This is an opinion editorial by Andrew A, a Bitcoin educator and contributor to Bitcoin Magazine
Much like the tragic figures of Greek mythology, China has a long and storied history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Its ruling class, in particular, has always had an insatiable appetite for self-flagellation. Banning bitcoin is just the final chapter of this sad and destructive story.
Blessed with an abundance of natural resources, a massive population and full access to the South and East China Sea along its 9,000-mile coastline, China was perfectly set up to be the empire of all ages.
And for almost 2,000 years it dominated the region.
Long before the English and Spanish, China built entire fleets of treasure ships capable of traversing the far corners of the earth — capable of even reaching the New World, centuries before Columbus took sail.
Had things been different, America could well have been subject to the emperor instead of the king, and Mandarin would be the world’s predominant language, not English.
But this was not permitted to happen.
Spurred on by jealousy, fear and spite against its own budding and prosperous merchant class, the ruling elite — aka the central planners — ordered all ships be set on fire. An act of pure self-immolation as it turns out.
This stranded the Chinese people, unable to explore the outside world, and left them isolated and vulnerable to the horrors of the Opium Wars that colonial Britain brought to their shores.
The next cabal of central planners to wreak havoc and destruction were the Communists under the master planner himself, Chairman Mao. And again, the target of their wrath was an up-and-coming middle class. This time the productive farmers from China’s countryside were the sacrificial lambs for slaughter.
The Red Guards, Mao’s cadre of fanatical supporters, marched throughout China, zelously purging the so-called “Five Black Categories.” These included: rich farmers, property owners,…
