Humpty Dumpty — The True Story
By ASTR on Altcoin Academy
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!
Humpty Dumpty, as the true story goes, was a cannon. It was used during the English Civil War. Cannonballs destroyed it, and poor old Humpty Dumpty fell into a marshland, and could never be repaired.
Yet here we are, these many years later, with a new poetic notion of the story, told over and over until the origin and meaning completely dissolved into a child’s fable.
So maybe it is time to dust off the old fable and apply it to new circumstances.
Let us gather about and lay an intriguing foundation for the fable at hand. A new twist on an old favorite.
Our tale will revolve around the birth of currency. We shall delve into the Greek Obol, and the Diobol, you guessed it, 2 Obols; followed by the Triobol and Tetrobol, consecutively 3 and 4 Obols. For some strange reason, 6 Obols becomes a Drachma, which is the world’s oldest currency still in use.
If we really want to dive deeply, we must consider the Lydian stater, made of a mix of gold and silver, called electrum, minted around 600 BCE, considered by scholars to be the oldest coin still around.
The Chinese are not to be forgotten either. Their coins were a brilliant design, a round shape with a square hole in the center which could be strung along like a string of beads. The Chinese were the first to invent and produce paper money to help merchants who could now avoid carrying massive strands of coins.
By way of juxtaposition, today the UN recognizes over 180 currencies. They are used in 195 countries throughout the world. Of course, the US Dollar is the most popular currency, with 66 countries “pegging” their currency to USD. Directly, USD is used in more than 30 countries and is the most commonly accepted currency in the world.
The Rise of Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin and Ethereum have led to an increase in digital currencies. Bitcoin is an alternative store of value while Ethereum is positioned to be the major player in blockchain ledgers and smart contracts. Currently, over 4,000 cryptocurrencies are available in the market. Bitcoin is the preeminent player, and the most highly valued.
Cryptocurrencies are an intriguing new form of currency. They do not have a centralized system of control. Instead, they use blockchain technology. Think of a blockchain as a continuously updated ledger of accounts that are protected using cryptographic methods.
New coins are generated primarily by mining a cryptographic puzzle. This, in turn, produces a reward for increasing the blockchain network processing power.
Cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream, primarily because they protect the identity of the people using them and are not under a specific control of governments or banks. They are in a true sense, distributed wealth.
With this as our foundational background lets delve into our updated version of the Humpty Dumpty story.
In many ways, the story is the same, for Humpty Dumpty sits on a wall, and he may have a great fall. The wall in our story represents all the “fiat” currency, bundled up, getting larger and larger, as inflation and central banks proffer trillions upon trillions of new currency. All this, as if to say, we do not need a solid foundation to currency, just make more and pile it up, taller and taller; a wall of currency built.
Poor old Humpty Dumpty, just sitting on the wall. He goes higher and higher into the sky, so much so, that the bottom can no longer be seen. Above the clouds, he soars, and so his vision is impaired, and little does he know of the impending fall. All seems fine. Our Humpty is content while the wall becomes a mountain of debt, of paper, with no foundation, and a catastrophe is about to overtake our unsuspecting Humpty.
History tells us that Humpty Dumpty was a giant cannon, owned by supporters of King Charles I. It was used to gain control over the city of Colchester during the English Civil War. The cannon sat on a church tower, that was until a barrage of cannonballs destroyed the tower, thereby sending Humpty into the marshlands below. Humpty was retrieved but the cannon was beyond repair.
Look upwards in any large city. What you’ll often notice is that the ivory towers are no longer the churches, but rather they are the banks. Shinning edifices, designed to make us take notice, as if to say, “I am invincible”, and further, “do not bother to lay siege on me! For it will only be futile, of no consequence. I am the master of all I envisage.”
Humpty sits atop his perch; just as the cannon of old sat atop the old church steeple. It was a feared and effective weapon, controlling much of the wealth of the land for the King.
Ah! But here is the rub. The poem goes on to say,
In sixteen hundred and forty-eight
When England suffered pains of state
The Roundheads laid siege to Colchester town
Where the King’s men still fought for the crown.There one-eyed Thompson stood on the wall
A gunner with the deadliest aim of all
From St Mary’s tower the cannon he fired
Humpty Dumpty was his name.
Is the cryptocurrency revolution, much like “sixteen hundred and forty-eight, when England suffered pains of state?”
To be sure, Humpty Dumpty is powerful and presently surveys all the lands set before it. Humpty would have us believe that he is beyond reproach and his control is unquenchable. Heaps and heaps of money, stacked higher and higher he goes, into the clouds of the heavens, as if to say “I am the lord of the land”. My wall will protect me. None can reach me anymore.
And then comes one-eyed Thompson! His aim is commendable and accurate. He desires that each and every citizen everywhere is given a fair and equitable chance to secure life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Using the complexity of the systems built by Humpty he takes aim at the wall, grown weak with mismanagement and abuse. He presents a new and more equitable system, where each person may share in the wealth of each nation. A better decentralized and transparent way to retain value and share resources, to keep records and provide more for the many.
Humpty will fall someday, sooner rather than later. The wall is teetering now. The shinning edifices are tarnished and weak. Each day, as the story tells, brings us closer. The cannon is aimed to control and frighten us. Yet, from the most unlikely source comes new hope.
Indeed, yes indeed…
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again!
A revolution is about us. It has the ability to wrest control from the elites, the banks, the governments and the politically powerful.
Is it as simple as a little cryptographic string, tucked away in an “electronic wallet” or “digital stick”?
As unlikely as it may seem, “all the King’s horses and all the King’s men” will not be able to put Humpty Dumpty together again.
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