“Give me liberty, or give me death!” Ben James said, poking the air with his fork to emphasize. I smiled back at my husband as he enjoyed the steak I’d grilled in the backyard. He was telling me about the second Citadel he wanted to create, this one affiliated with us, run like ours, but on Mars. We had enough wealth and weapons from his father’s early Bitcoin purchases to create multiple cities if we wanted to. And Ben James wanted to.
I looked over at our daughter, Marla, dutifully whipping up sandwiches for her brothers before they came home; she was beautiful, the sun shining behind her long hair as a breeze blew through our kitchen windows and gently rustled her sundress in the hot summer air, her apron accentuating her slender waist. We made eye contact, deep understanding and knowing passing between us. My youngest daughter, 6 year old Eloise, sat at the table doing her reading lesson.
In Ben James’ citadel, every child was home schooled. Some of us moms cooperated to lighten the load, teaching another’s children for a year or two, then switching it up.
“They say Mars is like the Old West,” Marla said. I turned away, knowing before either spoke another word how this conversation would go. “Survival is so difficult that women must be willing to act like men, to do everything men do, whether because there’s so much to do or because the men die.”
Ben James set down his fork, eyebrow raised as he assessed her. “Perhaps those boys just haven’t figured out how to be masculine yet,” he said. “That behavior would not be tolerated in my citadel on Mars any more than it is here. No woman of mine will ever work for another man. I won’t have whores in my family, or in my Citadels.”
Marla got a sly look on her face. “So what does that make the men working for other men?” she quipped slyly. “Didn’t you used to work for—“
Ben James’ chair made a painful screech on the floor as he exploded to his feet. My husband and my teenage daughter stared each other down, and I wanted to grab her arm, pull her back, tell her to stop being a rebellious and impulsive child. In a Citadel, the word of the Sovereign was law. And he could exile you, or worse, on a whim.
“You’re a young, chaotic woman,” he said quietly. “You cannot understand how the worlds work. You have everything you need. As a family, we are free from the tyrannies of the State. And you are lucky enough to be where you belong. Women are most happy in the home, cooking, working with children. I will hear no more of this foolishness.”
“Yes, yes, Bitcoin gives Freedom,” Marla smiled. “Without freedom, better death.” In a way only a teenager could, she grinned deviously at him, mouth pursed, and went back to dramatically finishing the sandwiches. “I do so love spreading mayonnaise on slices of bread while my brothers are out shopping for rockets to a far away planet.”
“GET OUT!” Ben James shouted.
“Gladly.”
Marla left, smugly dropping the knife on the unfinished sandwiches.
I sighed, looking at him sympathetically. “She’ll learn,” I said.
“Jeremy was here yesterday,” he said.
“Oh?” I asked, my heart starting to speed.
“He would like to marry her.”
I brightened my eyes with excitement. “He would bring her into line.”
Finally! I had been planning for this for years.
“Indeed. A few more years and his Bitcoin holdings will be enough for a small Citadel of his own. No city, but certainly a small town or large ranch, housing a dozen other families. He would run it extremely well.”
My four sons all ran into the home at the same time; 7 year old Jared, 13 year old Bo, and the 17 year old twins, Jackson and Luke.
Ben James smiled broadly and sat back down at his steak. “Finish their sandwiches,” he told me.
I laughed good-naturedly and turned with a smile to the counter, and got to work finishing their food.
Ben James had approval in his voice. “That, boys, is a good woman! Never ask a woman to make you anything for dinner; you must tell her. If she says no, walk away. If she complains about how you ordered her, find another woman. A fundamental test of a woman’s quality.”
I handed my sons their meals, and asked Luke how the day had gone.
He smiled at me. “A bunch of stuff you wouldn’t understand,” he told me lovingly.
I thought about my days before the war broke out, before society had broken down into anarchy, when I had been in school learning how to build the very rockets he was likely looking at purchasing. He had no idea how they ran.
But Ben James always said making rockets would never fulfill me. It was in the home that my happiness was. I smiled at my four boys and Eloise, at my husband. Those days, full of curiosity and problem-solving, were behind me. The riches of my father-in-law made it possible for me to be truly happy here, in this home, without the dopamine rushes of intellectual and engineering problems solved each day.
I thought I had married Ben James out of love. But he had explained soon afterward that women married hypergamously, to survive, since the dawn of time. Women were not made to love men, only to respect them. It was his job to love me, to provide and protect, the way I did the children. He had taught me a lot, and his passion for self-sovereignty had infected me.
My eyes rested on the quote framed in the living room. “I don’t believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government, that is, we can’t take it violently out of the hands of government, all we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can’t stop.”
Bitcoin. The tool that had equalized the power dynamics between the powerful and the ruled. The means of freedom for millions of people. The great uplifter.
I smiled.
When Ben James sat Marla down the next day and told her she was to marry Jeremy, I was impressed at her stillness. She did not flinch, did not even glance in my direction. She stared blankly at the floor for several seconds. After a moment she got a small smile on her face and looked Ben James directly in the eyes. “Father.” She blinked. “You’ve always taught me so much.”
He looked taken aback. “And?”
She shrugged. “That’s all. I want you to know that despite everything, I’ve taken it to heart.”
He looked at me, bemused. But then told her, “You’re to be married in two months, once all the wedding details are arranged. You and your mother will work it out.”
Marla finally looked at me. There was a new seriousness on her face I had never seen before. But I understood; she was ready.
I’d been preparing for this wedding day for years and the pieces fell easily into place; renting the chapel a mile away from home, purchasing and packing up clothing for her honeymoon, transferring the money her father had saved as a dowry to new UTXOs, ready to join funds with her husband. My daughter was prosperous, rich enough to own her own land, a great deal of it.
My husband saw the charge to the airline later in the day. “I see you got her honeymoon tickets. A little pricey.”
I grimaced. “I wanted them to fly private.”
“It’s ok, I should’ve done it. I know women don’t really like finances. It’s not your fault they overcharged you.”
I shrugged, remembering the first time he had hit me; I’d spent money on a plane ticket, planning a trip to visit my friends. He had made it clear that women traveling alone for fun always led to affairs and evil, especially when going with their female friends. Later he had explained that wanting to visit my mother was equally taboo. I knew that after marrying Jeremy, Marla would not be coming to visit anymore. She would stay home with her children even if Jeremy visited Ben James.
Two months later, everything was ready. “We’ll meet you at the church,” I told Ben James. My eyes landed on the framed quote once more. “Some sly roundabout way.”
The boys headed to the bachelor party while Marla, Jared, and Eloise piled into the car while I put Marla’s honeymoon suitcase in the trunk. We were to meet at the chapel that evening for the wedding. Marla and I smiled at each other as Ben James and my older sons drove away.
We got into the car. Two hours later we reached our destination. I grabbed her suitcase, which held clothes for myself, Marla, and the two young children. In my head and Marla’s as well were the same twelve words. We hurried to the private airplane awaiting us, and the pilot stepped forward himself to meet us and verify our four discounted tickets, before escorting us into the interior. We were in the air ten minutes later.
__________________________
We’d been living in Rockson Citadel for six years. It had taken an entire two years for Ben James to find us. He quickly realized that we had fled to a small nation that was far more prosperous than he was. There was nothing he could do to get us back. I had my own Bitcoin that he had never known anything about, enough to flee, to hire protection, and he could not reach us—I no longer feared for our lives.
Soon I was taking part in the prosperity of Rockson, no longer in a Citadel with the brainpower of only 50% of it’s population, only able to purchase rundown rockets, but in Rockson, a society that built new ones and created innovation. I added my insatiable curiosity and joy of discovery, my brain power, to everyone else’s, contributing to society and the rocket industry. My many female colleagues worked with the men, and our combined brain power had us light years ahead of tiny backward Citadels like Ben James’. Our weaponry alone could wipe his city off the planet before he’d have time to point that angry finger of his in judgment.
My daughter married Jason. They had twins, and were expecting their third of hopefully many children. He continued to work as an engineer in the oil industry, and Marla had a remote job at home, tutoring university students in physics while staying home full time with the toddlers. She had earned her bachelor’s degree with his support, and during her University studies he had stayed home to watch the kids. She was now taking online courses for her graduate degree. They also had a thriving artwork following, painting each morning and selling the pieces at a hefty price, the shared passion that had brought them together in the beginning. Every evening the four of them ate dinner together, and any time I wanted to stop by with Jared and Eloise, we were welcomed with open arms.
By the time I remarried, Ben James was a distant punchline of jokes.
My husband, Henry, would say, “I can’t believe he knew that Bitcoin would give power and freedom to men to vote with their feet, but couldn’t foresee it would give women the same power with men.”
Marla would add, “He actually thought we’d all go back to nothing but traditional roles for women, stuck at home, being told by him what we like, what we want.”
I’d laugh, Henry’s arm wrapped happily around me. “Our freedom means men have to be better to be chosen by us—we have the means to flee, to thrive, to have the power to pick who is best for us, to be a voice at the table.” Cheekily, I added, “Men must put in more proof of work.”
Henry hugged me tighter. “We are better men due to the motivation. Sounds like a net positive to society to me.”
Marla smiled gleefully. “Give me liberty, or give me death.”
This is a guest post by Ninja Grandma. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
A short story set in a hyperbitcoinized future where Citadels have come to be real polities in the world.
Amazon’s journey from a modest online bookstore to the world’s largest online retailer is a narrative of innovation, disruption, and relentless ambition. Today, Amazon dominates the e-commerce landscape, setting the standard for online shopping with its vast product selection, lightning-fast delivery, and customer-centric approach. This article explores the evolution of Amazon’s leadership in online shopping, examining the key strategies, innovations, and challenges that have shaped its rise to the top.
The Early Days: From Bookstore to Everything Store
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore, capitalizing on the internet’s potential to reach a global audience. The decision to start with books was strategic; books were easy to ship, did not require much storage space, and had a universal appeal. From the beginning, Bezos envisioned Amazon as more than just a bookstore. His long-term goal was to create the “everything store,” a one-stop-shop where customers could find and purchase anything they needed online.
The initial success of Amazon was driven by its innovative approach to e-commerce. While traditional bookstores were limited by physical space, Amazon offered an extensive catalog of books that was virtually limitless. The company’s early focus on customer satisfaction, with features like customer reviews, personalized recommendations, and a user-friendly interface, set it apart from competitors.
By 1997, Amazon had gone public, and its rapid growth continued. The company began to expand its product offerings beyond books, gradually adding categories like music, electronics, and toys. This diversification was essential to Amazon’s strategy of becoming the go-to online retailer for all consumer needs. The company’s ability to offer a wide range of products, combined with its commitment to customer service, established it as a leader in online shopping.
Innovation and Expansion: The Prime Revolution
One of the most significant milestones in Amazon’s evolution was the launch of Amazon Prime in 2005. For an annual fee, Prime members received free two-day shipping on eligible purchases, a proposition that was revolutionary at the time. The introduction of Prime was a game-changer, transforming customer expectations and further solidifying Amazon’s leadership in online shopping.
Prime was more than just a shipping service; it was a strategic move to create customer loyalty. The subscription model incentivized customers to make Amazon their default shopping destination, as the more they used Prime, the more value they received. Over time, Amazon expanded the benefits of Prime to include streaming video and music, exclusive deals, and other perks, making it an indispensable service for millions of customers.
The success of Prime can be measured by its membership numbers, which have grown exponentially over the years. As of 2024, Amazon Prime has over 200 million members worldwide, a testament to the value it offers. The Prime membership model has been so successful that it has influenced the broader retail industry, with many competitors launching their own subscription services in response.
The Technology Edge: Fulfillment and Logistics
Amazon’s dominance in online shopping is not just a result of its vast product selection and customer-centric approach; it is also rooted in its technological prowess. The company has invested heavily in building a state-of-the-art fulfillment and logistics network, which has been a critical factor in its ability to offer fast, reliable delivery to customers.
Amazon’s fulfillment centers, which are strategically located around the world, are marvels of automation and efficiency. These facilities use advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and data analytics to manage inventory, process orders, and ship products with unparalleled speed. The company’s ability to deliver products quickly and accurately is a key reason why customers choose Amazon over other online retailers.
In addition to its fulfillment centers, Amazon has developed a vast logistics network that includes its own fleet of planes, trucks, and delivery vehicles. The company’s investment in logistics has allowed it to reduce its reliance on third-party carriers like UPS and FedEx, giving it greater control over the delivery process. This vertical integration has enabled Amazon to offer services like same-day and next-day delivery, further enhancing its competitive advantage.
Moreover, Amazon’s logistics innovations extend beyond its own operations. The company’s delivery service partner (DSP) program has created opportunities for small businesses to operate delivery routes for Amazon, while its crowd-sourced delivery platform, Amazon Flex, allows individuals to deliver packages using their own vehicles. These initiatives have expanded Amazon’s delivery capacity and ensured that it can meet the growing demand for fast shipping.
Expanding the Ecosystem: Marketplace and AWS
Another key component of Amazon’s success in online shopping is its ability to create a comprehensive ecosystem that extends beyond retail. The Amazon Marketplace, launched in 2000, has been instrumental in expanding the company’s product selection and driving revenue growth. The Marketplace allows third-party sellers to list their products on Amazon’s platform, giving customers access to a wider range of goods and enabling Amazon to earn a commission on each sale.
The success of the Marketplace has been staggering. Today, over half of the products sold on Amazon are from third-party sellers, many of whom are small and medium-sized businesses. The Marketplace has also been a critical factor in Amazon’s global expansion, as it allows sellers from around the world to reach customers in different markets without the need for a physical presence.
In addition to the Marketplace, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has played a crucial role in the company’s growth and profitability. Launched in 2006, AWS offers cloud computing services to businesses, allowing them to store data, run applications, and scale their operations with ease. AWS has become the backbone of the internet, powering everything from startups to large enterprises. The revenue generated by AWS has given Amazon the financial flexibility to invest heavily in its retail operations, including its logistics network, Prime, and original content for Prime Video.
Challenges and Criticisms
While Amazon’s leadership in online shopping is undeniable, it has not been without challenges and criticisms. The company’s dominance has raised concerns about its impact on competition, with critics arguing that Amazon’s scale and market power give it an unfair advantage over smaller retailers. There have also been concerns about the treatment of workers in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, with reports of grueling conditions and low wages sparking public outcry and calls for better labor practices.
Amazon has also faced scrutiny over its impact on the environment. The company’s rapid delivery services, which require a vast logistics network, contribute to carbon emissions and environmental degradation. In response, Amazon has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 and has invested in renewable energy and electric vehicles to reduce its environmental footprint.
Despite these challenges, Amazon continues to grow and innovate, constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible in online shopping. The company’s ability to adapt to changing consumer preferences, invest in technology, and create a seamless shopping experience has ensured its position as the leader in e-commerce.
The Future of Amazon in Online Shopping
As Amazon looks to the future, it faces both opportunities and challenges. The rise of new technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation will continue to shape the e-commerce landscape, and Amazon is well-positioned to leverage these innovations to enhance its operations and customer experience.
The company is also likely to continue expanding its ecosystem, integrating its retail operations with other services like AWS, Prime Video, and Alexa. This integration will further entrench Amazon in the daily lives of consumers, making it even more difficult for competitors to challenge its dominance.
In conclusion, Amazon’s leadership in online shopping is the result of a relentless focus on customer satisfaction, innovation, and scale. From its early days as an online bookstore to its current status as a global e-commerce giant, Amazon has consistently pushed the boundaries of what is possible in retail. As the company continues to evolve, it will undoubtedly remain a dominant force in the world of online shopping, shaping the future of commerce for years to come.
