Really fascinating conversation. I agree completely that we’ve never seen a true global free market until BTC.

To be a little cynical, and Natalie poked at this a little in asking if we could overcome our nature to participate in a free market, do you two think that on average, we’re too stupid as a species to exercise agency in a way that makes a free market work? The conversation tended to bend toward greed, but I’m curious about how ignorance plays into this.

Great interview I just seen it

Fantastic discussion!

nostr:nevent1qqsg7pgh69dzzswwyj40nqw7kc77sduk2k6lk7653gzds3wtw4428vcpzamhxw309aex2mrp0yh8xmn0wf6zuum0vd5kzmqghhskf

This was awesome! Thank you!

I applaud Nat for approaching the question about capitalism, albeit from the direction of “let’s help them see we are right”.

The reason why Booth essentially says multiple times “capitalism the way I want it to be, is a theory “ is because capitalism doesn’t work. There is no free market AND capitalism. Capitalism NEEDS property rights, exploitation for profit, and law enforcement. Plain and simple.

So Nat is struggling to understand how to “teach” us capitalism and Booth is struggling TO teach us capitalism because it doesn’t fit into your “free market” views. And, that’s okay.

If you want to debate capitalism or the merits of other economic theories to find truth…talk to people who can articulate the cons of capitalism, as well as the pros. Adam Smith was very good at articulating both, as well as Joseph Schumpeter, Karl Marx, Lenin, and people alive today.

I’ll leave you with this Nat and something for you to listen to if you really are interested in meeting people where they are.

The problem with this argument is that it relies on a No True Scotsman fallacy. Every time capitalism’s outcomes are criticized, the response is that we do not live under true capitalism. The system that actually exists is always treated as an aberration rather than the logical result of capitalist incentives operating over time.

The bureaucratic monopolistic society you describe is not a corruption external to capitalism. It is capitalism doing exactly what it is structurally incentivized to do. Capitalism’s defining objective is not serving people. It is profit maximization. Selling something for more than it costs to produce. That incentive does not stop at the market boundary. Firms rationally seek to reduce competition, shape rules in their favor, raise barriers to entry, and externalize costs such as healthcare, labor, education and environmental damage.

When capital accumulates, the most efficient way to protect profit is no longer innovation. It is political influence.This is not socialism. It is regulatory capture, a phenomenon extensively documented in mainstream economics. Industries systematically capture regulators to serve profit and shareholder interests rather than the public. Public Choice Theory explains how private actors use the state to entrench economic advantage. Peer reviewed research has repeatedly linked market concentration to lobbying power and weakened competition and demonstrates that capital concentration naturally converts into political power unless it is actively countered.

The regulations you are pointing to are not anti capitalist constraints imposed from outside the system. They are capitalist behaviors expressed through the state. Capital does not invade government accidentally. It does so because it is profitable.

This is why food insecurity and healthcare failures exist inside wealthy capitalist nations. Healthcare markets optimize for revenue rather than outcomes as documented by the World Health Organization and the Commonwealth Fund. Food systems prioritize shareholder value resulting in both massive waste and widespread hunger. Market choice disappears when industries consolidate, something the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice openly acknowledge has accelerated.

Saying real capitalism would wipe out big business ignores history. Unregulated capitalism has never remained competitive for long. It tends toward monopoly because scale, capital accumulation, and political leverage are competitive advantages. If capitalism were self correcting, it would not require perpetual bailouts, repeated antitrust interventions, or constant state support to prevent collapse. The fact that it does is evidence that the outcomes being criticized are not a deviation from capitalism but its mature form. Capitalism concentrated wealth beyond our imaginations. We live in a post scarcity environment where victims of capitalism and socio economic factors alike keep hundreds of millions unhoused, hungry and sick while the capitalist owners, that by nature produce nothing (proof of work) and only extract value through rent seeking behaviors, enjoy socialist benefits provided by and extracted from the workers that produce all of the things of value that we use. It’s become very common for the capitalist to rage against socialism while they enjoy all of our socialist benefits and initiatives while insisting that the rest of society must stick to raw unfettered capitalism. It’s also very common now for uneducated and ill informed workers to defend capitalism and vote against their own self interest as well. Capitalism only favors those who have breached a certain threshold of accumulation which is only achieved and made possible through extortion of the worker.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scene-on-radio/id1036276968

👏

Yay! Nostr native 1 hour plus podcasts! Now that’s the spirit! 🚀

Love These Interviews 💥💪

nostr:nprofile1qyx8wumn8ghj7cnjvghxjmcpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqqg8de5s9trchmxfj0kzpu3vzlxcqvvc6csqssph05qsw7r2qq78xmgtpplrn , FYI: Most of the questions you asked have been thoroughly explored by Ayn Rand (in the 1960-70s so lacking Bitcoin context of course). nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcqpqs05p3ha7en49dv8429tkk07nnfa9pcwczkf5x5qrdraqshxdje9sgew2ua does a great job at bridging these ideas to the modern world but a study of the philosophical roots can help to really grasp the fundamentals.

Here's a quick non-exhaustive list of references for you to check out if you want to go deeper on the topics:

QUICK REFERENCE LIST:

INFLATION, RESONANCE & DEFLATION (Q1, Q6)

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1. Inflation - Its Cause and Cure (Ayn Rand Letter, Vol III No 10, 1974)

Excerpts: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/inflation.html

Full: https://estore.aynrand.org/the-ayn-rand-letter-vol-iii-nos-1-12-1974.html

2. Let Us Shrug Off the Myth of Inflation (Ayn Rand Letter, 1974)

Excerpts: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/inflation.html

Full: https://estore.aynrand.org/the-ayn-rand-letter-vol-iii-nos-1-12-1974.html

WHAT IS CAPITALISM? MISCONCEPTIONS (Q2)

--------------------------------------

1. What Is Capitalism? (Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Ch 1, 1966)

Excerpts: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/capitalism.html

Full book: https://aynrand.org/novels/capitalism-the-unknown-ideal/

REGULATION, GREED & CORPORATE HARM (Q3,Q4,Q7)

---------------------------------------------

1. The Anatomy of the State (Ayn Rand Column, 1973)

Full essay: https://ari.aynrand.org/issues/government-and-business/the-anatomy-of-the-state/

Context: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/statism.html

2. America's Persecuted Minority: Big Business (Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Ch 2, 1966)

Excerpts: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/businessmen.html

Full book: https://aynrand.org/novels/capitalism-the-unknown-ideal/

3. The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus (Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Appendix, 1966)

Excerpts: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/fascism.html

Full book: https://aynrand.org/novels/capitalism-the-unknown-ideal/

4. The Nature of Government (Virtue of Selfishness, Ch 1, 1964)

Full essay: https://ari.aynrand.org/issues/government-and-business/the-nature-of-government/

Lexicon: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/government.html

DECLINING QUALITY & CORPORATE BLAME (Q5)

----------------------------------------

1. The Moratorium on Brains (A Nation's Unity / Ayn Rand Column, 1963)

Full essay: https://ari.aynrand.org/issues/culture-and-society/the-moratorium-on-brains/

Context: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/intellectuals.html

SELF-INTEREST, PROFITS & MARKETS (Q6)

-------------------------------------

1. The Virtue of Selfishness (title essay, Virtue of Selfishness, 1964)

Excerpts: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/self-interest.html

Full book: https://aynrand.org/novels/the-virtue-of-selfishness/

MONOPOLIES & PATENTS (Q8)

-------------------------

1. Patents and Copyrights (Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Appendix, 1966)

Full essay: https://ari.aynrand.org/issues/intellectual-property/patents-and-copyrights/

Lexicon: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/patents_and_copyrights.html

https://www.aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/monopoly.html

WEALTH CONCENTRATION & MONEY (Q9,Q10)

-------------------------------------

1. The Roots of Money (Ayn Rand Letter, Vol I No 23, 1972)

Excerpts: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/money.html

Full: https://estore.aynrand.org/the-ayn-rand-letter-vol-i-nos-13-26-1971-72.html

2. Don't Let It Go (Voice of Reason, 1989 posthumous, orig 1970s)

Excerpts: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/america.html

Full book: https://aynrand.org/novels/the-voice-of-reason/

UBI, WELFARE & MINIMAL GOV (Q11,Q12)

------------------------------------

1. The Question of Scholarships (Ayn Rand Letter, Vol I No 3, 1971)

Full essay: https://ari.aynrand.org/issues/education/the-question-of-scholarships/

Context: https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/scholarships.html

Will listen! Can’t wait!

Incredible conversation by nostr:nprofile1qqsg86qcm7lve6jkkr64z4mt8lfe57jsu8vpty6r2qpk37sgtnxevjcpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqguwaehxw309ahx7um5wghxy6t5vdhkjmn9wgh8xmmrd9skc7h9jv0 & nostr:nprofile1qqswmnfq2k830kvnylvyrezc97dsqce343qppqrwlgpqaux5qpuwdkspr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ez6un9d3shjtnhd3m8xtnnwpskxegpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuum5dahx2u3wvdhk6dkjq69 here, almost enough to seed a political movement. 2028 candidates should be tying the importance of fostering a free market to democracy itself, as this is the best expression of agency we have. It’s on you, not your leaders 🤙

The difficulty here is that we have yet to see what a free market really looks like so we can’t point to its benefits, which means these ideas will be seen as speculative/untested— but highly aspirational, highly speculative messages can dominate elections in key times of economic trouble (like now)

nostr:nevent1qqsg7pgh69dzzswwyj40nqw7kc77sduk2k6lk7653gzds3wtw4428vcpzamhxw309aex2mrp0yh8xmn0wf6zuum0vd5kzmqghhskf

yes, it is hard to understand "new world" if you were lived only in "old"

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpmwdyp2c797ejvnass0ytqhekqrrxxkyqyyqdmaqyrhs6sq83ek6qqsg7pgh69dzzswwyj40nqw7kc77sduk2k6lk7653gzds3wtw4428vcg72395

Great show! Thanks nostr:nprofile1qqswmnfq2k830kvnylvyrezc97dsqce343qppqrwlgpqaux5qpuwdkspp3mhxue69uhkyunz9e5k7qg4waehxw309ajkgetw9ehx7um5wghxcctwvsgp2pcv

This. Is. Excellent! 🔥 Highly recommended! The whole podcast is very good, but the best part is between 54:40 and 1:13:38. Well done npub1ahxjq4v0zlvexf7cg8j9stumqp3nrtzqzzqxa7szpmcdgqrcumdq0h5ech and npub1s05p3ha7en49dv8429tkk07nnfa9pcwczkf5x5qrdraqshxdje9sq6eyhe! Super excited to see this Natalie 2.0, who is clearly about to embrace the idea of Bitcoin as a protocol. #bitcoin #btc #deflation #inflation #capitalism

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpmwdyp2c797ejvnass0ytqhekqrrxxkyqyyqdmaqyrhs6sq83ek6qqsg7pgh69dzzswwyj40nqw7kc77sduk2k6lk7653gzds3wtw4428vcg72395

Excellent! Thank you!