Foreword

My wife, Nélia, grew up in the town called Oudtshoorn in South Africa, that 150 years ago, was the ‘ostrich capital of the world’, and renowned for its ostrich feathers.

This book’s title comes from the myth that ostriches bury their head in the sand when they are scared or frightened. It has become a metaphor for people who wish to ignore things that they think may prove to be unpleasant, and hope that they will disappear without any action from themselves.

The book and its companion websites have been written in everyday language and designed to inform the layperson. There is also additional material in the form of videos that can be accessed from the website for the reader to explore the subjects covered in more detail. For for those wishing to undertake additional research on the subjects, there is a plethora of intellectual and academic material available.

At the advanced age of 62, my head was taken out of the sand and my eyes were opened through access to extended news coverage on YouTube and other online sources that had not previously been available to me. What I found out was disturbing and showed me how we have been deceived and controlled throughout our lives.

Deception: to ‘lead away from the truth’.

Since then, the content of this book has germinated and grown, especially with the advent of Blockchain technology and Bitcoin. I have now formed what I call a ‘Bitcoin Worldview’ that, if adopted, I believe could counter this deception and control, and bring hope for a different way forward in the future.

The focus of this worldview is how Bitcoin can influence and improve the world systems that are entrenched in our everyday lives to control us.

It is my hope that by reading this book, heads will be lifted from the sand and eyes opened to the realities that are affecting us.

This book would not have been written without the encouragement of my wife and many others who have contributed their time, knowledge and life experience. In particular, I wish to acknowledge Mark Moss and Aleks Svetski for allowing me to include quotes from their book ‘The Uncommunist Manifesto’. I also wish to thank Hermann Vivier the Project Leader of ‘Bitcoin Ekasi’, for his agreement to include a chapter in Part 2, on his Bitcoin Circular Economy educational project.