The most primitive storage need of humans, similar to squirrels storing pine cones for winter, is an instinctual response to future problems. This instinctual behavior does not require humans to possess such advanced thinking systems in their brains. Squirrels and many other animals can also anticipate the future.
The existence of this anticipation is not due to future uncertainty but rather future certainty. Winter will definitely come, food will become scarce, and I will still be alive. If any of these three points were not true, there would be no need to store food today.
If I can foresee future problems that are certain to occur, such as losing income due to an economic downturn or losing the ability to work due to old age, but I have confidence in solving these problems, such as having a robust social security system to support me through difficult times, then I would not be inclined to save as much.
If I have no way of predicting what the future holds, such as during times of war when my family could be wiped out by gunfire tomorrow, then I would also not engage in saving.
The strong desire for savings arises from the confidence that lies between optimism and pessimism. Optimistic enough to believe that I will still be alive (or at least my genes will exist in another body), and pessimistic enough to think that I might not survive (or not be able to maintain my current standard of living).
However, saving money, unlike storing food, has a significant difference. Although both stem from the same instinct, they have distinct characteristics. In this article, we use the term “money” to refer to the nature of storing value and the term “currency” to refer to the nature of a medium of exchange. Correspondingly, “money” can be translated as “money” in English, while “currency” can be translated as “currency.”
By inventing money as a medium of value, humans have successfully deceived themselves.
Let’s imagine I am a squirrel. It is autumn in the year 2023, and I am preparing to store 1,000 pine cones to survive the upcoming winter.
If money does not exist, my approach would be to gather 1,000 pine cones and store them safely in a tree hollow to gradually consume during winter, ensuring my survival until spring 2024.
What if money does exist? Let’s assume the squirrels of the squirrel kingdom have reached a consensus and selected shiny gold as their currency. They have cut the gold into standardized small gold blocks as a unit of pricing. One small gold block is called one dollar.
In the autumn of 2023, the market price for ten pine cones is one dollar. The price for 1,000 pine cones is 100 dollars.
I collect pine cones diligently during this golden autumn and finally gather 1,000 pine cones, which I sell in the market for 100 dollars. Then I store the 100 gold blocks in my tree hollow.
Winter arrives as expected. I take my 100 dollars to the market, only to find that there are no pine cones available for purchase.
The squirrel that saved money, perishes.
Clearly, saving money is not equivalent to storing food.
By replacing the storage of food with the act of saving money, we require a higher level of optimism. We need to believe that other individuals have enough surplus goods for exchange. In other words, we not only have confidence in our own survival in the future but also have confidence in the survival of others. Furthermore, we need to believe that others are not just surviving but are living well—at least well enough to have surplus goods for exchange.
An extreme egoist or a fiercely competitive individual who would harm everyone else—if they were to truly embrace their logic—would not save money because they should not hope or expect anyone else, aside from themselves, to survive and live well.
In other words, a money-driven, money-obsessed egoist is inherently inconsistent and suffers from a split personality because the only way their hoarded money can be of any use is if others are living well and producing a surplus that they do not need. (Perhaps this also explains why the incidence of mental illness in modern society is reportedly so high, reaching more than 10%?)
In fact, saving money is fundamentally different from storing food.
If we freeze today’s bread and consume it on March 7th next year, this is standard food storage.
However, if we earn 100 dollars on July 3rd this year and spend it on March 7th next year, what we buy will undoubtedly be freshly baked bread from March 7th, not the bread we baked and stored in the freezer on July 3rd.
Storing food preserves its utility value. Saving money preserves only its exchange value.
Similarly, the notion of preserving exchange value in economics is also misleading. If there comes a day when the utility value cannot be reproduced by others in the future, the preserved exchange value (money) cannot be converted back into utility value (bread).
In reality, the so-called preservation of exchange value is merely a quantification of human altruism: today, I am willing to dedicate additional labor beyond what is necessary to satisfy my own needs to fulfill the needs of others. I do so with the expectation that, one day in the future, when I lose the conditions or ability to work, others will dedicate additional labor to meet my needs, allowing me to continue living the life I desire without immediate demise.
It is evident that exchange value and the emergence of money and currency occur only when productivity exceeds the level of self-sufficiency and generates surplus. This surplus enables the creation of exchange value and the emergence of money and currency.
As productivity continues to advance, the standard for detaching oneself from labor can transition from losing labor conditions or labor capacity to losing labor necessity. We refer to this as “retirement” or “financial freedom.”
Why are humans willing to dedicate excessive labor for altruism and mutual assistance? It is not because humans are highly capable. On the contrary, it is because humans are individually incompetent.
Imagine if John possesses superhuman abilities and can handle everything without the help of any other humans. In that case, John would have no need to acquire (human) money and savings to exchange for assistance. Moreover, he would not care about the life or death of others—just as he does not care about the life or death of ants.
It is precisely because John, you, me, and every individual are so incapable that we cannot even eat a meal or wear clothes without relying on the efforts of others. Without the assistance of others, we would be unable to survive. Therefore, each person needs altruism and must dedicate labor beyond what is necessary to maintain the functioning and continuation of human society.
However, humans tend to recognize their self-interest while overlooking their altruistic nature. If I give my bread to John on July 3rd, and on March 7th next year when I am hungry, I expect Li to give me a loaf of bread, Li would firmly refuse. Li only recognizes his own self-interest. Giving me a loaf of bread for no reason contradicts Li’s self-interest.
Thus, I need to employ a deception. I offer Li something of no utility value in exchange for the bread he holds. This something is currency.
Currency combines self-interest and greed, giving rise to altruism and mutual assistance as a miraculous catalyst. Its catalytic principle is to induce excessive labor and produce surplus goods.
This system of cooperation based on money and currency is powerful, but it has two bugsTranslation:
The first bug lies in the aspect of excessive labor. When humans engage in extensive division of labor, it becomes impossible for us to determine the boundary between necessary and excessive labor. This creates an opportunity for cunning individuals to monopolize these surplus products. Thus, capitalism emerged.
The essence of capitalism is to create surplus products through the stimulation of excessive labor using money and then allow a small group of people to possess these surplus products.
To this day, humanity still does not know how to fix this bug without eliminating the motivation for excessive labor and hindering the production of more surplus products. Many attempts to address the issue of wealth concentration end up eliminating excessive labor as well, resulting in a regression of productivity.
The second bug lies in the creation of money or currency. If anyone, whether it is an individual, a group, or all people, can create money without any constraints or with artificial constraints that are not based on natural, intrinsic factors, it may lead to hidden exploitation. This is because creating exchange value out of thin air will inevitably diminish the exchange value of existing currency.
As long as the creation of money is not subject to absolute constraints beyond human will, it can be considered “arbitrary”—following the will of certain individuals. Those who provide the artificial constraints also possess their own will, and the creation of money is guided by these constraints. Though it may have nominal limitations, it is still a form of “arbitrary” creation.
The U.S. dollar is an example of a currency that is subject to “arbitrary” creation. Its constraint is the debt ceiling imposed by a group of people representing Americans in Congress. Compared to the world’s population of 7 billion, this is a typical case where a few individuals provide artificial constraints that determine the creation of currency. Hence, the creation of the U.S. dollar can be considered arbitrary, following the will of the American people.
Of course, the top-level governance structure of the United States is relatively responsible. Responsible in a sense that they ensure Americans have enough to eat while others can have a share of the benefits.
Keynes was undoubtedly a genius. Keynes proposed using the second bug to solve the first bug. This is the legendary “fighting fire with fire” strategy.
However, in this world, only the United States has the ability to control and effectively utilize the second bug. In the face of deep-rooted global economic crises, the United States, with control over the printing of dollars, possesses unparalleled capability to implement Keynes’ “fighting fire with fire” treatment and rescue itself from an imminent collapse.
This is the incredible and unimaginable Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)—printing money to save the economy. Essentially, MMT involves exploiting everyone (globally) to save everyone (Americans and their allies).
This brings to mind what Hobbes, the author of “Leviathan,” said: “War of all against all” (although he wasn’t referring to this matter).
A pacifist is unwilling to use one poison to cure another. Instead, they propose using the method of radical reform.
By removing the bone of currency over-issuance, the poison of economic bugs can be cured.
They invented Bitcoin, which relies solely on natural rules (such as Proof of Work) to constrain and regulate its creation. It cannot be arbitrarily over-issued, and its total supply is fixed.
This person is Satoshi Nakamoto.
For all of humanity to save and assist each other better, we need better tools—tools that are not manipulated by third parties, even if those parties are skillful and adept, like Federal Reserve Chairman Powell—tools that can better cope with future changes.
The essence of hoarding Bitcoin lies in this fundamental significance.
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