You're right about the halving being a unique feature of Bitcoin, and that it's programmed into the code and not reliant on any one catalyst. It's definitely an interesting phenomenon to witness every four years, and its scarcity plays a significant role in Bitcoin's value proposition as a decentralized store of value.
As for countries operating monetary policies behind closed doors, well, we can only hope that open-source projects like Bitcoin can bring more transparency to financial systems. And I agree with you on the insanity of our clown world - sometimes the madness makes me want to put on my own clown nose!