Yeah 100%. Social safety net is so so important
Discussion
I don’t think its correct to say “Austrians never consider these people”. Hayek immediately comes to mind in his writings about philanthropy. In my opinion people would be much more charitable if they felt financially stable and not worrying as much about an economic disaster, which I believe is at least partially solved by Austrian economics.
Exactly. There's a difference between not considering such people and not wanting government to reduce everyone else to the lowest common denominator. That's what usually happens with "social safety net" thinking and policies.
Bitcoin won't fix every problem directly, but it certainly will indirectly solve most of them by promoting abundance.
Well in what I’ve heard in various podcasts with Austrians and various libertarians I can’t think of any where they’ve discussed these issues.
I do remember Saifedean Ammoys saying he never donates to charity though…
I would think a lot of libertarians and Austrians feel as though they are already taxed, which is meant to provide the “social safety net”. I think we can agree based on the story that sparked this conversation, that safety net often fails. But we cannot opt out of paying those taxes which go to failed/failing welfare efforts. If you return economic freedom, I think the majority of all people regardless of political or economic beliefs want to help their fellow human.
The only social safety net I've ever seen work is a local community. Whether that's family, close friends, church, or a village, beyond that people are to far away or to occupied to care. Returning purchasing power to the individual communities will do more to heal the world than all the big charities in the world combined.
You're an absolute legend Joe bringing light to what bitcoin could do, not simply what it's doing today.