The Remnant

This short piece was inspired by a post I read in Bitcoin Magazine, by Alexander Svetski, entitled, “Bicoiners Are The Remnant”. The post delves into an essay by Albert Jay Nock, entitled, “Isaiah’s Job”, published in 1936 in The Atlantic Monthly, the audio-inclined can download an .mp3 of it. The social-media bent can track Svetski on Twitter.

That essay Svetski cites, which I’ve just read as well, recounts a conversation between Nock and a gentleman whom he describes as one of “three or four really first-class minds that Europe produced in his generation”, whom had recently relaid a broadly sweeping and quite compelling oration on a “political-economic doctrine” which seemed “sound as a nut” to Nock, “in which [he] could find no defect” that his friend was determined to get out to the masses.

Nock replied that he should do everything he can to get this idea out of his head at once. He then made an argument for selective adoption, vis-a-vis the story of Isaiah, citing a concept from that Biblical story called, The Remnant. To paraphrase the point here Isaiah went out to the desert to pout because nobody would listen to him and the Lord told him he was not meant to be heard by everybody, but to return to the city for there were about 7,000 people out of 1 Million that could hear him, and needed to.

"Ah," the Lord said, "you do not get the point. There is a Remnant there that you know nothing about. They are obscure, unorganized, inarticulate, each one rubbing along as best he can. They need to be encouraged and braced up because when everything has gone completely to the dogs, they are the ones who will come back and build up a new society; and meanwhile, your preaching will reassure them and keep them hanging on. Your job is to take care of the Remnant, so be off now and set about it." - Albert Jay Knock (Paraphrasing Isaiah)

Effectively the Lord told Isaiah that one should never try and convince the masses, the idle herd, or the television-sapped media gobblers, because they will only follow, and cannot in any clear way hear an innovative concept. A prophet should instead preach for The Remnant, for they will not be seen, nor can be sought, but they will hear, and must needs heed the call of the Prophet.

Nock’s point point to his buddy was that to seek mass-adoption for his economic theory was to bake luke-warm bread, to pour room-temp tea, to pull pizza out of the oven while the crust was still doughy, in short, to be neither hot nor cold, which results in getting spat out. This was mentioned through the pen of the Prophet Daniel in Rev: 2:14, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

Bitcoin: Selective Adoption

The general argument put forth by Nock can be applied to many red pills in life. Whether they are social, political, religious, or economic. The point proffered by Svetski in his essay in Bitcoin Magazine, is that The Remnant today (at least in his view) are Bitcoiners, and selective adoption is the only possible route towards an economic evolution. Svetski also wrote a piece last year, in August of 2020, called, “Don’t Buy Bitcoin”. Again the thesis here isn’t that Bitcoin isn’t available to everyone and everyone shouldn’t buy it; because it is, and they should. The thesis is that to position the ethos of bitcoin as palatable to masses will retard its growth, and the herd can catch up when there’s no other route to follow (when all our apps are front-end seamless UX/UI’s with back-end blockchains). Plus, do we really want people that aren’t interested in bitcoin (ahem, like the wealth establishment that has scoffed and ridiculed it for over a decade), to ride out on the front of the adoption curve with us? Svetski’s take is, “No thanks, we’ll see you around here when you have no other choice than to comply with this new economy.” (That’s a sentimental paraphrase, not a direct quote).

If people keep screaming about all inclusiveness, mass adoption, and equal-opportunity economies, and proceed to centralize, dumb-down, and potentially even alter the fundamental mechanics of Bitcoin to accommodate this goal, we will have missed the mark entirely. Instead, why not let the power of The Remnant take hold. Let those with ears to hear hear, let the adoption cycle have a tip-of-the-spear, and others can follow suit when it’s the lead suit to follow.

Final Thoughts

After listening to Svetski speak this morning on a Twitter Spaces, it not only seemed clear he is forthright, but that his vision won’t be obscured. Though this author doesn’t personally find every cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin to be worthless, the argument for why they could be when compared to what bitcoin does so well, stands tall. Bitcoin is an impenetrable digital safe, with remote keys that only require a wifi connection. Beyond that, The Remnant could also be many things, as mentioned. Perhaps The Remnant is an economic theory, a novel military discipline, a buried cosmological nuance, or even a political satire. Svetski cites The Matrix, the ultimate red pill movie, and Morpheus’ explanation to Neo, “You have to understand most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.” The point I gleaned overall is that I do not need to fight to try and reach the masses, and in many ways, it prods me to slow down. In its very essence, genius is faster than adoption. Being ahead of the curve requires an adequate vector, not just velocity. So why not take aim at The Remnant? Because if you’re reading this, you’re probably moving at light speed.

Joseph Voelbel is an active researcher, avid writer, and artist. Twitter link.