Bitcoin! What It Really Is, The Beginning Of The End!
I liked the idea of Bitcoin when I first heard about it, and continued to like it more as I learned more and started used. But something occurred to me years after my first encounter with it. Something I hadn't really seen discussed before yet I think is the most important part of Bitcoin. Bitcoin isn't just the evolution of money, its the beginning of the end of money and the monetary system altogether. Bitcoin is proof of its own redundancy.
To understand this, one must see what I see for the future of humanity. I will on a later post go more in to detail about this, but for brevity sake here is the short form. For humanity to make it to the next "step", we must get to a place were energy is clean and free, computers and robots take care of all menial tasks, and people are equal, free and able to do what ever it is they find passion in.
For all of these things to come to fruition, one thing that will have to disappear is the idea of money. I could go into great detail about this as well, but in a nut shell if money exists then so does the perception that some people are more valuable then others. I know some of you may be thinking that the drug addict on the street isn't as valuable as a doctor to society, but just leave that thought behind for a moment. The idea is to create a society were everyone is equal, and in a society without money, with free energy and labour there won't be homeless drug addicts on the streets. Or at least if there are it will be their choice and will not affect anyone else's life. Also will doctors will be robots.
Bringing this back to Bitcoin and its role, its creation shows us that society can create their own value system. Bitcoin was created, maintained and used by people that realized there was a need for a new type of value exchange. They saw the flaws in the old centralized system and decided to give value to the new system. Everyone that uses or participates in the Bitcoin ecosystem gives it value. This is the only place the value comes from, and it happens regardless of Governments, Corporations, or Individuals of other types of wealth. Bitcoin created a new wealth, and it did so because people decided it so. That is the point.
If or rather when Bitcoin becomes monopolized or fails to serve some, they must simply choose to use another cryptocurrency or come up with a different system. And when that one has outlived its usefulness, another and then another. If we follow this logic far enough, we will get to the point were we see continually creating new monetary systems is redundant. Money will be useless, and we will see it is in all of our best interests to advance to human race, together. Once energy, labour and information are free, why would humanity continue to allow some people to carry more value over others? Necessities will be free and abundant. Value will be completely individually subjective, as humans will only produce one thing, creativity.
What do you think?
I think that in the very near future the only thing that humans can do (once) is to be innovative and creative. Then once they do so, it will be digitized, released to the internet and everyone will be able to benefit. Music, videos and books are already that way. With the advent of more and more sophisticated 3D printers material objects will be that way too. Eventually (soon) the only 'cost' involved will be for raw materials (feedstock...such it out of the air or the ocean) and energy (solar anyone and/or thermo-electric)
I think we see similar futures.
Probably.
Look at trendlines.
by ANY metric we are better off now than we were in the past.
It depends if people allow power to be centrally controlled or if they realize that the advancements in technology allow the ability for everyone to be sovereign.
I don't think money will disappear. "Necessities" in many countries are practically free - which of course depends on how you define necessities. People will always find ways to accumulate wealth to pay for what they want more. Star Trek made a wooden attempt in "The Next Generation " trying to convince us that money was no longer needed in their time, but then it spent many more years showing us that trade and money were still desirable. I agree that Bitcoin might fade but usefulness, but many currencies have gone by the wayside before.
But in Star Trek with replicators and holodecks, there was no use for money. Only less advanced races were using a trade system. What will you need to use money for when advancements have made energy and labour free? I think people will trade ideas and creations perhaps.
Members of the Federation still traded with the "less advanced races" (that's racist, trigger warning) like the Ferengi (spelling?, trigger warning). Don't you remember the roll-up keyboard that Picard marveled over - and paid for? And Vash (spelling?, no trigger warning - minor character) who sold artifacts that she pilfered from "less advanced races." My point is that even now people still accumulate wealth for things that are not necessary - and someone will always build a better mousetrap.
I think those things were only included in order to create themes and drama that the viewers needed. I don't recall the episodes you are talking about, although I enjoyed the show I never did see them all and haven't watched it in ages.
The point is that the creators and writers of that show, although perhaps they saw that such a system without money could work, did not fully understand how. Also being from the current system and trying to come up with new and unique story lines, obviously they had to fall back on some themes that the general public could relate to.
I don't see bitcoin as proof of money itself being unnecessary, but it definitely combats the idea of national currencies and central banking. Money is a tool that serves a definite purpose, and it is not going to be obsolete for the foreseeable future. A medium of exchange, a store of wealth, and a measure for rational economic calculation are all necessary for an advanced economy.
Agree those things are needed for an advanced economy, but I don't think an economy is needed for an advanced civilization.
The economy is just the sum total of all voluntary exchanges between individuals. An advanced economy is absolutely necessary for an advanced civilization. Consumption requires prior production. Goods and services are naturally scarce. Only the ability to engage in rational economic calculation at the individual level allows progress to occur in any meaningful way. The computers we are using now are only possible because of the economy and in spite of government controls.
When labour and energy are free, there will be no scarcity of goods and services. Voluntary exchanges will only be that of individuals exchanging ideas and creative expressions. We are on the cusp of having the technology to achieve this.
Labor is never free, because there is always an opportunity cost for the laborer. Energy will never be free because of physics. Automation and mechanization do not replace labor, they multiply its effectiveness and open up new industries that were previously unavailable.
I think your conclusion is the most accurate part of your proposal. Humans are not equal and no 'control measures' exist that could make equality a reality. Monetary systems, as they currently exist, are measures of value of an extraordinarily large set of systems of trade. The merits of the current systems must be vigorously evaluated - and changed. Bitcoin and the crypto environment will have a significant impact. One that I hope leads to equal outcomes for more humans. Value is perhaps the second most subjective question regarding any entity or thing - human or not. It is as unique a question as the first most subjective question; Who are you?
Great reply! Thanks
That is the typical utopian view about how money "should" work.
And the end you describe may happen, but I doubt it.
Humans are not all equal. They never will be. Viva la difference.
A crude example, a male human wants a child. That person will have to go through many trials and selection processes to find a mate, or to adopt a child. A female human wants a child, all she has to do is find a man who wants to have sex. Definitely not equal in this regard.
The other piece is that any person is not all things. An art lover wants a painting, but has no ability to paint. And a painter wants more paint but lacks even the understanding of where linseed oil comes from...
Money makes it easier to do barter. But, a computerized bartering system may be even easier.
Then comes the big one, motivation. If you have everything you need at the current moment; food, shelter, fresh air. How would I entice you to use your skill and time to create something I want? A commodity that can later be traded for something I want is a good motivator.
And the last piece is that money is a good measuring tool. What gets measured gets improved. And in this case, I see several moneys coming into existence that each measure a specific aspect of capital. (such as social capital)
Most people's biggest stumbling block when dealing with money, is that they have never seen or experienced it. What we have is currency, and there isn't enough of it. The crash of the 20s came about because the banks pulled in all the money. In many places there wasn't enough money for normal transactions to happen. Imagine one $5 bill being used by an entire town, because it was the only one.
The U.S. federal reserve note comes into being as debt. And there is always more debt then notes. So, begins a perpetual chase for notes so you can pay off YOUR debt. In this game, someone always loses, and the bank always wins.
Answer this, is there anything you do not because you need or want money, but because you actually like it? You don't need to motivate people to perform their talent or skill, people love to do that. Only when we are forced to do it or something else out of necessity does it become "work".
With technological advancement the painter won't need to know how to create paint, robots and computers will. And the painter will paint, because he loves too, and he is free to.
People like to do things, they just don't like spending their lives working for worthless paper so they can get by and someone else can go traveling and painting.
I know its hard to see from where we are now, but I don't just think its possible, I think its the only sustainable outcome for humanity.
People on welfare are capable of doing anything they would put their minds to.
99% of them do nothing more than become bigger couch potatoes.
I hope that more people will wake up and start doing what they really love to do. Find their vision; find their passion. Robert Kiyosaki talks about that all the time. Jim Roan too.
Walk Away from the 97%
I wish I could find this article on real money... a little town in europe issued their own local script, and in doing so had everyone housed, fed and employed. They got tons of public projects done and more. This is what happens when you have real money.
Real money is sustainable. It shows which endeavors are sustainable (they are profitable). It shows where the economy needs extra input (high prices).
It is not money you are railing against. It is currency.
In currency, there is never enough. Everyone is broke or is becoming broke. It siphons off productive labor. It produces malinvestments. It destroys everything it touches.
Do you have any statistics to back this claim up? I find it highly unbelievable. I know many unemployed people (being one myself) and no, we are definitely not inactive. I for one have real time issues keeping up the household, parenting two kids (with hobbies) and running a go club and other activities. Same goes with my friends, many of whom are actively finding jobs and/or education, filling their time with hobbies and whatnot.
I don't quite agree with that claim.
Not unemployed. Welfare queens (mostly).
And no, there is no statistics on this. The govern-cement actively buries any statistics on this. But you see it everywhere if you deal with section 8 housing.
Everyone fills up all of their time. It is only wasting time from an outside perspective or a higher perspective. Is my spending time on steemit helping my future potential or is it just wasting time?
I think there are deeper and more complex issues then people just being lazy and not wanting to do anything that results in them being "Welfare Queens" as you put it. Peoples true nature is to thrive, explore and create. If there are people that don't want any of that, I believe its a symptom of the way our societal system operates.