You don't need a bitcoin job!

Written by Juniormind, published (in german) July 12, 2023 on Aprycot Media Blog, proofread in german by actionslave, proofread in english by Sinautoshi.

Don't quit working for fiat money (yet) – quit feeling bad about it.

At BTCPrague – as at every Bitcoiner event – it was a common complaint:

- "I have a fiat bullshit job".

- "I would much rather work in the bitcoin space"

- "I want to contribute"

There is admiration and perhaps a little envy for those who, often at personal sacrifice and reduction of salary, have in some way earned their (paid) place in the bitcoin space.

Unlike in the fiat system, there are no well-paying cantillionaire jobs there. And because Bitcoin is uncensorable, there are no gatekeeper jobs to be held either.

As a result: in the bitcoin space, you are mainly paid for your actual merit, and only rarely for the processing and fulfillment of bullshit rules of any authorities or authority-related companies (mainly banks). From this follows: if you want to switch from such a fiat job to a meaningful bitcoin job, you will most likely go home with less salary at the end of the month.

After all, we are not all rock star developers, or frugal ascetics who don't mind living like one.

Nevertheless, I still have this gnawing feeling of cowardice to avoid personal risks that would be necessary to be able to finally hang up the fiat job without ending up in a precarious life situation.

Great, so in addition to flight shame, meat shame and consumption shame (like we are told in germany to decarbonize our lives), I now have to deal with self-inflicted fiat shame.

Presumably I could somehow stay afloat for a while at least from generating and translating Bitcoin content, with significant restrictions on my quality of life towards a frugal lifestyle. And then celebrate myself for not paying so many taxes to the "shitty system" anymore.

But would that be reasonable? Even from the point of view of the bitcoin community?

Because the opportunity cost for Bitcoin would be significant. I would no longer be "useful" in the fiat system, and only pay meager taxes on my then meager income, be useful to Bitcoin in some way, but not as productive as a rock star. Measured in sats. Or even euros. Or pull requests.

I'd like to offer a counterpoint.

The top tax rate of 42% in Germany starts at a salary of 58,600 EUR. The average academic salary is also 58,600 EUR (June 2023, answers from Google). What a coincidence. But that's another debate.

Let's assume that one has already had a somewhat more successful career, though not exactly as a software developer, and earns 60,000 EUR p.a. in a perceived bullshit job. And ultimately, yes, all fiat jobs are bullshit jobs, at least for toxic maximalists. So the job is extraordinarily well paid, even if you know that you could probably do it in 25% of the time with ChatGPT support. Fortunately, nobody has told your boss about that yet.

Let's further assume that you would be able to achieve an income of 30,000 EUR p.a. in the bitcoin space in the medium term. So one refrains from withdrawing and stacking 60,000 EUR gross (net 41,000 EUR with tax class 3) from the  fiat system, only to feel better on the basis of 30,000 p.a. gross, i.e. 23,000 net (see above). What would be, however, if one continues to pursue the tiresome fiat job instead and hands out a kind of small developer donation to considerably more talented people as oneself? If possible against a donation certificate accepted by the tax office, so that you take even more money away from the fiat world, which you can put at the disposal of the bitcoin space[1].

In Germany, it is permissible to donate 20% of one's income each year and deduct it from taxes if donated to some kind of accepted charity. So if one would be willing to donate 20% of 60,000 EUR and receive a tax refund of 35% for it (i.e. for the 12,000 EUR donation one gets back 4,200,- EUR from the tax office), then instead of 41,000 EUR net (see above) one would have "only" 33,200 EUR net left. That would probably still allow you a lot more luxury than quitting your job and becoming a digital nomad with a bitcoin job in a country with the lowest possible cost of living. So managing one's fiat shame by taking a lower-paying Bitcoin job would deprive Bitcoin of 12,000.00 EUR in developer or project grants - is it really worth it?

I don't want to hide the "moral hazard" of this line of thinking. We are on the thin ice of "effective altruism", of which Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX), among others, was a highly questionable but also prominent proponent.

The argument goes something like this: instead of digging wells yourself in Africa as an unskilled helper with a spade, just to feel better, it is much more effective to earn as much money as possible and to pay well builders with suitable machines, who will dig considerably more wells than you would ever have been able to pull off yourself.

Sounds great, but in the extreme version it leads to the following: I found FTX, deceive millions of customers and burn billions of dollars, thereby keeping tens of millions for myself, but because I can abolish world hunger with it - and in the case of SBF also make a lot of party donations - it's okay. Or go broke while trying. At least you tried hard.

And to go down in history books as a real version of Francisco d'Anconia[2], most people lack talent, courage and the will to become a real pirate.

Conclusion

It is not my point to shame other plebs, who prefer HODL to FOSS-SPENDL. Quite the opposite!

Only if the fiat shame is in anyway already in your mind, I would like to suggest the alternative mentioned above. In order to get rid of fiat shame without necessarily going to length to quit your job and live well below your former means.

In short:

- If you are looking for a job anyway, there is no point in feeling fiat shame.

- If you live from paycheck to paycheck and HODL below your goals anyway, then fiat shame is hopefully not one of your problems.

- However, if you do have a good living and are thinking about switching to the bitcoin space even at a loss of salary? Then consider whether you can't be more useful for Bitcoin if you generously donate a part of your good salary to projects or organizations that support Bitcoin projects - preferably against a donation receipt, so that the tax authorities can also participate in the donation.

- And if you want to help Bitcoin volunteers on top of that, you will find plenty of opportunities to do so: Orange pilling people around you and stay available afterwards with advice and support, organizing meetups, being a useful helper at Bitcoin events, producing or translating content, etc.

Many fiat jobs are useful even if you get paid in shitcoins. If you are really good at your job, and if this job is still important in a bitcoin standard (yes, baker Lutze[3], of course we still need your bread by then), then it would be pointless to waste your talent just to do "some bitcoin job". You can orange-pill your professional environment that way too, more than in a bitcoin job where all colleagues would be convinced already anyway. And not everyone is suited to support Bitcoin core development or even to be able to make a living from it, regardless of how much a hobby developer like me would wish for it to happen.

Therefore: Go on vacation – by plane if you want to and can afford it. Eat meat if you like. Consume what your time preference suggests. And do fiat jobs as long as it is worthwhile for you and your conscience allows it. And if you can: financially support people in the bitcoin space who are (still) much more talented in their job than you would be at the moment.

P.S.: After I distributed the article to the first plebs for evaluation, I noticed two important (English) articles on the same topic:

https://bitcoinfoqus.com/fiat-mining/

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/what-can-you-do-for-bitcoin

As always, it's damn hard to have truly original thoughts on Bitcoin - we're all standing on the shoulders of giants.

[1] For the sake of good order, please note: I am not a tax advisor, and before you draw your own conclusions or even donate money, talk to a tax advisor about your individual situation.

[2] Francisco d'Anconia: the highly effective pirate and saboteur of the corrupt economic system from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

[3] A German meme for „the random working dude in the neighborhood”

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