Lately, I’ve been reading about the foundations of the American labor movement. Specifically, the birth of the Industrial Workers of the World and a group called the Wobblies, a nickname given to IWW members. At its peak, the IWW had over 150,000 members in 1917, with a global membership and significant power and influence. While the IWW was in theory a socialist-leaning organization, many of its core values were embedded in the DNA of the American labor movement, and were undeniably important to the development of organized labor and a strong working class after the Industrial Revolution. The similarities between some of the IWW’s origins and ideologies and Bitcoin are important, and should be demonstrated with citations rather than boring you with in-depth history.
All quotes are from the book “Wobblies: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World (Buhle/Shulman)”.
Origin and emergence
“No one can tell exactly where the inspiration for the IWW came from. Its origins are multifarious, both in the US and abroad…”
Similarly, there is no clear origin of the Wobblies’ nickname. Naturally, some mythology about Bitcoin comes to mind, and while Bitcoin’s origins are clearly documented through white papers and email communications, its creator or creators remain shrouded in mystery. As Bitcoin gained popularity, its growth became decentralized and organic. In another parallel, while the IWW and the American labor movement had earlier motivations, it was a pioneer in terms of organizing labor despite ethnic, gender, religious, and other demographic differences.
“After the Civil War, vast industries grew faster than anyone had imagined, bankers amassed previously unimaginable wealth, but there were millions of desperately poor working people, working for low wages or unemployed because of repeated economic depressions.”
From the financial crisis to the wealth accumulation among billionaires post-COVID, to the current boom in AI, robotics and self-automation, this story is all too familiar. However, recession has been nearly outlawed, replaced by government intervention, with large systems like pensions and social security currently equating to government welfare and dependency.
Wobblies and Bitcoiners
“The Wobbly, male or female, Asian or Western, black, brown, red or white, was physically just an ordinary human being”
We feel the same way about Bitcoiners. We have all met some of the most inspirational people in our lives in this field. It is both the character, grit, and determination that allows individuals to discover and understand Bitcoin, as well as the character-building journey that a Bitcoiner must take to fully understand Bitcoin and share it with the world, which many of us believe is the most talented and inspired community in the world.
“Their story was collaborative, collective, not dependent on any one hero or heroine—no matter how heroic (or tragic) the Wobblies’ individual lives might be.”
Kill your heroes. Kill the ego. Bitcoin doesn’t need any of us.
Solidarity: A movement bigger than one person
“The world of the Wobblies was at its best marked by solidarity across lines of race, ethnicity, gender, and nationality”
The beauty of Bitcoin is that it requires no trust between those who transact with each other. And in doing so, Bitcoin allows humans to understand the daily analysis we perform on each other; an analysis that instinctively exposes our differences, which are rooted in paranoia and fear. While the blind solidarity among Bitcoiners is the opposite of “don’t trust, verify,” there is a strong natural bond among Bitcoiners. I believe that the future of Bitcoin, when faced with its greatest tests, will depend on the deep solidarity among those who believe in Bitcoin’s origins, core values, and blind commitment to being honest, truthful, and trustworthy.
AFL vs. Knights of Labor
“The earliest mass movement for an eight-hour workday during 1885–86 highlighted the different roles of the two kinds of labor movements. The American Federation of Labor, founded in 1883, attempted to organize only skilled workers (almost entirely white and male)… while the Knights of Labor, founded in 1869 as a secret society… expanded its membership to virtually all workers (except Chinese), including African-Americans and women.”
The AFL and its membership’s exclusive country club brand lasted even longer than the eventual collapse of the Knights of Labor and still exists today in the form of the AFL-CIO. Reading about the different philosophies of the AFL and the Knights of Labor brings out the similarities within the Bitcoin community, the frequently heard criticisms of Bitcoin Maxi, as well as Bitcoin vs. Crypto. I leave you the reader to form your own opinion here, as the similarities are loose affiliations at best in their nature.
Agitation
“In the industrially advanced United States, the working class was ready to take control of society and replace “politics” and “the state” with direct rule. As Marx had pointed out for the Paris Commune (and Lenin reiterated for the Soviets), the existing governmental apparatus could not be infiltrated and subjugated piecemeal; it had to be dissolved and replaced with a truly democratic, modern government.”
There are two schools of thought in Bitcoin, one that demands the complete collapse of the current financial system and migration to the Bitcoin standard, and another that insists that Bitcoin can coexist with the current financial system and even surpass it without the collapse of the latter. While the money in this parallel is not the same as the government, the amount of money that is entrenched in the legacy financial system is enormous, and this always leads to interesting debates among Bitcoiners.
“For the IWW…the familiar problem of the socialist movement in America being too small could be solved in a new way. ‘Educating’ workers to be socialists through newspapers, speeches, and election campaigns was too passive and not very successful. Workers needed to educate themselves through their own actions and self-organization.”
There are some paradoxical parallels here. Immediately, I think of a core value of Bitcoiners, which is, no one can walk this path for you. Proof of work cannot be circumvented or circumvented. No person or group can cheat the pursuit of knowledge about Bitcoin and the system it is set to replace. The Bitcoin journey of individuals and membership-based organizations, in the absence of continuous learning and education, often ends in loss or disappointment. Those who put in the work find that their knowledge about money blossoms, and very few have ever turned back after deeply understanding Bitcoin.
Also, my mind goes to the efforts of the oligarchy to bombard everything related to Bitcoin with nothing less than 10 years of negative media. It slowed the train down but it didn’t work. The other day, I randomly asked people at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica to share their thoughts on Bitcoin. Overwhelmingly positive, and even some basis in accuracy. The movement to stop people from discovering Bitcoin was at best a delay of the inevitable. Because no idea can stop an idea whose time has come.
conclusion
On this Labor Day, I see the two-party political system of today’s dominant world power as deeply polarized. And when I see labor unions aligning with one party at the cost of creating divisions in their ranks, I see a labor movement that has strayed from its original basis. While the IWW rose and fell, its peak represented an unshakable movement, a solidarity and a commitment to the worker above everything else. And therein lies power. I see parallels in Bitcoin today.
The core principles of Bitcoin transcend our differences and are worth fighting for. At Proof of Workforce, our way of fighting for these values is through education-based Bitcoin adoption for workers, unions, pension funds, and municipalities. And in doing so, we are not only sharing the Bitcoin asset, or the Bitcoin network, we are communicating the origins of Bitcoin and its values, so that they are not lost in the progression of time.
In conclusion, Bitcoin is a natural evolution of the labour movement, with many similarities and parallels. However, unlike the labour movement, the worker can trust Bitcoin, without any allegiance to any political party, leader or oligarchy. And in this sense, Bitcoin and its system of values should be adopted by unions around the world. And by doing so, unions around the world can reconnect with the story of their origins. A story where solidarity comes above all else, a story where workers come together to hold on to the very productive asset their labour depends on. A story where, as many workers are being pushed out of relevance due to automation and AI, the unions representing them look forward and claim ownership of the most accessible and promising productive asset available to them today; Bitcoin.
This is a guest post written by Dom Bei. The opinions expressed are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
