Debated with a normie friend. It's sad how misguided they can be. He's fallen into the same trap set by the media, in which all crypto is a scam, and by association so too #Bitcoin
But in this instance, we were discussing how things cost more today and why. He claimed things cost more today, then for example in the 70s, not because of enshitification through "planned obsolescence" or greed, but due to increased technological innovations and lack of a labor force. I replied with the following:
"You'll want to read up on the debasement of currency and how that has had direct implications associated with more dollars per item as a result.
The book outlined in this link is a great read and this article briefly describes the history of it, at least in the context of the US, but such debasement isn't limited to only one country. We've seen it in almost all (remember the trillion dollar note that Zimbabwe once had?). Things didn't cost more in Zimbabwe, as a rudimentary example, because of advancement in technology, labor, etc. Things cost more in that poor country because of continual lowering of purchasing power.
People in Western countries are simply less observably aware of the negative effects of it. It's mostly been a silent assault, like a thief in the night. Although, the past few years sure has opened the eyes to some, as literally all commodities cost more. Despite the ridiculous claim that the current state of affairs is still a knock-on from the pandemic, but in no way associated to the printing of trillions to continue inflating the debt..."
I am trying to stay hopeful that we can still get through to these people and show them the wool pulled over their eyes.
