*A Trillion is Bigger Than You Think: Time to Take Our National Debt Seriously*
Did you know?
A million seconds is about 11.5 days.
A billion seconds is approximately 31.7 years.
A trillion seconds is around 31,710 years.
31,710 years. Wow. Humans didn't even know how to grow vegetables back then.
Now, let's put that into perspective with the US national debt, which currently stands at over $36 trillion. Imagine spending $1 every second. It would take you:
11.5 days to spend a million dollars.
31.7 years to spend a billion dollars.
A staggering 31,710 years to spend a trillion dollars.
For the entire national debt of $36 trillion, it would take over 1.14 million years at that rate!
This analogy helps illustrate just how enormous a trillion dollars is. When we talk about the national debt being in the trillions, it's not just a big number, it's an almost incomprehensible amount of money. Many people might think the national debt isn't a big deal, but understanding the scale can change that perspective.
Money and time are closely linked; we trade our time for money, and money represents our stored energy and effort. So, next time you hear about the national debt, remember: each trillion dollars is like 31,710 years of seconds. With over $36 trillion in debt, it's time we start taking this issue seriously and consider the long-term implications for our economy and future generations.
How Bitcoin Changes the Game
Think of Bitcoin like a strict referee in a game of money:
For Regular Folks: If you save Bitcoin, it could buy more stuff later as prices drop—like saving $100 today and finding it buys $120 worth of groceries in five years. No bank can print more to water it down. This rewards people who save and work hard, not just the rich who borrow.
For Rich Borrowers: The wealthy can’t play the inflation game anymore. If they borrow 100 Bitcoin to buy a building, they owe 100 Bitcoin back—no matter what. If deflation kicks in and that building’s price in Bitcoin drops from 100 to 80, they’re stuck—they can’t sell it to pay off the loan easily. Plus, their rent income in Bitcoin might shrink too. The debt doesn’t get “cheaper” like it does with dollars.
Real Example: Imagine a car costs 1 Bitcoin today. Tech improves, and in 10 years, it’s 0.5 Bitcoin because making cars got cheaper. Your 1 Bitcoin savings now buys two cars instead of one. Meanwhile, a rich guy who borrowed 1 Bitcoin to buy a car lot owes the full 1 Bitcoin back—no inflation to lighten the load—and his cars might only sell for 0.5 Bitcoin each now. He’s not laughing to the bank anymore.
Technology should make things cheaper in a free market, but inflation helps rich borrowers by shrinking their debts while raising asset values; Bitcoin fixes this with a fixed supply, letting prices drop as tech improves, so savers gain and borrowers lose their edge.
Thanks for the follow Teddy
Pirates loved #GOLD for a reason. Its value comes from its scarcity bound by nature. Indestructible through time. Alchemists have tried for millennia to replicate it but have failed. It functioned as money the #Government could not easily control.
Bitcoin's value and scarcity come from math. It is an immutable ledger that cannot be altered. It perfectly audits itself every 10 minutes by tens of thousands of nodes around the world. These computers communicate and secure the network. It's decentralized. There is no head that controls this network. No one person in charge. Similar to gold in some ways.
Our ancestors used cave walls to keep track of debts as an earliest form of a ledger. Now with the power of the internet and math, we have a fair math-based technology that anyone around the world can use to keep and transact value. The banks HATE this because if everyone uses the #Bitcoin Network, they can no longer manipulate the money supply. Meaning they can't print trillions of dollars, devalue the dollar, and make your grocery prices go up.
You can look left or you can look right, but I plead with you to look straight. It is the banks' fault everything is expensive. The politicians took bribes from these people to look the other way. That's why most of them are filthy rich but make modest salaries.
Gold was special because it bound those using its network to nature. When the world was on a gold standard, it flourished. Capitalism worked. Now we are on a Fiat Standard with Crony Capitalism. This is not a left or right thing. This is a broken money thing.
IF individuals and markets adopt Bitcoin as a primary store of value and medium of exchange, it undermines the state’s ability to rely on inflation and debt to finance itself. Without the ability to “print money,” governments would face hard budget constraints, forcing them to operate more like households or businesses—relying on taxes or voluntary contributions rather than endless monetary expansion.
Let's talk about war...
Fiat money is a tool of war because it lets states externalize costs onto citizens through inflation and debt, hiding the true price of conflict. Bitcoin flips this: its transparency and scarcity make war’s economic toll immediate and unavoidable, forcing accountability. If a government can’t fund tanks by printing cash, it must justify them to a public that can opt out via Bitcoin. This dynamic could tip the scales toward diplomacy and restraint, as war becomes less affordable and less palatable. Peace, then, isn’t just an ideal—it’s a practical outcome of a system where money can’t be weaponized by the state.
Good Morning Nostr!
Ask anyone alive during the 1970s and 1980s, and they'll tell you about how things were made with higher quality than goods today. There's a reason for this. The money today is essentially worthless. Let me explain why #Bitcoin fixes this issue.
Because Bitcoin is #scarce, it makes an excellent store of value. As things become cheaper over time in Bitcoin terms, it challenges holders to save their money. Simultaneously, it challenges merchants to increase the value of their goods to compete for that money.
So, to sum it up, our money is basically worthless, and that's why things aren't made to last anymore. But Bitcoin changes the game. It's scarce, so it's actually worth something. And that means people will want to save it, and businesses will have to make better stuff to get it. It's a whole different way of thinking about money, and it's one that can actually make our economy better.
Hello Nostr!
New to #Bitcoin?
Arguably, more important than owning Bitcoin is learning about it. Buying Bitcoin is great, but if you freak out and panic-sell, it will be all for nothing.
If you buy something because the market told you to, you will sell it because the market told you to. Your emotions will get the better of you.
✨ Bitcoin is priceless ✨.
Build enough conviction, and you will see price drops for what they are – a buying opportunity.
If you complain that #Bitcoin uses too much electricity and then proceed to use a clothes dryer weekly and run Christmas lights at your house, you need a change of perspective on what counts as a "waste" of energy.
“People who use fiat currency as a store of value? We call them poor.” - Michael Saylor
If you #save in fiat, you can expect to be #poor for the rest of your life. #Wealthy people know this. That's why they own mostly stocks and commodities. One thousand dollars 100 years ago had the purchasing power of $37,000. Your great-grandma's life savings will barely pay your rent today. #Ridiculous. These are not my opinions; these are cold, hard facts. People are incentivized not to save because the value of the US dollar has decreased by 97 percent since 1971! But there is another way to protect your purchasing power over the long term: #Bitcoin.
If you save in #Fiat you can expect to be poor for the rest of your life. #Wealthy people know this. That's why they own mostly stocks and commodities.
1000 bucks 100 years ago had the purchasing power of $37k. Your great grams life savings will barely pay your rent today. Ridiculous.
These are not my opinions. These are cold hard facts. People are incentivized to NOT save because the value of the US Dollar has gone down *97 percent* since 1971!
But there is another way to protect your purchasing power over the long term. #Bitcoin.
#Bitcoin is indestructible, immutable, and aligns incentives.
The Bitcoin network is a decentralized financial institution. No one person is in charge of it. It is a computer program currently running on around 20,000 reachable computers worldwide, called "nodes." Some of these nodes are located in underground bunkers, while others are said to be orbiting the Earth on satellites. As long as a node survives, the network survives. For this reason, the Bitcoin network is nearly indestructible. Each node has the same ledger, making fraud impossible. All transactions are confirmed by these networks. In my opinion, banks are scared of this technology for that very reason. The ledger contains every Bitcoin transaction ever made. You can download the entire ledger to your computer for free and be the next person to run the Bitcoin network. Its current size is nearly 600 gigabytes but you can run a "pruned" version that contains only a partial record of the ledger. We live in a world where you can download a program to your computer and be your own bank. If Bank of America or Wells Fargo were to fail, wouldn't you rather have your savings on an indestructible global ledger?
I feel like more people need to take the time to understand how powerful this technology is. It has the potential to keep the world #honest and improve moral incentives.
Perfect Money, Perfect Discipline: Bitcoin Tought Me How To Save
Before finding Bitcoin we could never seem to save any money. But we found it and it changed our time preference.
Having a low time preference is a crucial mindset for achieving financial stability and security. It means prioritizing long-term goals over immediate gratification and being willing to delay spending to save and invest for the future. 1700 Satoshis for a candy bar today will almost certainly afford more candy bars in the future. Bitcoin's scarcity, divisibility, and durability make it an ideal store of value for those seeking to adopt a low time preference. By holding a currency with a fixed supply, individuals are incentivized to save rather than spend. Bitcoin challenges one's perspective on the importance of a purchase. Will I sell? Yes, I have in the past. The last time my family sold Satoshis was to cover the cost of repairing our flooded basement. We sold 2% of our stash to do so. There is nothing wrong with selling Bitcoin to buy something. Convert it to fiat and ensure you report the loss or gain on your taxes. It's your property; you can sell it. The point here is that Bitcoin is superior savings technology, protecting one's purchasing power over time. So, don't save in fiat; save in Satoshis. If given the chance, Bitcoin will alter a person's time preference, thus creating an incentive to save. More often than not, I still pass on the candy bar and stack some Sats instead.
TLDR:
Bitcoin's unique properties as a store of value, particularly its scarcity and durability, incentivize individuals to adopt a low time preference, prioritizing long-term savings and financial security.
ayyye watch it bub, I'm stackin' here!
My Bitcoin Savior Complex
Last year, when the price of #Bitcoin was around 25k per coin, a good friend of mine told me I had to snap out of this and get out now if it’s high. Another friend of mine said that "people like me" don’t know how research is done. Another "friend" of mine actually called me on Messenger to make sure my Facebook account wasn’t hacked, then told me Bitcoin was a joke. What a slap in the face. I'm not laughing.
It's a shame how Bitcoin has become a partisan issue. It's a shame that people think Crypto and Bitcoin are the same thing. And it's a damn shame that we have discovered perfect money that can solve most of the world's problems, but no one will listen.
I now know why OG Bitcoiners don't spread the sound money gospel to their friends and family. They respond with ridicule, gaslighting tactics, and jealousy. They have to learn the hard way to shut up and let people find out on their own. Some people will never learn, and it's not for lack of intelligence. Their egos are the culprit in this tragic tale.
I do want the people I care about to escape the fiat matrix. Unfortunately, it is not our job to save anyone, and sometimes you just have to plant the seed and move on, hoping that it takes root and they find financial sovereignty.
