Hey adiggs, thanks for the inquisitive post!
Fair warning, I have done thousands of hours in the "What is Money" rabbit hole. And to be honest, a TL
R would still be too long for this forum. The biggest problem, right at the beginning, is there's no real way to Cliffs Notes this subject.
Everyone should want to know what money really is, and how it works, since very few of us were taught it in school. You have to be willing to dedicate some time, invest in yourself, to raise your own knowledge level on this particular subject.
I'm happy to share some resources that I know, but I've only scratched the surface. Like you, I don't have a degree in any of this. I just may have a little head start from where you are. But I encourage everyone to get started.
If I can get people to start doing their own research on this, form their own opinions and really learn why the fiat system is rigged against 99% of us, I've done my part.
Here's a short beginners guide to what is money:
What is "Fiat money", where does it come from, and why do we use it?:
Here's an article that helps explain
The Cantillon Effect, which is basically what happens when the gov gets involved.
In this guide, we examine the Cantillon Effect, answering the question: 'How does Bitcoin act as a counter to uneven inflationary impacts? '
www.swanbitcoin.com
Here are a few guides explaining basic concepts. Forgive me if you already know these, but someone else reading this may not.:
The above articles should give you a good push down the rabbit hole. Cool thing is, everyone goes their own way. There's no wrong way to go. As long as you don't just read headlines or only follow one group. Learn both sides of any idea. You may very well come to different conclusions than I do, and that is perfectly okay.
I like your smartphone/washing machine analogy. You could throw TV's in that as well. They are the most basic examples of how technology has made things better and yet less expensive over time (considering inflation, and what you get for what you pay).
Not all products are going to be as easy to show the same concept, but in general, pretty much all manufactured things should follow a form of this pattern. Which means, tech should make things deflationary over time.
So why is it that so many other things become inflationary? It has very little to do with those specific products, and much more to do with how the money is manipulated.
Here's an article about the difference between soft and hard money:
I see what you're saying about the currency connectivity to the workforce. And you may be right way down the road.
I think before that could happen, there will be a shift in how the workforce works.
For example, during the industrial age, there was a major shift of the workforce away from rural farming toward more urban manufacturing. Similarly, the Digital age of the late 80's and 90's, there was a shift necessitated by more jobs needed in tech.
But the difference was the industrial age didn't require humanity to evolve that much since manual labor on farms isn't much different than manual labor on an assembly line. The digital age required a much bigger jump in our evolution from a brain function standpoint.
I'm a Gen X'er, the "bridge the gap" generation. We didn't grow up with computers, the internet, or cell phones. But we were young enough that when those came along, we were able to learn them and adapt/evolve. The generational gaps between our parents and our kids are the widest of any in history (IMO) for this reason. And I feel at the rate of tech advancement, each generation gap moving forward could get shorter and shorter because the changes come so much faster, and people are living longer. But the tech is out-pacing our own brain's ability to evolve. In fact, it could be argued that so much tech advancement has caused us to devolve as a species. (ever watched the movie
Idiocracy?)
So the question is, can we, as a species, evolve enough where we start valuing the highly mental/brain-centric jobs fast enough where the next generation knows that manual labor jobs will be disappearing to robots. So the new jobs that are created/available to humans are intellectual in nature.
I'm a big fan of Darwin's philosophies. And we are not evolving the way we need to if we want to last on this planet. We are absolutely on the path to extinct ourselves.
I like your thinking regarding people finding meaning through art and the like once they don't have to work.
Let me give some historical precedent.
Back in the 13th century, barely out of the Dark Ages, there was an area of what is now Italy called the Republic of Florence.
And for an unprecedented roughly 300 years, this area and most of the surrounding areas of now Europe, used a particular form of money called the
Florin (
Florin - Wikipedia).
The significance of this money is that unlike any other form of money to that point, and really still, during that ~300 year span, it was practically
unchanged.
And because it remained unchanged for so long, the stability it gave allowed that region to prosper like no other could. To the point, where their economy grew so much that they didn't need to worry about where their next meal was coming from. They could save, build, and develop the region. Over time, they got to the point where they could actually have "leisure" time.
And as the economy continued to grow, more and more activities could be done because of the freedom their stable money gave them.
In fact, when you look at the timing of this stable Florin, it can be directly linked to the birth of the Renaissance Age. There would have been no other way that so many people would have the time freedom to be so creative if they had to worry about money.
But like all forms of money, eventually a new ruler in the area started to manipulate the Florin, and predictably it failed.
The Florin's run as the soundest form of money has yet to be passed. The Argentine peso, the Portugal real, the British pound, and today the US dollar, have all had a good run, but none went as long as the Florin without manipulation. And the results speak for themselves.
We need a sound money again. That's why I'm so excited about Bitcoin. Because it was created solely for the purpose of being tamper proof, and accessible to all humans.
