Oddbean new post about login | logout What if there was no money? What if we did not work for money? What if we knew energy is abundant?
e=mc2 Meaning energy and matter are the same thing. If energy is abundant than so are goods (matter). Bitcoin ushers in the age of energy abundance, and so logically an abundance of goods follows from that. Prices denominated in BTC would drop to the marginal cost of production. Money is still necessary to facilitate trade, I don't see how that could be replaced or avoided.
💯 🙌🏼 And, as prices fall to the marginal cost of production, bitcoin replaces fiat, soon sats replace bitcoin, and eventually sats become irrelevant as we finally experience/know energy to be abundant/matter. The entire concept of money eventually disappears altogether as technology replaces labour and essentially drives prices down to free. Trade is just energy exchanges beyond money 🙌🏼 ✨
Interesting idea. In this world, wouldn't the owners of the machines want to be paid for the effort of maintaining and iterating them? I'm hesitant to think that all goods will become completely free, just most consumer goods become near free as the true state of a free market -which is deflationary- is allowed to manifest. But other -more luxurious- goods, like an artisan wrist watch or a scarce painting, will not be subject to this effect (of price dropping to the marginal cost of production). Therefore, the owners of the machines (or any other productive member of society) would want to get paid for their efforts, in order to acquire such goods. If they would forego the fruits of their labour "for the greater good", wouldn't they also forego the incentive to be productive at all?
Great questions! I can only share my current thought process which is evolving of course - but if Bitcoin imposes a true free market, and prices fall to the marginal cost of production, then technology frees us from our jobs and provides exponential purchasing power over time. Pushed one step further and we are free from money altogether because everything is essentially free (at the moment I believe Bitcoin's purpose is to break humanity's karmic cycle of fiat). Humans are creative creatures so we will continue to innovate, create, and provide value - but from a place of inner joy, intrinsic motivation, and flow. Since the idea of labour disappears, we are all entrepreneurs in our own ways. The exponential progress of technology is further compounding with self-creating tech (self-coding AI for example), self-maintenance, and self-innovation so I do not think there will be machine owners at a certain point. So what about luxury/unique/artisan goods? Now this is where things get a bit esoteric 🤭 I believe a fiat standard makes us into human doings, while a Bitcoin standard allows us to be human beings. With more time to connect with our true nature, we will enter into higher states of consciousness where we are detached from matter. We know everything to be abundant (in a much deeper sense than the intellectual meaning of knowing) - we know from direct experience that giving is receiving. I know this is the current world upside down, but I believe this is where Bitcoin is leading us (the 5D). But this is far down the road - we need a Bitcoin Standard first 😅