1/ The 19th century saw the greatest improvement in the lot of the average human that history has ever seen and perhaps will ever see.
It is no surprise that such momentous amelioration of the human condition occurred under a global hard money standard - the gold standard.
It is no surprise that such momentous amelioration of the human condition occurred under a global hard money standard - the gold standard.
2/ A hard money standard provides an economic framework that lowers time preference across all of society; all fields of endeavor are affected, from philosophy to science, engineering and the arts.
3/ While living standards have improved in the 20th and 21st centuries, we are riding the momentum of the tremendous discoveries and inventions of the past.
Said another way, while society's first derivative is increasing, the second derivative has turned negative.
Said another way, while society's first derivative is increasing, the second derivative has turned negative.
4/ The replacement of sound money with fiat slowly but inexorably shifts society's moral sentiment to short termism, consumerism and cultural decay.
The intellectual pillar of philosophy is altered first but this then affects the pursuit of science and eventually engineering.
The intellectual pillar of philosophy is altered first but this then affects the pursuit of science and eventually engineering.
5/ We can see this clearly among institutions of learning where political correctness and intellectual coddling are replacing the pursuit of truth and the striving for excellence.
6/ If our course is not corrected, the intellectual advances of science will dwindle and the technical benefits we can eek out from the discoveries of our forebears will dry up.
This path is not inevitable, however. Our fate is not set in stone.
This path is not inevitable, however. Our fate is not set in stone.
7/ If we recall how and where this started we can see that the abandonment of sound money was not a choice of the market but was imposed on society by the whims of a morally bankrupt elite backed by the force of arms.
Gold was not voluntarily handed over; it was confiscated.
Gold was not voluntarily handed over; it was confiscated.
8/ Today, through the ingenuity of Satoshi Nakamoto and the giants on whose shoulders he stood, such as @adam3us, Wei Dai and @NickSzabo4 (among many others), we have a nascent money that is resistant to the caprices of a pernicious elite. We have #Bitcoin.
9/ Each of us now has the opportunity to decide whether to keep the fruits of our labor in manner that preserves our sovereignty and incrementally shifts society toward greater savings, long term investment and the advancement of civilization.
10/ The market has not yet fully understood the profound implications of an easily transmittable, censorship resistant currency that cannot inflated because each of us individually have to come to this understanding.
11/ Those who have suffered the confiscation or debasement of their savings in banana republics have a visceral understanding of the importance of sound money that many in the West have yet to appreciate. In time, financial necessity will spread this knowledge to the West too.
12/ The great achievements and progress of the past are not lost to us. Each of us has a choice to make. I am only a single person and cannot alter the course of human affairs, but for my part, I choose sound money; I choose Bitcoin.
