My Learnings: #70

The following ideas are primarily credited to Jeff Booth, as heard on various podcasts, with some additions from my own reflections.

The natural state of a free market is deflationary, driven by relentless competition: producers innovate to offer greater value and win customers, while consumers seek the best deals, collectively pushing prices downward. However, our credit-based system—where money is lent into existence with interest charged—cannot tolerate deflation. Collateral values would plummet, borrowers' wages would decline, and loans would become unpayable, rendering lenders insolvent if marked to market. Thus, a true free market would swiftly collapse this system, proving we've never operated in one.

Yet, the free market is an inexorable force, akin to a universal law in any life-bearing cosmos. Organisms compete fiercely for resources, reorganizing their environment for survival without treaties or agreements. No human construct, including our credit system, can withstand this primal dynamic indefinitely. The credit system must eventually yield, ushering in rapid transformation—a process that seems underway.

This clash explains the pervasive tensions we feel: companies face consumer-driven pricing pressures, while input costs, taxes, and living expenses only rise. Such imbalances can't persist forever. The solution I see is to exit the credit system and adopt a Bitcoin standard for yourself and your family—it's the only viable path forward that aligns with these realities, though I remain open to alternatives.