Enslaving us with debt and inflation, the fiat system replaces sincerely-held beliefs. But Bitcoin gives us the chance to be human again.
We need beliefs. Belief is something that we live for, something that informs our morals, something that defines our metaphysical existence. We need belief because we need purpose.
Belief is a necessary part of a fulfilling life and, traditionally, people valued their beliefs more than anything else. Sadly, fiat money debases our beliefs the same way Nickleback debases music and Joel Osteen debases Christianity.
The end result of fiat money is that those who win don’t believe in anything, at least in any traditional sense. And if you don’t believe in anything, you are a nihilist.
You’re probably nodding along because the people in power seem very much like the inner party leaders in George Orwell’s “1984.” They change their beliefs to whatever the authorities tell them and do it on command. Heck, we saw that in real time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s the topic of this essay: What happened? And how is it that so many people are so willing to change their beliefs so quickly under government command? How did so many people, especially members of the media, academics and bureaucrats of all types, become sycophantic yes-men to what the government told us to believe?
FIAT OBSESSION
Fiat money makes us obsessed with money. It does this by causing us to pay way too much attention to it.
Because fiat money is continually being debased, people with any wealth at all are forced to invest their money to keep up with that debasement. The more wealth you have, the more obsessed you have to be. The moderately wealthy research stocks and real estate.
The truly rich have to research venture funds, private equity and special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Speak with any rich person and they’re most likely to talk about the deals they’re involved in because this is pretty much the only thing that they truly believe in.
The only way to stay rich in a fiat economy is to really be obsessed with money and get involved in Cantillon games, leaving very little room for genuine beliefs. Fiat money rewards cowards who conform to those who align with it and those are the people who get really rich.
Ideological diversity is about as welcome in those places as Barry Silbert at the Gemini offices.
On the other end of the scale, those with no savings are bombarded by offers of debt. Loans and credit are readily available, so those without savings have the option to bring consumption forward.
When combined with advertising, propaganda and a lack of savings vehicles, consumption becomes conspicuous. Unfortunately, that enslaves people for many years, possibly their whole lives, as the debt can be rolled over and consumption generally only goes up.
Principles and beliefs and well-nigh everything gets sacrificed to serve the debt. Like an overweight person always waiting until tomorrow to start their diet, the cycle of debt puts genuine belief on hold.
