by Andrew Watts
The War Stage
By Andrew Watts
Copyright © 2016 Andrew Watts
All rights reserved.
First edition 2016.
Edited by Eliza Dee
Formatted by Polgarus Studio
The Blackout War Series:
Book One: The War Planners
Book Two: The War Stage
“Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.”
—Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild
Prologue
Osaka, Japan, 2011
“How much do you know about how money really works?”
She shrugged. “I’m sure very little, compared to you.”
He nodded. “You are not alone. Most people don’t know very much about what happens to their money after they place it in the bank. Or how it is valued. Many people today who live in first world countries—especially you Americans—have never even experienced the terror of rapid inflation.”
She placed a recording device on the table and pressed the button with a red circle. She asked, “Do you mind if I begin?”
“Do we need to record this?” He squirmed in his chair.
The reporter looked at him. She sat in a small wooden chair across from him at the room’s only table. Her legs were crossed and her skirt parted just above her knee. She was pretty. Long black hair. Big, beautiful eyes. The kind you saw on billboards, staring back at you when you crossed the street.
“It would help me to make sure I don’t misquote you.” A polite smile. Her voice melodic.
He shook his head. “And here I was, thinking that no one would ever find me. Perhaps I was being naïve.”
“So what is it that you were just saying? You believe that most people are ignorant of how the global monetary system works? Is this a source of frustration for you?”
He looked out the window. The clean oceanside city of Osaka, with its majestic mountain views, had been his home for the past thirty years. He wondered if he would be able to remain here, now that his identity would be revealed.
He said, “No. I do not take issue with someone not understanding the complexity of money. Nor do I expect the common person to understand the complexity of physics. All people are bound by the rules of physics, yet most don’t truly understand it. But the laws of physics were not created by man. There are, however, men that created monetary policy. There are today men who are in control of monetary policy.”
“And you don’t like that?”
He watched her. She didn’t take notes. Just looked at him as she spoke. She didn’t strike him as a reporter. Her expressions, her tone, the look in her eyes. There was something there that he would not have expected in a reporter, but he couldn’t identify what it was.
He replied, “I take issue with the idea that some men have the right to create a system of rules that all others must abide by, whether they agree with them or not.” He smiled. “You are an American. Surely you can agree with that concept? The idea that all people have inalienable rights—to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
She smiled. “I’m interested in what you think.”
“I think that people should be free. I think that the proliferation of the Internet is much like the proliferation of the printing press. The spread of information is changing our world. I believe that the Internet has helped advance the rights of the common man. But their wallets are still bound by regulations that they do not understand. And these regulations are not always in their favor. Their wallets need freedom, too.” He smiled back at her, wrinkles forming on his forehead.
“And bitcoin will provide them that?”
He slapped his knee and shot her a wide grin. “I can only dream.”
“How would you describe it?”
“Describe what? Bitcoin?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
He frowned and looked at the floor. “One of the benefits of my seclusion and anonymity has been that I have not had to explain it to people that were not fluent in the languages of money and cryptology.” He let out a heavy sigh and then looked back at her. “Let me ask you for your help. How would you describe it, knowing what you do?”
She said, “I would call it the world’s first widely adopted digital currency.”
“Widely adopted? I think that you are being generous.”
She shook her head. “They say that by 2014, over one million people will possess bitcoin currency. It’s hard to get that many people to agree to anything. And now they are all agreeing to use a new form of money.”
He cocked his head. “Your accent, where is it from? Where did you learn Japanese?”
The reporter said, “America.”
“Of course. You speak Japanese very well. But were you born there? In America?”
She said, “No, I wasn’t.” She shifted in her chair and leaned forward to adjust the recording device on the table. “Now it’s your turn to answer. What is bitcoin? Your words.”
He looked back out at the city. On the busy streets below, crowds of men and women in suits walked on crosswalks. “It’s a means to an end.”
“And what end is that?”
He motioned out the window, toward the skyscrapers of Osaka. “Three years ago, the world’s financial system almost collapsed. All those people in suits were ready to jump out of windows. Then the men in control realized that they had become too greedy, and began to make changes. It got better for a few years, but the markets will collapse again. This cycle happens over and over. History is repeated by those that do not learn from it. And the young generations rarely remember their forefathers’ lessons well. You can argue over the reasons why each financial crash occurs. But the world’s financial system is still regulated by national governments and global entities supported by those governments. A very powerful few, with mixed motives.”
The reporter asked, “What does that have to do with bitcoin?”
He said, “I was born in Japan. But I ask you, what if I don’t agree with everything that my government says? I can tell you right now that I don’t. What if the global economic and currency regulators make decisions that I disagree with? Once, there was nothing that one could do. But we have reached a turning point in technology. A turning point in the rise of peer-to-peer networking. Today, the individual has the freedom to use a currency that is unregulated by any government. Prior to this technology, that was not possible.”
The reporter looked skeptical. “So you are saying that bitcoin will free people from the bonds of government?”
The man laughed. “No. But it is a start. Let me ask you one question. What is the global reserve currency?”
“The US dollar.”
“Correct. The US dollar. Do you know what it means for a country to wield such a power? It means that the United States holds an economic advantage over every other nation in the world.”
“Are you anti-American?”
“Not at all. I have been to America. A wonderful country. But the system is not fair. If one nation can control the global reserve currency, it can raise the largest, most powerful military. That same nation can create wealth beyond the wildest dreams of all other nations. The United States is a leader in technology, in industry, sports, and media. Its culture is dominant. People from all over the world envy America, whether they admit it or not.”
She smiled. “Is that really all due to the dollar being the global reserve currency?”
“Oh, yes. Look at the history books. The Roman Empire, the British Empire…all empires rule in part by establishing a dominant currency. Americans don’t have to worry about real inflation. Bread might cost a few percent more next ye
ar, but not twenty percent more. Not fifty percent more. Not so much that children can no longer eat three meals each day. Or that parents must sell their home or pick up another job.”
“The United States has battled inflation before, hasn’t it?” She looked uncertain.
He raised his chin. “Yes. But overall, its status has been significantly better than that of the rest of the world. Other countries bow down to the United States. Perhaps not publicly. Not in their words. But in their policy, and in their action, countries around the world behave as if they are subservient to America. For instance, could you imagine what the US president would say if South Korea or Germany or Spain or Brazil wanted to place a military base in California? They would laugh. And yet the United States has military bases in many countries around the world. The American Empire.”
“But that’s due to the history of wars, right? That is why the US has military bases in some countries around the world.”
“In part. But also because those countries don’t want to anger the most powerful nation on earth.”
He could see her thinking. She narrowed her eyebrows and said, “So how will bitcoin change the status quo? Do you hope that the widespread adoption of bitcoin will crash America’s economy?”
“Not at all. I love America. I hope that it continues to flourish. But I hope that the adoption of bitcoin, if it indeed continues, will eventually create a balance of power that can’t exist today. As long as people must rely on governments to print money and influence the value of global currency, there will not be balance.”
“I see.”
He smiled. “It is complicated. But there is another important reason why something like bitcoin is so helpful to the common person. Our world is racing into a digital future. How often do you pay for things in cash today?”
“Not very often. I usually use a credit card or a debit card.”
“In first world countries, that is becoming the normal way to buy things. Let me ask you another question. Every time you make an online transaction, where does that money go?”
She said, “You mean if I buy an article of clothing or something like that online?”
“Yes. Where does your money go when you click purchase?”
She made a face like the answer was obvious. “To the clothing store.”
“Some of that money, yes. But some of that money will go to the credit card company. Some of that money will go to the bank that issued you the credit card. Some will go to the acquirers—the middlemen that pass batch information along so that merchants can complete transactions. And some of your money will go to the account providers—more middlemen. These middlemen manage the processing of the credit card. Your money will be sliced up and every one of these people will get a cut. That doesn’t even include the payment gateway—the online portal that facilitates your website’s shopping cart.”
She looked surprised. “I didn’t realize there were so many hands involved.”
He nodded. “Instead of just paying one or two parties to facilitate your transaction, you are paying many. So everything costs you more. It leaves you with less money. A lot less, if you pay like this all the time. But bitcoin eliminates much of this. The software makes it possible to send cash payments without all of the middlemen.”
“But if merchants want to use it, won’t they need a third party to facilitate the transaction?”
“Yes. But at a fraction of the cost. So the consumer and the merchant can both keep more of their money. And you know what the best part is?”
“What?”
“It’s anonymous. Bitcoin transactions do not require any personal information. And what does that mean?”
She nodded. “No taxes. This was going to be my next question. How would a government tax or regulate it?”
He shook his head. “They will have a very hard time doing so. The system is designed so that all transactions are anonymous. No taxes. It truly levels the playing field. There are countless other great potential uses for bitcoin, such as microlending, but I could go on talking about it all day. I will let you ask your questions.”
The reporter opened up her notebook and read. She said, “In 2008, someone wrote a paper describing how bitcoin worked. They published under the name Nakamoto Satoshi. No one knows whether Nakamoto was really one person or many. He began to collaborate remotely with software developers for the next two years.”
He said nothing.
She continued reading, “Recently, he has indicated that he intends to hand over control of the source code and other important information to several prominent members of a now-loyal bitcoin community.”
The man smiled and placed the tips of his fingers together.
She read on. “Nakamoto Satoshi created the world’s first widely used digital currency. Over the past few years, dozens of potential Nakamoto Satoshis have been ‘outed’ by the press. One was a legal scholar and cryptographer from the United States. Another was a Japanese-American physicist and systems engineer. One news source claimed that Satoshi was actually a group of prodigious computer programmers from several different nations.”
The man smiled.
She said, “Could you please state the name that you use on the bitcoin message boards, for the record?”
The man crossed his legs and sat back in his chair. “Satoshi Nakamoto.”
“Is that your real name?”
“No. But that is the name that the world has come to know me by.”
The woman pressed the red button. “Thank you, Satoshi. Let’s take a quick break.” She reached inside her purse and pulled out a mobile phone.
“Of course,” he said. “Do you mind if I ask where you were born, if not in the United States?”
“China.”
“Oh, where?”
She said, “The south. Guangdong Province. But I haven’t been there in many years.” She was typing something into her phone. Then she placed it back into her purse.
Her demeanor had changed. The bright, friendly look of a reporter was gone. He had been at ease with her tone and her charming smile. She leaned a bit farther forward in her seat. Now she seemed to be dissecting him with her eyes.
“A few more questions. Off the record.”
He eyed her. “Go ahead.”
“Tell me, what would happen if a single nation were able to control the supply of bitcoins?”
He frowned. “That is impossible. First of all, that would negate any incentive to use bitcoins. If a country could control it, why would anyone use it?”
“What if the people didn’t know?”
“No. That is not how bitcoin works.” He sighed. Hadn’t she been listening?
“Why not?”
“There are already many systems for digital transactions. PayPal. Countless others. Bitcoin is not just about convenience. It is a means for the common person—for every person—to cast off the bonds of the banks and the regulators. Think of it like this. A Greek baker could accept payment in bitcoins. Or he could simply place all of his holdings in bitcoins. If his national economy was destroyed by inflation, he would not feel the pain.”
“Sure, alright. But hypothetically, let’s pretend that the value of bitcoin is controlled by a single regulator, yet the users are not aware. Would that be possible? Would one entity be able to regulate supply?”
“No. Every member of the bitcoin community can see all transactional data.”
“And that can’t be reprogrammed? Hacked? Surely a man of your talent could make it look like there was a certain supply and artificially change the value. Or perhaps someone could skim tiny bits of each person’s holdings and eliminate any trace of that occurring?”
He shook his head furiously. “NO. That is not possible. I have the code written in a way that—”
“But what if we changed the code?”
He was exasperated. Some people just didn’t understand, or weren’t capable. He said, “I’m sorry, I am so forgetful. Could you please tell me your name
again?”
“My name is Lena Chou.”
“Lena, I can assure you that the way this code is written, those things could not occur. And soon I will be sending out the source code to trusted programmers around the globe. Just as you said, I am ready to be finished with this stage. Bitcoin is ready to be released to the world. There will be many eyes on the gears of this machine. It will not be possible to tamper with, I promise you.”
She had a funny look. Like she was weighing what to say. “Satoshi, you believe in balance. You believe in equality. But do you really think that people are capable of creating that balance and equality themselves?”
He was taken aback. “What are you really asking? You are asking me if I believe in the goodness of mankind?”
“More or less.”
“Then my answer is yes, I do. I believe that those who have the power grow corrupt from it. So my life’s work, my gift to the world, is to give them a monetary system that gives power to the people, and removes it from the powerful few.”
That look in her eyes again. Cold. Calculating. She said, “I disagree. I believe that the world has been shaped by a few great people. It is these people who can truly create change for the better. Behind those great leaders, that balance and equality that you talk about can persevere. But left to their own free will, the masses make disastrous choices. This is what history has taught us.”
This was such an odd interview. Not at all what he expected. She still had the recording device off. He frowned, “Lena, how long have you worked for your news magazine?”
A knock at the door.
“I’m afraid I don’t work for a news magazine.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
Another knock at the door. Harder this time. He glanced over towards the entrance and began to get up. Lena placed her hand on his shoulder and pressed him back into his seat. Their eyes were locked.
She said, “Please remain seated.” She walked to the door and opened it. Two rough-looking men came in. They watched Satoshi as they walked to the center of the room. Their hands hung loose by their sides, like attack dogs waiting for an order from their master.