-we are the pilgrims of the economic new world.

**In the early 1600's,** British government was in a state of feudalism. Much like the U.S. of today, the overall wealth of the nation was held by only a small percentage of the population. These were Royalty, the "Nobles." The 'balance' of power was non-existence. This concept had long since toppled upon it's face, leaving the rich obscenely powerful, and the common majority in squalor and oppression. No matter how hard a man worked, he could never become anything more than what he was governed to be. This abuse of financial power had led to an oppression, so deep, that it even robbed the common man of his natural right to choose his own spiritual beliefs. Britain, who had involved itself in a number of wars and amassed for itself a large national debt, was struggling to hold its reign as the most powerful country in the world. Because of much bitterness over national conflicts and improper economic advisement, the country had caused even more financial damage to itself by limiting trade with other countries and placing high and unreasonable embargo and limitations on foreign trade. This stifled the ability for economic growth, and that stagnation led to a crippling national debt.
In September of the year 1620, the Mayflower set forth on it's journey to the New World, with the pilgrims aboard. They were seeking spiritual freedom and the freedom to build a life worth living. As the British colonization of the Americas continued, so did the awareness of the many miles of ocean separating them from Britain. The colonies traded freely with the native people as well as other countries and the economy began to pick up steam. It was beginning to flourish.
At the same time as the economy was growing in the colonies, the economy in Britain was still suffering. They began to place high and unhealthy embargo and taxes on the colonies' international trade, causing the newborn colonies to suffer. This, in its culmination, was a huge mistake on the part of British Parliament. The colonies grew more and more angry with the unfairness being imposed on their New World. With the weakening of British resources, they were already struggling to enforce their taxation of the colonies. They had also, unwisely, underestimated the growth and the new strength attained by those living in the colonies.
These factors, as well as others, led to the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre. These two events were the sparks that set off the enormous payload beneath the American Revolution.
After the colonies triumph over the British, the forefathers of the United States set down the groundwork for the newborn sovereign nation. Among the most important parts of their constitution, they outlined that their would be *Laissez-Faire (from the french language meaning 'free trade').* This important part of the country's foundation was a driving force for economic growth in the United States and a major factor leading to the country's ascension as the world's biggest superpower.
Laissez-Faire (free-trade), meant that a man coming from little or no means, could actually work hard to get ahead. In the old world, a man of little means could work himself to the bone until death and his lineage would still suffer just as he did. In this new world, a man's potential was limited only by the fight in his heart and dedication behind his work ethic. A man of little means could build a company from nothing, and leave his lineage in the upper class. Laizze-Faire is the ultimate model for scale-ability. A healthy economy is a one full of spending, and fluidity of trade on a the global scene allows the momentum necessary for growth.
Today's economy has begun to slow, much like it had for Britain in the early 1600's. The primary financial systems and transports rely on major banking corporations to keep funds secure. The common man is always struggling to be properly represented against these super-rich corporations, for fairness. The cost inefficiency of these huge monopolizing companies, has slowed trade and once again made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a common person of little means to enter onto the scene of global trade. These old constructs have once again landed the balance of power, solely, in the laps of the wealthy, top-percentile, and the scale-ability of the common man has suffered greatly.
There is, however, a rising solution to this problem. The internet has, since it's inception and the adoption of the personal computer into peoples homes, stitched together an enormous transport for people of little means to communicate and interact on a global level from the comfort of their homes. This has resulted in enormous changes in the global economy and technological growth as well as information sharing. Though the government frequently has attempted to put regulations and limitations upon the internet, if a common man holds the knowledge, he can still attain internet freedom.
With the rise of cryptocurrency, the global freedom found with the internet is becoming global *financial* freedom for the common man as well. This is an enormous advancement for human society. It makes the transfer and trade of assets possible on a global scale, without the need for the expensive and severely limiting constructs of the huge banking corporations.
Where we had previously needed these banking corporations to ensure security of our funds during global trade, blockchain technologies use a variety of decentralized 'peer-to-peer' security models to ensure the safety of funds. Transactions are processed and verified over the different networks by an agreement of multiple nodes across the global network to ensure that transaction values are legitimate. The access of personal wallets can be utilized with a variety of different methods. There are 12 word seed phrases, keystore files buried in the registry of your device, private key strings, and cloud wallet applications. If used properly your funds are very secure but it is important to educate oneself on the different methods of access and security before using these new 'be-your-own-bank' methods of asset holding.
Over these networks, there are three different types of security models for keeping transaction data legitimate and for verifying account status. These three security models have various protocols built by different companies such as SCP (Stellar Consensus Protocol), which operate within the boundaries of these models. The three models are proof of work (I.E. Bitcoin blockchain), proof of stake (I.E. ethereum blockchain), and federated Byzantine agreements (I.E. Stellar blockain). These security models are all different methods for 'nodes' across the networks to communicate and verify data for smart contracts, transactions, and account status. They each, of course, have their efficiency benefits and pitfalls. Developers are diligently working hard to solve complex issues and find a balance between scale-ability and efficiency.
These technologies make it possible to efficiently and easily move money. It also makes it possible to trade globally with virtually any amount of value at a very low cost.
In conclusion, cryptocurrency, using blockchain technology as it's transport, is making the economy fluid on a global level. A man of little means can now enter trade on a global level and the super-rich banking corporations can no longer stifle the potential of the common man with their unreasonably high processing charges and fees.

We are the pilgrims of economic liberation, sailing on a blockchain 'Mayflower', to the laissez-faire shores of a boundless, global internet. Cheers, to the new American dream, globalversion 1.0.0.

*Original Article by Jonathan Caleb Williams*

image from istockphoto.com