What is a Citadel?
Fuck You Make Me
Bitcoin removes financial leverage.
A Citadel removes physical leverage.
Together, they create the ability to calmly walk away.
We’ve previously discussed the history of the term Citadel.
There’s a scene in The Gambler that gets passed around every few years.
A man explains the secret to life.
It isn’t ambition.
It isn’t success.
It isn’t wealth for its own sake.
What is a Citadel? It’s your fortress of fucking solitude.
Bitcoin is fuck you money.
Frank: That puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of fuck you. Somebody wants you to do something, fuck you. Boss pisses you off, fuck you! Own your house. Have a couple bucks in the bank. Don’t drink. That’s all I have to say to anybody on any social level. Did your grandfather take risks?
Jim Bennett: Yes.
Frank: I guarantee he did it from a position of fuck you. A wise man’s life is based around fuck you. The United States of America is based on fuck you. You have a navy? Greatest army in the history of mankind? Fuck you! Blow me. We’ll fuck it up ourselves.
The strongest negotiating position in the world is the ability to walk away.
It has nothing to do with greed, aggression or prepper fantasy.
That’s sovereignty.
Bitcoin and a Citadel are powerful together because they remove different kinds of leverage that institutions, markets, and other people normally hold over you.
Bitcoin removes financial coercion
A Citadel removes physical and logistical coercion
The Citadel Axes
Each axis below describes a specific kind of leverage that normally gets used against people and how a Citadel weakens it.
You don’t need to max all these out.
But you should know where you’re exposed.
1. Economic Leverage
What leverage normally exists:
Most people are forced to accept bad terms because their expenses arrive faster than their options.
What a Citadel changes:
A Citadel lowers the cost of saying no.
Lower housing costs, stored energy, local food, and fewer mandatory expenses mean you need less cash per month to remain stable. Bitcoin extends this by letting you store savings outside fragile financial systems.
Together, they turn “I need income now” into “I can wait.”
If losing a paycheck immediately changes what you’re willing to tolerate, this axis is weak.
2. Physical Leverage
What leverage normally exists:
When utilities fail or services pause, people are forced to relocate quickly and often on bad terms.
What a Citadel changes:
A Citadel removes urgency.
Water on-site.
Heat that works without the grid.
Power for essentials.
Shelter that remains livable in winter.
This doesn’t make problems disappear.
It prevents them from forcing immediate decisions.
If a single outage means you have to leave, your position is fragile.
3. Regulatory Leverage
What leverage normally exists:
Rules don’t need to ban your lifestyle outright, they just need to make it expensive, exhausting, or uncertain.
What a Citadel changes:
A Citadel minimizes exposure.
It’s located where:
land use is permissive
enforcement is infrequent
compliance doesn’t require constant interaction
Quiet places don’t demand attention.
They don’t escalate friction every year.
If your setup survives only as long as policies remain friendly, this axis is unstable.
4. Logistical Leverage
What leverage normally exists:
Just-in-time systems force obedience by collapsing quickly.
Miss a delivery.
Lose access to fuel.
Face a price spike.
What a Citadel changes:
A Citadel breaks single points of failure.
Stored water.
Stored heat.
Stored food or direct access to producers.
This doesn’t mean total self-sufficiency.
It means buffering.
If missing one truck, one shipment, or one service resets your dependence, the leverage is still there.
5. Social Leverage
What leverage normally exists:
People stay in bad social arrangements because leaving is too costly.
Jobs.
Cities.
Relationships.
Communities.
What a Citadel changes:
A Citadel makes association voluntary.
It gives you:
a place you can return to
the ability to host without strain
the option to disengage without collapse
This isn’t isolation.
It’s non-desperation.
Communities built on choice are stable.
Communities built on necessity aren’t.
The strongest “fuck you” is almost invisible.
It isn’t rage.
It isn’t withdrawal.
It isn’t rebellion.
It’s the moment you realize you don’t have to argue anymore.
You can stay.
You can leave.
You can wait.
Bitcoin makes waiting possible.
A Citadel makes waiting comfortable.
And once you can wait, the world loses its grip on you.
What does your dream Citadel include?