money has perhaps found its most important use case yet in a democratic state.
In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin Strategist Greg Foss, and NobodyCaribou who is documenting the growing trucker protest movement. We discuss the genesis of the protest, Canadian rights and freedoms, the importance of non-violent resistance, the scale of the movement, and how Bitcoin is a vital tool in this fight for freedom.
