While we’re awaiting the collapse of the dollar, let’s have a look at the collapse of crypto – aptly named because it’s so difficult to understand, the almost-axiomatic clue that a scam’s afoot.
The value of a Bitcoin has melted away like a mid-May frost. In fact, it has almost no value left anymore – relative to the value it had just a couple of weeks ago. The crash was on par with that of the Stock Market in 1929 and probably for the same or very similar reasons.
Both being the result of speculation and other variants of flim-flammery.
The actual value of Bitcoin was . . . what, exactly?
Here we had – in a purely abstract sense – a unit of money without physical existence, based on a fictitious “coin” that was divvied up into obscure denominations – e.g., “.00000345 Bitcoin” – whose value derived from the willingness of people to accept that it had value. People were told that, unlike the physical (and digital) money printed (or conjured) at will – i.e., dollars – the value of these Bitcoins was secure from inflation – that is, from devaluation – because the supply of them was strictly limited.
Supposedly, by “miners” who had a self-interest in ensuring too many weren’t “mined” – though in fact no one ever “mined” anything, in the way that word is generally understood. Nothing was dug up out of the earth, refined and minted. Various calculations – or some such – were performed.
It was all very . . . cryptic.
Now it’s pretty clear.
I had a small amount of Bitcoin – about $230 in dollar-equivalent. Well, I had it – about ten days ago. Now I have about $65. Where did the $165 in value I had about ten days ago go? Not even up in smoke.
It just disappeared.
For others – who had put more of their dollars into Bitcoins – the last couple of weeks have been catastrophic. They have lost thousands of dollar-equivalents. Some perhaps tens of thousands. If you didn’t put any dollars into Bitcoin, pat yourself on the back for not being tempted to do so. It was easy to give in to the temptation for the past several years, as the value of Bitcoin seemed to be on the rise and without end. Some people made a lot of dollars – if they converted them into dollars before Bitcoin crashed.
The same as back in ’29. The same as always – when doing an autopsy on a scam.
The initial buyers-in often make book; this encourages more to buy in. A frenzy of speculation ensues, driving the value of whatever it is even higher. It can be stocks in fundamentally worthless companies – e.g., the “dot.com bubble” of the early 2000s – or it can be houses whose value has been temporarily inflated far beyond what the market can bear, resulting in an inevitable crash of those ephemeral values.
Bitcoin is probably fundamentally no different. Its value – well, its former value – seems to have been purely a function of the perception that it was valuable. So long as more and more people believed it was so, the putative value of Bitcoin waxed, just as the putative value of a $500,000 1,300 square-foot house outside DC that was worth $230,000 in ’98 suddenly was by circa 2003.
But then came 2004 and – just like that – it was no more. That $500,000 house was suddenly worth $350,000 and perhaps not even that much. But at least it was still worth that – because it was, after all, still a house. It had value, as a house. Just not as much value as speculators and their dupes had added into the mix.
Bitcoin’s collapse is much worse than that because there is no value underlying it – beyond that people which people are willing to believe it has. Which it no longer has. Or at least, which it has very little of, remaining. You cannot eat a Bitcoin or live in it. It has no intrinsic value – or uses, as gold and silver have. You can’t even hold one in your hand, as you can a dollar – which also has intrinsic uses, even if all of its value as money is vitiated. It can still be used as wallpaper, for instance.
Or in the bathroom, for something else.
Of what use is a digital image, a pie-chart representation of a decimal point slice thereof on your computer screen? Can you do anything with it? Once other people are no longer willing to believe those digital representations have value, that is?
The same can and probably will happen to dollars, too. But – so far – the buying power of a dollar has only been devalued by about 15 percent, via the creation, out of thin air (and keystroke) of new dollars.
This makes a dollar look sound – relative to a Bitcoin.
But the latter does have some value – as a warning. “Money” that has no value beyond the willingness of people to believe it does is inherently dangerous. “Money” that can be devalued by the simple act of conjuring more of it into existence is worse. Dollars and Bitcoin share both flaws.
And Bitcoin has a further flaw – though it may not be regarded as such by those who’ve been touting it as the digital alternative to physical dollars. The former can be monitored, recorded and controlled in ways that are much less easy with physical currency, which can be exchanged anonymously. Bitcoin touters will claim that “blockchains” and “wallets” make Bitcoin untraceable. The fact that no one can clearly explain how makes this suspect. The fact that everything else that’s online is known makes believing Bitcoin doings aren’t seem naive, at best.
But we do know that Bitcoin isn’t worth much, all of a sudden.
Was it ever worth more than people’s willingness to believe it was worth anything?
. . .
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Bitcoin is down to $21K now……
Hi Nunz,
Bitcoin has almost reached it actual value… zero!
I thought it had value because of all those “miners” doing all that “work” “mining” it….?
Hi Eric.
Bitcoin at this point is around $21,700. That’s rather far from zero. 🙂 I’ve got a few from the early days. It has FAR out preformed my gold and silver. 🙂 As I’ve mentioned, I’m more interested in the technical aspects of it. Also its social/economic/political implications.
Looking at our current situation with rampaging inflation eating away most peoples wealth,
whats fiat backed by? Ah, that’s right; “the full faith and credit of the US government”. In other words, the gang of thieves and murderers back it with their tax farm. Aided and abetted by the Usual Suspects central bank. With a debt that’s well over $30 trillion (not counting unfunded liabilities) its never going to be paid. But each time the Fed jacks up interest rates, the service on that debt grows ever larger.
I’d personally rather deal with a distributed, decentralized system. Sound money just doesn’t generate enough vig for the Usual Suspects. Given that they control so much of the worlds power systems, I’d not hold my breath waiting for sound money to make a come back.
Whats going to be fascinating is what happens, when Russia, China, India and their allies form their own trading block, and start sanctioning the Empire and its useful idiots in Europe and elsewhere. Its going to take years to re shore those critical industries, that the globalists sent to China and other places. Hell, we can’t even replace mission critical parts of our power grid, or just about anything else. Its all made in China. Couple that with the Greenies and their attack on our energy systems, and we have a bit more to be concerned about than the price of bitcoin.
Hi BJ,
I don’t take issue with any of your criticisms of fiat currency. But I regard digital “money” as even worse because it is digital. This business of habituating people to using digital is catastrophic insofar as financial privacy and thus to our ability to control our money. This alone is reason to shun crypto. Another reason is that we do not physically control it. That means it is not under our control, in the way that a piece of physical currency is – even if it is fiat.
Also, I suspect crypto is far from “decentralized.” I believe it is the mechanism for establishing a form of centralized “money” such as has never before existed in human history. I believe it is like “social media” and not organic, an outgrowth of Just Folks but rather of the same apparat that gave us Facebook and Twitter.
Finally – as I have said previously – I do not have faith in “money” whose source of value is opaque and which almost no one seems able to understand or (so far as I have been able to determine) to coherently explain. At least fiat can be explained and understood by most people of average intelligence.
I do understand that it is a speculative mechanism, because that’s what people do when they invest in it. One doesn’t invest in money; one uses it as a medium of exchange and a store of value. This “investing” business is a clue to crypto’s fundamental nature.
Hi Eric.
I totally agree with aspects of your position. I’m all for a system of sound money. I also have no faith in either fiat or digital. I can also see the horrific potential danger of digital programmable, centralized systems. Not to mention the danger of ever more centralized power.
That having been said, I also see the potential for a series of distributed decentralized systems. It has been said that knowledge is power. I’d amend that to say knowledge is an aspect of power.
Power has three basic aspects. Its base is physical. That is the most brutal, obvious aspect of power. One sees that in the clubs/spears/swords/guns of the ruling gangs enforcers.
Above that is wealth. Wealth allows one to hire the services of the enforcers, and to properly equip them.
Above that is knowledge. Remember the OLD saying; “Good soldiers can always get you gold. But gold can’t always get you good soldiers”? Simply having wealth isn’t enough. You have to understand how to use it effectively. This ties in to the many reasons that the Empire has lost every war its been in since WWII.
How does this tie into distributed, decentralized systems? Look at the common elements that have resulted in the Empires losses. Lind has laid out in precise detail why they have lost, and will continue to lose.
If you combine Lind’s teachings with knowledge of cryptology, distributed network theory, mesh networks and insights from some of Tesla’s original work, you start to get an idea of the potential for a much better way forward. That is why I’m still hopeful, even in the face of the merchants of despair howling that all is lost.
By the way, you may find this of interest for the Crusade.
https://brownstone.org/articles/more-bad-news-for-the-mask-cult/
Bitcoin is a better option than fiat money, said Mexico’s third richest man, Ricardo Salinas, in an interview. Bitcoin, Salinas said, is unseizable (this is very important there will probably be a bailin soon, they will confiscate your bank account and every other asset), and bitcoin can be transferred instantly worldwide, contrary to fiat and the gold standard.
Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer nature makes the digital currency much harder to be banned or controlled as transferring value through the network doesn’t involve an intermediary that could be subpoenaed by the government.
This property, paired with its supply limit of 21 million coins, enables bitcoin holders to preserve wealth for the long term in a more sovereign way than what is possible with fiat currencies or even gold.
“Everything we have in fiat is 100% seizable by the government,” Salinas added. “It’s not in the government’s interest to make it easy for people to use bitcoin.”
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/mexican-billionaire-says-bitcoin-is-a-better-option-than-fiat-money
Hi Anon,
This assertion that Bitcoin is not seizable make no sense to me as Bitcoin is online and digital. All digital money is inherently seizable by the people who control the Internet – who aren’t us. And even leaving that aside, what good is a currency you cannot use to buy things with? Only a few retailers accept Bitcoin and once/if the government decrees such acceptance/transactions illegal, they no longer will. Bitcoin is fundamentally a speculative thing; a means by which some make more (or less) Bitcoin. It’s not that different in this aspect than “investing” in a multilevel marketing scheme.
Gold and silver would have to be physically seized – a far more difficult thing to do. People also readily accept either as money – because they are.
Eric, just because something is digital doesn’t always mean it can be seized. This is a very complex subject, that deals with many over lapping domains of knowledge and power. There are various “layers” of the internet. Some of those can’t even be discovered, if you don’t have the proper encrypted key/token/app. Think of it as different “layers” of access.
The data ocean is so gigantic that even our “buddies” at No Such Agency are drowning in it. That is why they are so desperate to get more advanced AI search systems. Spying on a planetary population generates an insane amount of data.
“Control” of the internet is also much more complicated than most people imagine. Certainly the Empire, and the other mega gangs of thieves and murderers (which is all governments are) can seize anything physical that’s in their power, or that of their vassals. But to do that they have to know where it is. There are quite a number of ways of making that difficult. Keep in mind that the vast majority of those working for the gangs are there for the pay check. Not to mention the impact that diversity hires have had. The very best technical minds simply will not work for the gangs for any amount of money. Why? Because thats not what motivates them. Its also bad for ones reputation in certain circles.
As for government decrees, it seems that the Empire and its vassals (toadies/servants…) are out of luck when it comes to Russian commodities. That may soon expand to China/India and various other countries. The days of the petrodollar are drawing to a close.
A governments decrees are only useful, if they have the power, knowledge and will to enforce them. Fear is their main weapon. But fear has inherent limitations. Once a government loses the illusions/delusions that underpin its “authority” it is left with only fear and brute force. Look at the Empire as only one example. There are very good reasons why it has lost every war its been in since world war II. The same applies to technical wars.
Don’t buy into the myth of the all powerful and/or all knowing state. Just like any human system it has its strengths and glaring weaknesses.
Hi BJ,
The problem with what you say is that not everyone is like Neo in the Matrix; i.e., a whiz kid hacker type who can use the system to avoid the system. Ordinary people need something comprehensible, usable and physical. Hard money fits that bill. It is impervious to being “hacked” or seized or just “turned off.” Nothing online is impervious to that, even if you are Neo. As others have observed, if the Internet goes offline, so does everything you hold in “assets” online. Hard money in your hand doesn’t. You still possess it – and it will always posses value.
Gold and silver operate independently of government, of the Internet. Real money, of real value.
Placing faith in digital money is dangerous, for all the reasons I’ve already laid out. It is why gold and silver were removed as money by the powers that be – and that alone ought to tell you something about the kind of money they don’t want us to have.
Eric, perhaps we have a miscommunication going here. I’m no real advocate for crypto. My main interest is in the technology and its implications. As I’ve mentioned, I look at gold/silver and lead as insurance that I hope I never need. But don’t get too fixated on gold/silver. They are one of the most manipulated markets in the world. The Masters of the Universe™ are very well aware of the implications of rising gold/silver. That’s why they have hammered it down for generations. Just because you can hold it in your hand, doesn’t mean others will place as much value in it, or that the gangs can’t take it from you. As for faith, I reserve that for people who have earned my trust and God.
PS One need not be Neo to know more about how the technology of the internet functions, than most of those in the various gangs.
The truckers had bank accounts seized, no bitcoin or crypto accounts were seized, it is very difficult to do.
NOTE: It is not online for the smart people, don’t store it in the cloud.
keep it on a memory stick in your pocket, same as cash or gold….
If you store it online that is stupid….keep it on a memory stick in your pocket…how do they steal it?
You can print out bitcoin info on paper and bury it in your back yard, it can be stored on a hard drive, take the hard drive out and bury it, memory sticks are easier, to store bitcoin.
I can have bitcoin on my computer, or device and transfer it to your computer in a parking lot, no bank or anyone else involved, no bank, no central bank, no regulations are involved, free enterprise.
Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer nature makes the digital currency much harder to be banned or controlled as transferring value through the network doesn’t involve an intermediary that could be subpoenaed by the government.
Who are they going to subpoena?…hahaha….bit coin is decentralized, no ceo, cio, head office, who do you phone? no head office address, no address lol….it is not a public or private company or limited partnership, it is not regulated…
They could shut the whole internet down….that isn’t too likely.
The worst thing you can do is use communist fiat electronic payment, use cash only if you use fiat, it is private, if you don’t we will lose that too.
you can use gold or silver (the best money…only money)to purchase a car to avoid fiat, don’t use fiat,
non compliance is the answer, this is the same as the globalist/communist masks, lockdowns and extermination injections mandates, don’t enable the beast…avoid fiat..
bitcoin can be used to buy real estate, university tuition, cars, etc., some employers pay in bitcoin.
What Can You Actually Buy With Bitcoin In 2022?
https://netcoins.ca/blog/what-can-buy-with-crypto/
What Can You Buy With Bitcoin?
https://www.investopedia.com/what-can-you-buy-with-bitcoin-5179592
What Can You Buy with Bitcoin? 10 Things You Can Actually Purchase
https://www.moneylion.com/learn/what-can-you-buy-with-bitcoin/
there is only one bitcoin…the other coins are shitcoins, ethereum is ok, it is an infrastructure play, a different animal.
bitcoin isn’t just created with a keystroke like fiat is, fiat requires no work to create it, bitcoin is mined, it requires work, electricity, equipment and a huge amount of calculations, number crunching. (mining is processing the transactions on the network). this is all done by private individuals, no government or bank involved, real free enterprise.
bitcoin mining
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/guides/bitcoin-mining
Eric when your computer is just sitting there, put it to use, use it for mining bitcoin, make some extra income, free enterprise….simple easy, runs by itself….
If they really wanted crypto to be used by everyone, they would get rid of the ‘price’ aspect — they would make 1 crypto coin equal to $1 dollar. Then people could actually hold onto the crypto without worrying about it losing half it’s dollar-value overnight.
Bitcoin is a millennial thing, they saw they couldn’t make any money in the boomer’s old financial system, it was already over priced way out of reach, (houses, stocks), so they created a new financial system, starting with bitcoin. Lots of old people don’t understand it…..
Do the millennials realize this? They are fighting against communist/marxist/leftists…
you might not like bitcoin but anybody working against the globalist/communist/satanists should be supported….that is why I like bitcoin…..fighting against marxist fiat….
using/owning fiat = communist/globalist/marxist….supporter enabler
using fiat = supporting the globalists/leftist/satanists
bitcoin owners = same as anti maskers, also anti marxist/communist fiat currency
With more than 30 million Americans and 300 million citizens globally HODL-ing, Bitcoiners are already a political constituency.
There’s even a Bitcoin backed SuperPAC now whose stated aim is to rid the government of anti-Bitcoin politicians like Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Anti-bitcoin = in bed with Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Don’t use communist/marxist fiat….
This is why:
Using Fiat currency = the 5th plank of the communist manifesto
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.
This is what the communist/marxist bastards have done….with their marxist central bank….
20 U.S. dollars bought one ounce of gold in 1900
In 2022 it takes 1800 U.S. dollars to buy one ounce of gold
That means the U.S. dollar is worth $0.01 now….. that is one cent, it dropped 99%.
A car costs $50,000 now, a crappy small house someplaces costs one million dollars, a gallon of gas is $6.00, now you know the real reason.
They ran the printing presses and destroyed your money. On a gold standard that can’t happen.
There is another huge benefit to using bitcoin only, it is a giant ledger, you can see all the transactions, nothing is hidden, this would be a big problem for the corrupt politicians that steal 5% to 100% of the money the government handles.
You would see where every cent of tax dollars are spent. Plus their crooked central bank couldn’t run the printing press 24/7 365.
The globalists would never use bitcoin….this is why…it is a giant ledger, you can see all the transactions, nothing is hidden, this would be a big problem for the corrupt politicians that steal 5% to 100% of the money the government handles. it would be great for taxpayers..
this why they are bringing out their own centrally controlled CBDC crypto, digital currency, then they can hide their theft, but see every one of your transactions, these are evil bastard thieves….
Hi Anon,
In re: “The globalists would never use bitcoin….”
No, but they want to force people to use essentially the same thing – digital currency. Why? Because digital is controllable in ways that hard money (and even paper dollars) is not. Anything purchased via digital money is recorded and know to Sauron. Any funds received/sent, too. To say Bitcoin is “different” (because Blockchains or whatever) is a species of absurdity right up there with the DMV’s assertion that you are its “customer.”
Ding! Ding! Ding! Eric, I wouldn’t doubt if it turns out that Bitcoin was ultimately created by some CIA or other government program as a means to get people onboard with and used to the idea of digital currency, for the day when the official state-issued terlit paper goes digital. What better way to get the wary and the rebels onboard as early adopters than to make them think they are somehow fighting the system….and to get to relieve them of some of their wealth at the same time? Sounds like the same kind of evil genius which created the Social Security Ponzi scheme!
Exactly, Nunz!
I submit that no one who is interested in resurrecting sound, stable money – and privacy in financial affairs – ought to support any form of digital currency. Down that road lies the end of any prospect of them not knowing your business and controlling it.
Well-said, Eric! And even on the simplest level- of what value is a ‘currency’ which can and has lost two-thirds of it’s value in the course of a few months on multiple occasions? That type of instability and volatility makes FRN’s, the Stock Market, Enron, and Herbalife look good by comparison…. Hell, it makes Monopoly money look good (At least you can have and hold Monopoly money in your hand, and drive around that metal top-hat…and maybe even get a Get Out Of Jail Free card!) (I always picked the top hat!)
You just don’t understand how it works, BOOMER.
And neither do I honestly. I like the idea. There needs to be a way to send money without the controlled apparatus. Monero is my favorite currently.
But a wise boomer once told me to not invest in things I don’t understand. I haven’t yet.
Brandon, I still maintain that the only stable investment (despite me not understanding them) are pogs! And I’ve yet to hear of any pogs ever being seized! (Although a few have accidentally been used as coasters….). To my knowledge, pogs have only depreciated once, and have remained stable ever since, ’cause it’d be hard for them to go any lower- although I suppose if one’s hoard is musty and booger-smeared, it could happen.
O-K, so the good thing about crypto is that it can facilitate avoiding the banking cartel and prying eyes….(Although all of the other metrics of a remote sale can still be tracked- like shipping….) -now if it just didn’t have all of the other negative traits as mentioned above and below, it’d be awesome…..dude. [<- See? I speak your lingo! Well,. I think that's your lingo, since you're from the east. If I were from California, it'd be my lingo….and I'd be a douche and not posting here, but rather discussing the awesomeness of being in the Gender Of The Week Club on a forum devoted to L. Ron Hubbard).
Hey, remember the TOR browser and the Dark Web? That was like crypto for the internaet. How'd that work out?! The internet was like crypto in comparison to landline telephones….but any privacy and freedom (well..most) is down the terlit there too- and no surprise there, since it was created under the guidance of the military through their moles at MIT. So ultimately, anything that uses the internet is not to be trusted; 'specially when the arbitrary rules invented by the lords of the cryptos are shrouded in mystery, and are…after all, arbitrary.
But yeah…for the short term, to facilitate a quick transaction…..crypto could be useful…..but remember, just buying that crypto IS NOT anonymous….and may well set off alarms (Not that'd we'd be doing anything nefarious….but it does kinda defeat the very purpose for which we would be taking the trouble….)
At least we can still buy pogs anonymously, in-person! (Hey, might as well impute value to pogs…it's no more absurd than imputing it to a string of numbers created by a bunch of computers working to compute some equations and Al-Gore-rhythms, eh?)
Hi Brandon,
I think Bitcoin is a trap. People are desperate for a way to avoid the central bank cartel – and government. But is a digital widget “currency” the answer – or something worse? I think the latter because (again) it is digital. Digital money is fundamentally perfect for the kind of panopticon control grid wanted by the people who gave us fiat dollars in the first place and by the people who want to end any type of anonymous, “cash” transactions.
There is all of that – and then there is the problem of understanding it and knowing who is behind it. Since no one seems to, I’ll pass.
Hi Eric
They want their own CBDC then they can see/control/ban your transactions, but they will hide their’s.
The globalists would never use bitcoin….this is why…it is a giant ledger, you can see all the transactions, nothing is hidden, this would be a big problem for the corrupt politicians that steal 5% to 100% of the money the government handles.
it would be great for taxpayers..
it is not the same thing CBDC is centralized, they control it, bitcoin is decentralized, they don’t control it, it freaks them out, plus central bankers don’t/can’t charge interest on creating it, and then charge you income tax to pay the interest….hahaha
Hi Anon,
Yes- but you beg the question: Who controls Bitcoin? Who exactly? Please don’t tell me the “miners” do. That is a non sequitur. I want to know who, specifically, controls it.
Eric, once again Bitcoin has no central committee. It is a distributed, decentralized system. That would be like asking who the leader of Anonymous is. Now the following may or may not have happened, but its funny. After the third time that the FBI claimed to have captured the “leader” of Anonymous, the head of the NSA spoke to the head of the FBI and told them that Anonymous has no leaders, and that they should stop making those announcements, because they are making all of us look bad. 🙂
As I’ve mentioned, the vast majority of people do not know who controls the dollar (and who controls those who control it). But that doesn’t prevent many millions from using the dollar everyday. Its a matter of utility. If a sufficient number of people find utility in crypto, it will become more and more acceptable. In a free market system, thats how things should work. But we’ve not had a free market for a very long time.
Hi Anon,
You say that “you might not like bitcoin but anybody working against the globalist/communist/satanists should be supported….that is why I like bitcoin…..fighting against marxist fiat….”
But is it true that Bitcoin is working against the above? How do you know? How could you know? No one knows who is behind Bitcoin – and it alarms me that it is habituating people to be comfortable with digital currency. This is a hideously dangerous notion that ought to be fought tooth and nail for it is infinitely more a threat to our liberty than mere fiat currency.
Anyone using bitcoin is one less person using fiat, fiat is the number one problem, it is the 5th plank of the communist manifesto, the people running the fiat system don’t like it, they will/have tried to ban it….why did they try and ban it, trash it at every opportunity? maybe the main reason is capital flight, money leaves the country in one second, that is why china just banned it….
remember the enemy of your enemy (the communist central bank printing), is your friend.
Using Fiat currency = the 5th plank of the communist manifesto
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.
This is what the communist/marxist bastards have done….with their marxist central bank….
20 U.S. dollars bought one ounce of gold in 1900
In 2022 it takes 1800 U.S. dollars to buy one ounce of gold
That means the U.S. dollar is worth $0.01 now….. that is one cent, it dropped 99%.
A car costs $50,000 now, a crappy small house someplaces costs one million dollars, a gallon of gas is $6.00, now you know the real reason.
They ran the printing presses and destroyed your money. On a gold standard that can’t happen.
CBDC (central bank digital currency), which is coming very soon, is centralized crypto controlled by the government. centralized is bad….government will copy/bastardize/corrupt it.
Bitcoin is decentralized, no head office, no central control, no head of the snake, no CEO, CIO, it is individuals cooperating on a network, hard to kill shutdown…many times safer then a bank account.
Bitcoin is a millennial thing, they saw they couldn’t make any money in the boomer’s old financial system, it was already over priced way out of reach, (houses, stocks), so they created a new financial system, starting with bitcoin.
Lots of old people don’t understand it…..maybe because they are used to analog things, millenials were born with this computerized world, are more comfortable with the new tech.
Not understanding it in one sentence/minute isn’t bad, it is a difficult concept to get your head around, which is good, your brain likes a challenge, go and do a bunch of research it is fun…
there is a job opportunity, colleges need people to teach about crypto, but very few people have the knowledge…
I personally like gold and silver or the gold standard, but anything taking power from central bank fiat is ok with me…cash is also great, no records….but it feeds the globalists/central bank….
bitcoin is better then a bank account, (remember bailins are coming…this fall?). it is far, far harder to confiscate, it is also the easiest, quickest, safest way to get your money out of the country, more benefits….
On the dark, negative side some say bitcoin’s purpose is to divert money from going into gold, which is the biggest enemy of communist/marxist fiat.
Another problem it is dependent on technology…..
I forgot the biggest, best benefit of the bitcoin/block chain, libertarians should like…..
There is another huge benefit to using bitcoin only, it is a giant ledger, you can see all the transactions, nothing is hidden, this would be a big problem for the corrupt politicians that steal 5% to 100% of the money the government handles.
You would see where every cent of tax dollars are spent. Plus their crooked central bank couldn’t run the printing press 24/7 365.
Catherine Austin Fitts developed a browser you could use to search/hunt through government data banks, you could search and see where every cent of your money went, it never took off for obvious reasons…everything is hidden, buried, deleted, not accessible, opaque because they steal….
**”Anyone using bitcoin is one less person using fiat”**
Bitcoin IS just another form of fiat- just created by different people using different arbitrary rules. No intrinsic value; it’s creation is dictated by arbitrary rules that can be changed at any time; it fluctuates even more than government paper fiat, which means it is even less stable and not a reliable store of wealth; and…it’s less portable and non-tangible.
Nunz, I’m not defending Craptocurrency here, but it isn’t fair to call it “fiat”. Fiat means “by decree”—in other words, by official threat of force. Supposedly, Bitcoin can act as simply a voluntarily-agreed convention, like sand dollars or butter. Nobody is forced to use Bitcoin. However, as a practical matter, nobody DOES use Bitcoin (as a means of exchange as intended). And that’s the real response to Anon’s statement of “Every time someone uses Bitcoin an angel gets its wings.” Yeah, that’s why heaven is empty, and all the fallen angels are here (to butcher Shakespeare). This “rebellious” virtue-signal supposedly served by using Bitcoin is a myth. A fiction.
Another response to Anon’s glittering statement is that because Bitcoin does not and really cannot serve as a useful means of exchange, it thereby has become only a proxy fiat currency. It is a derivative, second-order expression of the same old nasty fednotes. But again, it is not, itself a fiat currency, but is at best merely a second-order “IOU” for guvbucks.
Hi FP
People have a hard time understanding the basis of the globalist/satanists power is their central bank printing fiat without limit…
If everybody quit using it their source of power would be cut off. using fiat is helping evil.
Using fiat is the same as wearing masks and getting poisonous injections, you are enabling the globalist/satanists.
Use anything else, barter, gold or silver, bitcoin, anything but the globalist central bank fiat.
Bitcoin doesn’t come from a globalist/leftist central bank, it comes from people voluntarily cooperating.
Using bitcoin doesn’t help the globalist/satanist, in any way…… government fiat, the U.S. dollar does, quit using it, you are enabling communists….
Most bitcoin is bought as a sort of digital gold, a store of value.
Out of the three functions of money — store of value, medium of exchange, and unit of account — Bitcoin has excelled at the first but with the other two, the jury is still out.
Most people would argue that even though it can be used as a form of payment in thousands of online and offline vendors, it’s still not the preferred form of payment for most transactions.
However, there are a number of cases where Bitcoin is the favorite currency and this is just the beginning.
https://medium.com/zen-and-the-art-of-crypto/bitcoin-as-a-medium-of-exchange-6d8b7b0526e8
Interesting point, Free-Phi.
I would say a good definition of ‘fiat’ is a currency created by arbitrary rules which is devoid of any intrinsic value, but which enough people put faith in and accept so as to facilitate transactions among a large population.
And a good definition of’ Fiat’ is Fix It Again, Tony!.
Hey no automotive jokes! (They all go over my head!)
If you like enabling communist/marxists use fiat…..
Using Fiat currency = the 5th plank of the communist manifesto
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.
this is what happens….
This is what the communist/marxist bastards have done….with their marxist central bank….
20 U.S. dollars bought one ounce of gold in 1900
In 2022 it takes 1800 U.S. dollars to buy one ounce of gold
That means the U.S. dollar is worth $0.01 now….. that is one cent, it dropped 99%.
Fiat is legal tender, what that means is it is forced tender, you are forced to use it, through using it you give the globalist/communists their source of power. you are forced at gun point to use it.
If it wasn’t forced tender nobody would use it. It enables communists and with printing presses running it becomes worthless.
It gets way worse….
Fiat is legal tender, what that means is it is forced tender, you are forced to use it, through using it you give the globalist/communists their source of power. you are forced at gun point to use it.
If it wasn’t forced tender nobody would use it. It enables communists and with printing presses running it becomes worthless.
All fiat is borrowed into existence and interest is charged, that is evil, it is banned in Islamic and Christian religions. With bitcoin there is no usury or interest charged.
bitcoin isn’t just created with a keystroke like fiat is, bitcoin is mined privately and it requires work, electricity, equipment and a huge amount of calculations, number crunching. (mining is processing the transactions on the network). this is all done by private individuals, no government or bank involved, real free enterprise.
fiat requires no work to create it, fiat is borrowed into existence and interest is charged (usuary), the taxpayers pay the interest…lol…billions and billions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
AND…..through the tax system you are forced to pay the interest, guess why income tax exists……..so you can pay interest to crooked evil banksters….
Hi Anon,
in re: “bitcoin is mined privately and it requires work, electricity, equipment and a huge amount of calculations, number crunching. (mining is processing the transactions on the network). this is all done by private individuals, no government or bank involved, real free enterprise.”
Stating this is different than explaining it. No one seems able to – in terms that make plain sense. Can you do so?
“Mined”? What does that mean? How does one “mine” an online digital totem (or whatever you prefer to call it)? It has no real existence; it’s a conjured electronic . . . what, exactly? And how does this “what” have any value, as such?
Hi Anon,
We’re in agreement about fiat “legal tender.” But is Bitcoin a sounder alternative? I do not consider that it is. In some very important ways, it is worse. The most obvious being it is digital. This is wildly dangerous as anything digital is not under our control and can be “turned off” at will by whomever controls the Internet. Inarguably true. I think encouraging people to use digital “money” is disastrous. I think it is essential to get back to using hard money. Gold and silver aren’t perfect but they have the singular virtue of being impossible to just “cancel” or “turn off.” It is necessary to physically seize it in order to take it from someone and its value cannot be taken away via “inflation,” because it is impossible to print or digitize into existence more of it. This makes it inherently sound and stable – as well as anonymous – in ways digital currency can never be.
Hi Eric
Another good quality to bitcoin is there is no usury involved.
All fiat is borrowed into existance and interest is charged, that is evil, it is banned in Islamic and Christian religions. With bitcoin there is no usury or interest charged.
bitcoin isn’t just created with a keystroke like fiat is,
fiat requires no work to create it, fiat is borrowed into existence and interest is charged (usuary), the taxpayers pay the interest…lol…billions and billions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
bitcoin is mined, it requires work, electricity, equipment and a huge amount of calculations, number crunching. (mining is processing the transactions on the network). this is all done by private individuals, no government or bank involved, real free enterprise.
bitcoin mining
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/guides/bitcoin-mining
With the globalist/stanist/banksters and there central bank usury eventually they own everything and everyone else is homeless. The crooked politicians fill their bank accounts with free printing press fiat and you pay the interest on it…lol….
That is the real reason the evil banksters are against bitcoin, they can’t charge interest, no usury involved….
If you are against bitcoin and use/support fiat you are in bed with the globalist/stanist/banksters and supporting evil usury.
gold and silver is still the best, only, money………
Hi Anon,
In re: “If you are against bitcoin and use/support fiat you are in bed with the globalist/stanist/banksters and supporting evil usury.”
I distrust Bitcoin and consider it a speculative scheme. That does not mean I support fiat. I use it because for the most part I must. Because it is the only legal tender for paying certain unavoidable things, such as property taxes. You cannot pay for most things with Bitcoin.
I advocate for a sound money alternative.
Hi Eric
Yes gold and silver are the best, bitcoin is easier to transport and to get money out of the country in one second. For traders or speculators or maybe over the long term there is a possibility of appreciation owning bitcoin, but it is volatile. Cash is best for private transactions.
Right now I like to own the gold and silver mining shares for upside profit. I am bearish on real estate, the stock and bond market, crypto other then bitcoin is a casino, bitcoin trades with nasdaq so maybe there is more downside??
This is why central bank fiat is the worst nightmare:
fiat requires no work to create it, fiat is borrowed into existence it is all debt and interest is charged on it (usuary), the taxpayers pay the interest…lol…billions and billions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
AND…..through the tax system you are forced to pay the interest, guess why income tax exists……..so you can pay interest to crooked evil banksters on their worthless fiat…….
There sure is a lot of people talking up/defending/using/enabling the fiat created by evil globalist/communist/banksters….they must love being forced to pay tax…lol…
gold and silver is not debt it is real money, with a gold standard there is none of this grief, but the banksters don’t like it because they can’t create it, expand it, charge interest on it
Anon,
I am not defending Fiat, yet you continue to imply I am by not embracing Bitcoin, or because I use Fiat (Federal Reserve dollars). I’ll eagerly use sound money when I can use it to pay for the things I need to buy as well as debts I am obliged to pay. Until then, I will use the dollar because it’s what we’ve got to work with until there is something better.
That isn’t Bitcoin.
Hi Eric
bitcoin mining
bitcoin mining
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/guides/bitcoin-mining
Hi Anon,
I understand that computers “mine” (perform these calculations) and expend energy; that “work” is performed. I do not understand how this creates value. I could work very hard doing something but if no one wishes to pay me (exchange a unit of value for the work product) then I’ve simply expended energy. Real money is value incarnated. A physical way to hold and retain the value of good and services so that they might be exchanged for other goods and services of value. Fiat dollars are an echo of that kind money as they were once backed by gold and silver and the paper was merely a kind of convenient receipt for the gold and silver. But even now, the paper has value aside from its diminished value as a stable way to store the value of goods and services because it can be exchanged anonymously. Nothing digital meets that critical criteria, leaving aside considerations about the source of its value and its stability as a way to retain/store the value of goods and services.
It is fundamentally a speculative “investment” – the word you’ve used, which I think is accurate. Real money is not about “investing.” It is about saving. So as to retain value.
Hi Eric
A very important difference
fiat is debt
requires no work to create it, fiat is borrowed into existence, it is debt and interest is charged on it (usuary), the taxpayers pay the interest…lol…billions and billions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
then the government through the tax system forces you to pay the interest on it, no escape
then when you use it you pay again, it becomes worthless over time…
gold and silver is not debt, it is the only real money, no interest is charged
bitcoin is not debt, the creators of it don’t charge interest on it after creating it,
central bankers charge interest on fiat after creating it it is all debt…..these central banksters are smart…..
using fiat makes you a debt serf
Hi Anon,
I’m not and never have defended fiat currency. This doesn’t oblige me or anyone else to defend Bitcoin as the alternative. I’ve explained why I consider Bitcoin both scammy and dangerous. I’ve yet to hear a good counter to either position. I favor sound money, real money, stable money. Digital currency created out of nothing is not that.
Bitcoin is a step towards the currency technocracy has wanted since the 1930s.
Most importantly:
1) It has a logging system of transactions.
2) It represents energy.
A logging system can easily become a monitoring and permisssioning system. The energy feature combined with CO2 driven ‘climate change’ and UBI becomes the energy ration currency.
Get people used to the idea through bitcoin, find a reason to modify it or replace it and there we are. Also keep in mind govt has already found ways to trace bitcoin transactions.
Hi Eric
All fiat is borrowed into existence and interest is charged, that is evil, it is banned in Islamic and Christian religions. With bitcoin there is no usury or interest charged.
bitcoin isn’t just created with a keystroke like fiat is, bitcoin is mined privately and it requires work, electricity, equipment and a huge amount of calculations, number crunching. (mining is processing the transactions on the network). this is all done by private individuals, no government or bank involved, real free enterprise.
fiat requires no work to create it, fiat is borrowed into existence and interest is charged (usury), the taxpayers pay the interest…lol…billions and billions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
AND…..through the tax system you are forced to pay the interest, guess why income tax exists……..so you can pay interest to crooked evil banksters….
working against them…..they don’t collect interest on it, they don’t have piles of money to finance their leftist programs like stealing elections and forced injections, masks, lockdowns, wars…….developing more programs to control you…all that is done with the printing press printing fiat, their source of power……
Hi Anon,
You write (again):
“bitcoin isn’t just created with a keystroke like fiat is, bitcoin is mined privately and it requires work, electricity, equipment and a huge amount of calculations, number crunching. (mining is processing the transactions on the network). this is all done by private individuals, no government or bank involved, real free enterprise.”
But enterprise creating…. what? It could also be said that digging holes in the yard and filling them up again is free enterprise. But is value created thereby? So, these computers run calculations and use electricity. What is produced as a result of this?
Right now, Bitcoin is free of taxes. But – being digital – it could easily become the perfect vehicle for taxing every last cent of currency earned and spent; it holds the potential to eliminate free enterprise – i.e., underground/cash transactions that the eyress doesn’t have any ability to find out about with hard money or even cash (fiat) money.
Neither Bitcoin nor any crypto is “free of taxes.”
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/bitcoin-taxes
Losses are capped at $3k as well.
Thanks, Anon. No exchange of services or type of currency is safe from Uncle Sam. I don’t know why anyone believe that crypto is free of taxes.
I would honestly state that the IRS and U.S. Government has already well established the taxation of virtual currency before many of us had even heard of such a thing.
On each taxpayer’s annual 1040 form one must answer the following question:
“Please verify at any time during the tax year, the taxpayer received, sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of any financial interest in virtual currency.”
They have tied virtual currency to the FinCEN which means there will be no place worldwide that a U.S. citizen will be able to hide more than $9999 at any time. Lie (and get caught) and the penalties are huge. FYI: The IRS notice 2014-21 regarding crypto currency was established in and tied to the FinCEN on 3/18/2013. This is not something new. The government knew what was coming and she is prepared.
if one doesn’t know who the miners are and who is initiating the transactions who is to say they aren’t double agents or Feds? The Feds were able to hack into the overseas accounts to retrieve a large portion of the Colonial Pipeline money that was paid by Bitcoin last year. Why does anyone believe that anything they do is unhackable or untraceable? If it was processed with technology, I guarantee they already know about it.
This is why the Mafia and drug cartels love cash.
Anon,
No one seems to understand it – or rather, can clearly explain it in a few sentences. That alone is cause for suspicion. I’m neither old nor stupid and I’ve yet to haver anyone provide an explanation regarding its source of value (other than as derived from speculation) or how it is impervious to devaluation via increased supply or how anything that is online can be “anonymous.”
Stating that “lot of old people don’t understand it” is the kind of gaslighting performed by multi-level marketing “get rich quick” salesmen doing seminars at the Holiday Inn.
“I’ve yet to haver anyone provide an explanation regarding its source of value (other than as derived from speculation) or how it is impervious to devaluation via increased supply or how anything that is online can be “anonymous.” ”
Eric,
They can’t explain it because it is none of those things.
To really understand how much of a scam it is, watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g it is a bit long (use 1.5x playback to shorten viewing time), but he does a really good job of explaining why it is a scam and technically susceptible to fraud and attacks. He even shows how it is not anonymous, buy tracking what some memers have done with their NFT funds (NFTs are another scam solely to pump up crypto!)
Anon, Millennials don’t seem to understand it either, if they did they wouldn’t have bought it. Bitcoin is a con, used to catch those millennials who were smart enough not to fall for the stock market con. Something ‘new and exciting, not your father’s old
Buickmoney”.Hi Anon,
It isn’t because of old people don’t understand it, but that they sell a rat and choose not to buy it. When Matt Damon is the spokesperson for crypto the little light bulb in our mind should flash and we should question why celebrity spokesmen are needed. The third richest man in Mexico is promoting it? I am sure he is an upstanding citizen who hasn’t screwed, lied, and scammed people to become so wealthy. We should definitely take his advice. The rich have always advocated for the poor to elevate their status in the world and achieve success that puts them on the same playing field as the world’s oligarchy, right?
Amen, RG –
The bottom line objection to crypto, for me, is that it is digital. How anyone can trust anything digital given what we know about digital (online) anything astounds me. I think that it is absolutely essential to return to sound/hard money if stable/anonymous money is wanted. Gold and silver cannot be “mined” except in reality – and that limits how much can be mined – and put into circulation. Bitcoin can be “mined” to infinity. It can also be seized by anyone who has control over the digital/online “asset,” which could be anyone, anytime. It certainly will cease to exist if the Internet is closed down or control given over to the government, which seems a not unlikely prospect.
The whole thing reeks of scamminess. Maybe some Millennial hipster types and other speculators are making money – or were. But I prefer to stick with tangible money of real value that is under my control.
Hi Eric,
It also reeks of government establishment, much like the Internet. When there are no faces of the founders, I cannot help but opine that the profiles are nonexistent for a reason.
RG, there is no face of those who really control the dollar, yet you and many millions use it each and every day. Its not a matter of trust or faith. Its a matter of utility. If crypto ever becomes generally accepted (in spite of the gangs and those who own them) it will be because a sufficient number of people found some utility to it. The idea that the Masters of the Universe™ are going to turn off the internet, is an example of people not thinking through the implications. Those implications are dire in the extreme in the modern world. We may well lose it, just as we may lose the power grid. We may also see the various gangs attempt to control it. But any one familiar with the Great Firewall of China, and their endless attempts to control their own section, would understand its not nearly as simple as the gangs would like one to believe.
Hi BJ,
I see Jay Powell’s face pretty much every time I turn on Bloomberg. The US dollar was established after the Federal Reserve was implemented in 1914. We can track US currency back to the US Mint. Who do we track BitCoin and crypto back to?
Sure, we can go down a rabbit hole and question who setup the Federal Reserve and why did they do it, but we do have an organization as the face of the US Monetary Fund. If the US dollar becomes worthless we have homes that we show up in front of with our pitchforks and torches. Whose house do we burn down when crypto is delisted and Americans lose their asses?
Hi RG. If you think that the chairman of the Fed, controls the dollar (or even the Fed), you need to do a bit more research. I’d start with why this is the *third* attempt to foist a central bank on the US. After that, I’d look at those who have been behind all three attempts. The Fed was created in 1913. After a group of bankers and others formed a real conspiracy to do so. The details are laid out in G. Edward Giffin’s The creature from jekyll island. Follow that with the Secrets of the Federal Reserve by Eustace Mullins.
But before you start with torches and pitchforks, it might be a good idea to have an idea who the real enemy is. They always act from the shadows, and always through proxies.
Other wise, you are simply playing into their hands. Always keep in mind that they consider their proxies expendable.
As for crypto, its a matter of personal choice. Some of them show promise from a technology perspective (which is my main focus). Understanding the social/political/economic implications is what makes it so fascinating.
But if you think that you or anyone else, is ever going to be able to hold those who are really responsible for most of the corruption/misery over the last few centuries accountable, you don’t understand the nature of their power, nor what they are willing to do to keep it.
It has been said that; “Its good to be the King!”. Its even better to own the king. That way, when the rabble come for the king, one simply slides back into the shadows, waits for the next king to arise, and then buy them. Rinse, repeat…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DxJ-zUtl60&ab_channel=TheOfficialMELBROOKSChannel
Hi BJ,
Nowhere did I say the Fed Chairman controlled the dollar. I think many of us realize that the establishment is much bigger than that. I clearly stated we had a face to the institution, which is a lot more than crypto has.
The ones who control never get the blame, that is why they remain nameless and faceless. I just merely stating from your original post that the US Dollar (which was established in 1914) after the Fed and income state were implemented in 1913, that there is a hangman available. There is none for crypto. To put allegiance onto something that no one knows who started it, controls it, or governs it is putting the horse before the cart.
Hi RG. So yet another proxy takes a fall. How does that help? As for holding institutions accountable, that’s even more pointless than hanging proxies. Institutions are as abstract as societies or even civilizations are. It is in the illusions/delusions that bind us to these abstracts that they find their power. Once we move beyond those, perhaps our species will mature enough not to need monsters any more. We appear to be in a race between growing up and extinction. The next few years look to be critical to how this all turns out.
As I’ve stated, I’m no real advocate for crypto. Its simply a test bed for various technologies to me. Its a new tool, just as many other disruptive technologies are. But like any tool it can be abused, as well as used. I’m not asking anyone to trust or use it. But I do think it should be observed carefully. It has the potential for great good, as well as incredible evil. Only time will tell the tale of which it will be. If history is any judge of such matters, it will likely be a mixture of both.
BJ, The “just-a-tool” fallacy regarding technology is known as “instrumentalism” and was debunked by Heidegger, at the latest. Heidegger appreciated that technology is not merely a potential danger, but “it is the supreme danger.” (“The Question Concerning Technology”; 1954.) Technology is “danger as such“.
Every instantiation of technology has a conspicuously predictable teleological trajectory. To the extent it can function to subjugate, enslave, and curtail humanity, it will do so. This unmistakable, invariable pattern of technological development and dominance is precisely so because technology is an autonomous force of nature. Even though humans may be the substrate through which this force emerges, mankind is never in control of it, and it is never a mere neutral “instrument.” It’s not “just-a-tool,” but it is instead an end to itself. Indeed, it is the end unto itslef. As in The End. Digital currency is actually one of the most obvious and blatant examples of this, because frankly there’s no value or upside to it whatsoever. It’s just digital bits floating in a cloud, to which mindless monkeys devote enormous resources, attention, and energy. It’s a behavioral black hole.
Digital currency has no potential to do anything but evil. It provides no food. No warmth. No sustenance. No pleasure. No value. To the contrary, it sucks up all these things like a cosmic vacuum. Yes, “time will tell.” And I’m telling you what time will tell, and it’s painfully obvious what time will tell. (Hint: It won’t be a “mixture of both” good and evil. It will be nothing less than the perpetual, cybernetic slavery of the entire human species. To pretend there is an alternate possibility is an exercise in Panglossian fantasy.)
Hi FP,
One of my favorite sci-fi series is Dune, by Frank Herbert. He envisions a future after a “machine war” – specifically, a war against thinking machines (computers/AI) after which human beings revert to using their natural intelligence to perform complex math and so on. The first book in the series was written 50-something years ago. I found it quite prophetic as well as a good read.
Technology is inherently problematic because there are always people who will use it, whether consciously not, to further ends that end up being catastrophically bad for most people. Cell phones provide an excellent example. Their antecedent was the pager. Doctors had them so that they could be summoned in the event of some urgent occurrence. Most everyone else had a wall phone and for that reason had a life. Most people went the whole day without making or receiving a call – and most of the calls that were made/received were when you were at home. Was life better – or worse – before people were able to (and addicted to) making calls (and sending texts) all day long and everywhere they went? I remember the Before Time and think it was better. People had more real conversations and spent more time in reality than on their phones. Now, people are on the phone – staring at it, tapping and swiping it – almost constantly, like rhesus monkeys enraptured by a shiny, blinking object.
Even those of us who dislike these things are obliged to have them on account of the fact that everyone else does – and because work often requires it. Not in the Face Diaper way but rather in that it’s expected and if you tell a prospective employer you haven’t got a “smart” phone and are only reachable via a land line, it’s likely you won’t be hired on account of not being “reachable” at all times, especially on the way to/from work – which was formerly a sanctuary of downtime away from being stalked by work.
There are other examples, too.
Computers being the best example of inherently dangerous technology from the human point of view. Even as I type using one and disseminate what I type via them. Yes, that’s an upside. But it is a bigger downside in terms of what I do being an attempt to warn of the very dangers created by computers. When I wrote something back in the early ’90s, it had to be printed and then physically distributed. It was more “clunky” than now, certainly. But also less ephemeral and more tangible; more real. Was it better? That, of course, is a value judgment. But – again – I can recall the Before Time – and in my estimation, it was better. People seemed less harried and regimented; there was more genuine difference/individuality expressed. Certainly, the conformity-tyranny rampant today was not possible, technologically speaking, in the Before Time.
I’d go back, if I could.
Hi BJ,
I’m on FP’s side regarding crypto – digital currency of any kind. Whatever potential it may have for good is certain to be cancelled out by its monumental danger for evil. The profit and control factors assure this. Digital money could – and so, will – be used to eliminate all “off the books” transactions, to account for and tax every single digital “penny” you earn – and spend. It will also be used to control you by threatening to cut off your ability to earn – and to get paid and to spend what you have earned – if you aren’t obedient. Try to imagine – it is not difficult – what Fauci or someone like him will do if given the capability to “lock down” anyone who doesn’t wear the Diaper or get the Jab. Think about what these people will do if they can do it. Based upon what they have already done.
People concerned about salvaging any vestige of anonymity and control over their financial affairs – over their lives – ought to be opposed to digital money in principle, irrespective of the form it takes. No – zero – good can come of it. Much bad is assured to come from it.
eric, I can’t agree any more strongly than I do with all these sentiments. The history of the adoption of mass communication and digital technology has been the history of the mechanization of man, and the modification of man and his habits to suit the needs of technology—not vice versa. We have now reached the point where technology has been erected as a barrier between every human and the entire universe of his desiderata. There is virtually no end that can be achieved without working through (or around) a digital intermediary. Digital currencies are the final barrier, giving the Machine perfect, granular, real-time control over every single action of every human on Earth, with a kill-switch. Once the Machine can starve us at will by simply switching off our means of exchange, we will be Its completely helpless meat-puppet slaves, and only then will we begin to see the true designs It has in store for us.
“A man would die of hunger who, having decided that money is real wealth, should carry out the idea to the end” …
https://mises.org/library/what-money-1
Hi Eric.
I’m quite surprised that a old time gear head would have that attitude about technology. I expect such from agents of despair. Technology is simply the result of human creativity applied to various problems. It has vastly expanded our populations standard of living and life span. The fact that its been used by evil people, speaks more about their mental pathologies than it does about the technology they are abusing. Without our technology we’d still be living short brutish lives in caves. The idea that technology is some alien construct, meant to destroy humanity is the type of nonsense I’ve come to expect from those preaching the Gospel of Despair. Science is up stream from technology. Its concepts
and precepts are used to craft technology. Unfortunately, simply because a thing can be done, doesn’t mean it should be. But that would require insight, foresight and personal responsibility, which is sadly lacking.
As for crypto in general, yes it has much potential for evil. I’d rather see gold/silver or commodities used myself. That may end up being the basis for the next war. The Empire isn’t going to allow the rest of the world to drop the dollar as the reserve currency without a great deal of bloodshed. Neither are those behind the global cartel of central banks. Unless they can get their hooks into what ever comes next. CBDC’s are a very real danger, but far too many people can’t see that. But technology can always be turned against those abusing it, if one understands its principles. That’s one of the lessons that Lind teaches those who study his methods. Don’t give up hope. This fight is far from over.
Hi BJ,
I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that, while technology can and has benefitted most people in quantifiable ways, it has also cost them. And the accelerated pace of technological development, particularly with regard to computers and especially “connected” ones – tips this balance more and more toward cost rather than benefit, for most people.
At least, within the context of the current system. And therein lies what may prove to be the most beneficial aspect of technology, if it is used to undermine and – ultimately – end the current system in favor of one more decentralized and individualistic. But is that likely to happen? Or is it more likely that technology will be used more and more to enserf us?
I hope the choice is not between going Amish and going Borg. But I fear there may not be a middle ground in the future.
Hi Eric. As I’ve stated technology simply produces tools. Its how those are used that determines the out comes. I know you dislike computers. Many people do. But they have been one of the most revolutionary developments of the last century. But again they are only tools. I’ve seen their development from the time they filled entire rooms, to today’s hand held. I also have a smart phone. I consider it a marvel. With it I can connect to a good fraction of human knowledge, read books, watch videos and listen to my favorite classical music. I also have a very nice programmable calculator on it. Round that out with VPN and security software, and that’s in something that fits in the palm of your hand. Amazing. As I said, its all in how you use it.
I’ve found over the decades that perception of technology is often based on knowledge of it.
I’ve seen it used to for good and evil. But the users are the ones that determine the out comes.
Look at firearms as an example. They can be used to protect ourselves and our families or they can be used for great evil. Again, its the users that determine that.
At the very bottom of the vast majority of our problems, one find the various gangs (and those who own them). Its their various scams/hoaxes that are leading our people towards
destruction. Fortunately, they are not the only ones moving pieces around in the shadows.
Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.
BJ: “computers … have been one of the most revolutionary developments of the last century. But again they are only tools.”
Plainly incorrect. In my relatively short time in the legal field, computers have been systematically mandated for every aspect of practice: first for all legal research to meet standard-of-care; then for all filings that were once done in paper, by hand, with human clerks; then, in 2020, for all depositions and hearings, which are now mandatorily done by use of computerized telecommunications videoconferencing. These top-down impositions are not “tools”. They are control and surveillance mechanisms that have completely encased the legal justice system in a technocratic shell, constituting a threshhold boundary separating humans from justice, and requiring enormous infrastructural adoptions, adaptations, and accomodations by all practitioners and litigants. It’s a robot-insectoid nightmare not of the making of any human by means of voluntary adoption, but rather a faceless, inexorable encroachment of technical mandates and costly barriers. Medicine is very similar in that regard. Doctors don’t voluntarily choose to use computers for all medical records or for “tele-medicine”. This is mandated on them by legislation and regulation, to the benefit of the technocratic management class alone.
Your insistent fantasy of “just-a-tool” is entirely unreflective of reality, and seems rather to evince your relatively low level of engagement with the real world before the computing revolution, so you are simply ignorant of just how much the real world has been damaged and cut off by the overweening and involuntary metastasis of computers into all corners of civiliztion.
Hi FP,
Computers have a seductive aspect to them to the people not directly harmed by the them – as they see it (they may see differently, eventually). A good example of this is my own profession. I have the perspective of having been a working journalist before the advent of connected computers and – specifically – the Internet. When I was a young reporter, I carried a notepad with me. I took notes. I then wrote my article on an unconnected/in-house primitive computer which wasn’t far advanced from an electric typewriter except in that what I wrote could routed to the copy desk/editors in a non-physical way.
The article was read by copy editors, who made adjustments for grammar and double-checked assertions and so on within the article for veracity. The proofed article then went to the make-up room where it and the other articles for the day’s edition would be formatted and master dummies created that would serve as the template for the eventually finished day’s paper. There were graphic artists who added photography, cartoons and so on.
Fast forward just a few years and most of these people no longer had jobs. I still have mine because – so far – computers cannot do what I can do. I am grateful for this – but also saddened by the fact that probably two-thirds of the people once employed in my business no longer are. It is (as you’ve written) no longer possible to write – well, to publish – without these connected computers, unless you wish to write things that almost no one will ever read. The online rip tide has seen to that.
Now, some in my position are happy about the freedom computers have given them, the power to compete with even a major newspaper as what I or anyone else writes has the potential to reach as large and even a larger audience than what the Times prints. However, I have worried from the beginning of the connected computer era that, once online is all there is, the consolidation phase will end and the control phase will begin. And it has. Government now uses centralized computing to end-run the protections of the First Amendment, which only applies to government censoring speech. When a few “private” entities have de facto control over speech, then somehow it’s not censorship. It could devolve into something far worse.
The underlying problem here may not be the computers/connectedness as such, however. The basic problem may be that of centralization. If that knot could be undone – if people lived in communities, among people they knew and trusted as they once did – the grip around our throats of these remorseless computers might be lessened. Here the Amish provide a rough example. They do not couple with the system and thereby, avoid many of the system’s pernicious aspects. I think that – absent “the machine” exterminating millions of people, to get rid of the resistors – decentralization stands a chance of saving humanity. But I agree we ride on the edge of the razor blade, as of right now.
Hi Eric. Its not the computers that are the threat. They have no grip on our throats. Its the gangs and their cronies that are abusing them. Would you claim that it was a firearm in the hands of a criminal that was responsible for the crime?
As I said, distributed and decentralized systems are the hope of the future. I’m involved in several projects working on such applications. There are many more people involved in such efforts than many appear to realize. There are many, very talented and experienced people working on these projects. Why? Because they can see the future as well. Its not just the gangs and the merchants of despair that are in operation. Speaking of which, can you think of a better way to undermine potential resistance, than to convince as many people as possible, that there is no hope, and that despair is the only option? Keep that in mind as we move forward.
By the way, given our discussion on sound money, I thought you might find this of interest.
https://mises.org/wire/freedom-and-sound-money-two-sides-coin
“There are many, very talented and experienced people working on these projects.”
Top men, I have no doubt! Top! Men!
Interestingly, no names are named. On the other hand, one can read many granular specifics about lavishly-Rockefeller-funded, big-name public projects designed to build “the collective cybernetic nervous system of an evolving transhuman superorganism, [called] the HeartMath Institute’s Global Coherence Network of wearable neurofeedback technologies that interlink human biorhythms through smartphones across the planet”.
https://unlimitedhangout.com/2022/05/investigative-reports/barbara-marx-hubbard-godmother-of-transhumanism-and-synthetic-spirituality/
Industry titans—with massive governmental and corporate funding—like Ray Kurzweil, Mikey Siegel, Claudia Welss, Josh Whiton, Deborah Rozman, Lynn McTaggart, Nina Rothschild Utne and Dean Rudin, just to name a few, are energetically pursuing this technology. Once developed and ready to scale, will this neuro-collectivizing technology be mandated, just like computers, the internet, fondleslabs, and Zoom have been already? To ask the question is, obviously, to answer. Compulsory tethering all of humanity to the global hive mind is, of course, the entire point.
Is this tech “just-a-tool” too? And if so: whose tool is it, is this really a “useful end”, by whose metric is it “useful”, and what is its possible benefit, really?
While BJ lovingly strokes his fondleslab, purring, “It plays me purdy music and it shows me purdy pictures…” the totatlitarian enslavement of man by machine charges force apace. People like BJ are so enamored by the alien construct that has entrapped them, they are incapable of seeing its parameters. It’s no different in principle than the 15th Century Arawak Indians gazing in hushed awe at the Spanish sailing ships approaching their island, having no idea what awaited them inside the ships, or that within a generation they would be genocided off the Earth. By promoting digital currency, BJ is like one of the foolhardy Arawaks who waded into the bay to greet the new visitors and try to trade wampum with them.
“Technology is simply the result of human creativity applied to various problems.”
BJ, the only way you can maintain such a pollyanna, trusting view of technology is by reaminaing woefully uninformed on the topic. No philosophical inquiry of technology has come away with any positive or rosy conclusion as to its implications. Heidegger’s famous remarks in 1966 were that “technology in its essence is something that humanity, of it’s own accord, cannot master.” Therefore, “Only a god can save us” from it. Before him, Thomas Carlyle, Samuel Butler, Max Weber, Nietzsche, Spengler, and every other critic to address the subject came to the same conclusion. Henri Marcuse, Lewis Mumford, Ivan Illich, Henryk Skolimowski, Niel Postman, and most importantly Jacques Ellul—literally every critical thinker on the subject—came to the same conclusion. Technology is inherently dehumanizing and destructive. On your side, however, is nothing but the inane chatter of so much promotional copy in WIRED magazine, and the messianic self-aggrandizement of grotesque post-human prophets like Ray Kurzweil and Bill Gates. You are not only ignorant to the true “principles of technology,” but you are grossly malinformed by the propaganda of the Machine Itself, believing in an inverted fantasy version of technology.
Your definition of technology is sui generis. The real definition has nothing to do with human virtues or values, least of all “creativity”. It simply means “applied science.” And science has no values, human or otherwise. It is simply the apathetic, mechanistic manner of operation of laws of nature. The laws of nature are most decidedly not pro-human.
Thorstein Veblen defined technology as, “the employment of scientific knowledge for useful ends.” Well, who decides what’s “useful”? Those in power. The Money Power will always control the ends to which technology is dedicated. That is to say, a certain hostile tribe will always wield the power of technology in service of itself, and to the detriment of those who aren’t in what George Carlin called the “Big Club”. (“And you ain’t in it!”)
You say, “But technology can always be turned against those abusing it, if one understands its principles.” Yet you continually demonstrate your utter lack of understanding of its principles.
That is why you are doomed.
RE: “That is why you are doomed.”
I take it you’re not a fan of horse racing?
Have you ever been in a fist-fight with someone bigger than you who said they were gonna kick your ass? …And, you won?
I ask, ’cause it seems like you’ve given up.
After reading some of your comments, I wonder, how do you get up out of bed in the morning?
…Can’t you see any weakness in the plans of The Masters of the Universe?
…They’re infallible perfect demi-gods?
…Everyone should just curl up in a ball & give up?
Hi helot. I like ya. I think you’re in good faith.
“I take it you’re not a fan of horse racing?”
Nope. And it would be even more boring to watch a three-way race between a thoroughbred horse, a wheezy greyhound, and a tortoise.
“Have you ever been in a fist-fight with someone bigger than you who said they were gonna kick your ass? …And, you won?”
Perhaps when I was a child or teenager. On the other hand: have I ever singlehandedly faced down a drilled corps of armored mounted mercenaries on a phalanx of battleclad steeds? No. No I have not.
“I ask, ’cause it seems like you’ve given up.”
Given up what, exactly?
“I wonder, how do you get up out of bed in the morning?”
Usually my cat wakes me up wanting to play. Sometimes I get a phone call from some lawyer wanting me to help him address some trivial legal issue.
“…Can’t you see any weakness in the plans of The Masters of the Universe?”
No.
“…They’re infallible perfect demi-gods?”
Allow me to offer a metaphor. A Rancher’s operation doesn’t have to be PERFECT for the cattle to stay in their paddocks. The Rancher can be drunk starting at 10:30am. His reprobate hired hands might still be drunk from their carousing the night before! He might have terrible bookkeeping skills that actually result in him losing entries of accounts receivable at a considerable loss. He might overfeed the herd some days, and forget to feed them entirely the next. He might be the worst rancher ever to brand a heifer.
BUT––the cows stay in their pens because it is their nature as cows, and he will be eating steak at the end of the day because that’s his nature as a rancher. Even if one cow kicks on its way down the chute to the abattoir, the cow will be corrected with a quick zap from the cattle-prod, and steak-time will still be 6pm sharp.
The cow cannot “overcome” the rancher. In fact, the cow actually has no concept that she is on a “Ranch” at all, or even what a “Ranch” is or that such a thing could possibly exist. The cow just responds to time-tested husbandry skills like all cows have before her, since ranching was invented. The husbandry doesn’t even have to be skillful, let alone flawless.
Goyim are cattle. Sad. DEVASTATING</b. But true.
“…Everyone should just curl up in a ball & give up?”
They should be concerned with damage control, cutting losses, and preventing unnecessary further suffering. They should be concerned with not feeding fresh tender flesh to the Beast. Not some macho-fantasy Q-tard delusion of “winning” or “Civil War II” or “trusting the plan” or “Jesus” floating down from the clouds to vanquish the bad guys. First and foremost, this means people should refrain from breeding like mindless animals, when they’re already tagged for slaughter, and their offspring will be worse off still. Second, it means they should make every effort to repudiate and disengage from technological society and the banking/industrial system—NOT to advocate for it and NOT to continue feeding it with investment and attention. Not to buy Bitcoin for goodness’ sake!
Hi Helot. I see you also saw the obvious flaws. But as I’ve said, such types have blinded themselves to anything but despair. It would almost be funny, if it wasn’t so predictable. There have been such types in every age. The Machine (or Satan) or what ever the current E Vile Masters are called, are perfect in their power, perception and reach. Give up now, for you are All Eternally Doomed! Pathetic Mortals!… Yawn… How such types get through their dark, dismal lives I’ve no idea. In an age of wonders, they choose to focus only on the dark and ugly.
But such is their choice (shrug).
^ The sanguine smacking sound of cud being chewed, contentedly.
Hi Helot (and FP) –
I think Solzhenitsyn had the right idea. Maintain yourself – your humanity – come what may. You do this by not buying the lie(s). By holding fast to the truth, which is how you hold fast to yourself. Even if the worst happens, they only win if we accept. I never will. Life is or can be wonderful and there are many good people in this world. I hope to live a long life among them. But I will not sacrifice everything that makes life valuable for the sake of remaining alive, should that become the choice.
I do not underestimate what FP styles “the machine” or even the humans who have the tools of technology. But I also don’t underestimate the capacity of good people to rise to the occasion. Not perfect people. But good people. Have faith. It’s not unjustified.
30,000,000,000,000 dollars in debt, 330,000,000 souls residing in America.
3,000,000/33 is only 90,909 dollars owed by each person.
You owe 90,909 dollars the day you are born, if you were born yesterday, that’s why.
One billion bitcoin at 30 grand each can buy down the national debt. The US gov can confiscate it all, re-hypothecate it all again, one billion bitcoin worth one million dollars each will be 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 dollars or one quintillion dollars.
One quintillion minus 30 trillion, still a big number, lots of money, all owned by the US gov.
999 970 000 000 000 000 dollar gain. Not too bad. $101,200,000 profit per person.
What’s a little hyperbole now and then?
“First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin.” – Leonard Cohen
I made a mistake, easy to do with great big numbers. Three too many zeros, just a profit of 101,200 dollars per capita. Added too many, it is only one quadrillion dollars, not the quintillion. Still plenty of money.
Bitcoin needs to go to one billion dollars each, that’s where the money is.
Drum,
Trouble is, that there can be no true profit in something which does not represent the value of a commodity or labor- as is the case with Bitcoin. Legitimate profit is achieved by creating something of value or adding to the value of something. With things like Bitcoin and fiat currencies, etc. nothing is being created; when one person profits it is only because someone else’s suffers a loss. This is why central banking is so abhorrent and dishonest, and always used by the few with power to defraud the rest- and now these cryptos, which are touted as the ‘democratic alternative’ are enabling and perpetrating the exact same fraud, and why the tyrants must destroy it…because they don’t want anyone else horning-in on their action. It’s like Joe Bananno wanting to eliminate other crime families…
Where’s the money? What money?
Read the Leo Wanta story, the gov agent in control of the 27.5 trillion dollars. Clinton the Village Idiot back then happened to hijack 752 billion dollars out of the 27.5 trillion. 250 million for the Children’s Defense Fund managed by Hillary, the smartest woman alive.
Do a search for Leo Lee Wanta, 27.5 trillion dollars, it’s out there.
The conundrum of the situation in Russia kind of surfaces in the story. The real story, not the fake stories you always hear.
One unknown known is Leo Wanta prevented an assassination attack/attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Leo Wanta is an American hero, not Bill the Philanderer.
All of the skullduggery since then is just plain ugly, obscene. The Russians have been taken to the cleaners, let’s just say that.
Putin ain’t happy about it.
It is all disturbing, absurd, it skulks.
The story is so unbelievable, nobody is supposed to believe it.
Don’t have to believe a word of it, but any realistic cynic will probably believe all of it.
Oh, I agee, Drumph- There is no real money. And I mean NONE- As long as the majority of people use the phony crap, and practice the rituals of the system which controls them, even metals aren’t going to cut it. The things you need to sustain your life, and the freedom to live that life are the only real riches. Find a corner somewhere to hide from the violence of the mob and it’s elected goons. The money has no value because the people have no values.
If bitcoin took over as the world currency the total capitalization would have to be 100 trillion dollars, each bitcoin would have to be worth 5.2 million dollars each, up from $30,000 today.
each bitcoin would have to be worth 5.2 million dollars each, up from $30,000 today.
A $10,000 investment today would equal 1.73 million dollars.
Hi Anon,
I don’t want to “invest” a cent in Bitcoin or any other speculative scam. I want sound money. I want real money. I wan money that isn’t digital and which I hold in my hand. Money that cannot be devalued by inflation because it cannot be created out of nothing. Bitcoin meets none of these criteria.
Hi Eric
Yes……. I prefer gold, silver, I am a long time gold bug. But…bitcoin has some benefits over fiat, #1…it is a limited amount, no printing press, it is a quick way to get money out of the country, gold, silver has storage, transportation issues.
there is a possibility of appreciation with bitcoin, fiat is the opposite, real estate, stocks, bonds are dangerous right now, huge downside risk…. (an issue with bitcoin is it trades along with big tech stocks, not good),
As an investment right now I like maybe 30% gold, 50% silver and maybe 10% to 20% bitcoin (on the speculation bitcoin has more upside) Actually gold and silver mining stocks
give better leverage….
NOTE: silver has more upside potential then gold and they don’t usually confiscate silver….bitcoin is harder to confiscate….
I missed one investment/bet
Using 1% to 2% of your money to short the stock market right now, it is a bear market (maybe long spy puts) or long a short etf…..also if you are long stocks, a short bet is an insurance policy…
Take a look…a sea of red……
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx
GLD the gold stock etf is up today, everything else is crashing. GLD is up more then the U.S. dollar today…haha
https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=GLD&ty=c&ta=1&p=
So long the GLD the gold stock etf is a better safe haven then the U.S. dollar…haha
And long the VIX is the big winner today, forget bitcoin, stocks, bonds, real estate…haha
VIX also has options = huge leverage……
VIX is 29.40 now, in the last crash it hit 80.80…to the moon Alice….
https://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?t=VX&p=w1
the everything crash….
real estate?….haha
A house in the York Region a suburb of Toronto, selling for $2 million in March has dropped $500,000 in two months….
What it comes down to is everyone trying to emulate the bankers whom they claim to dispise so much, by trying to parlay money while not adding any value- and then they complain that the money is worthless. It is worthless because such a scheme as growing the value of money while adding no value/creating nothing of true worth makes it so…and God help the person who tries to fix that; they will be labeled an economic terrorist by the majority of the people long before the bankers even open their mouths to condemn them.
fun to watch….haha
Stocks Puke As TINA Unwind Accelerates
from zh comments….
401(k) is becoming a 201 !!!
like 1930’s: Rise of Fascism in Europe (version 2.0). War drums beating globally
Currency devaluations. Rising long term unemployment. Collapsing real wages. Soaring food & energy prices triggering riots worldwide, which is going to lead to French style revolutions in 3rd world nations. Corrupt gov’ts get replaced with Max Robespierre “Reign of Terror” as chaos from total economic collapse in the 3rd world when there is no fuel & no food.
Odds are we’ll be engaged in WW3 before 2030.
wait till the masses are informed Pizza prices are going to increase a 100%…wheat Record High, Diary Record High, Fuel Record High, etc
5 months ago, FedEx, UPS, A-Prime trucks in my area all day everyday. Now, maybe one every week or so. Discretionary halted.
Stocks have no intrinsic value as chapter 11 will teach you. How many companies erased their cash positions for their own Stock? Idiots. Why do they think they can sell it in a crisis? Horrible business educations are destroying this country.
risk disappeared around 1987 with the introduction of the ppt. since then some could go to the casino with no fear. then with clinton ending glass-steagall opened door for more high leverage work to be done. again if i owe the bank a million I have a problem. If I owe the bank a billion the bank has a problem. small fish get smoked while the big ones get released
So the FED priced risk at zero starting around 1987, now that the risk has arrived we find that the FED lied about the price.
Massive number of people are out of the market right now.
PPT will end up owning every single stock.
Every mortgage, every stock, …what can you do about it? This was the democrat plan all along. Only 53 are actually republicans in the house. 8 in the Senate are rino . The USSR had a two party system just like ours.
Some people never believed it could happen here.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/stocks-puke-tina-unwind-accelerates
Everyone is long fiat, in your wallet or bank account, lots are long stocks or bonds through 401K’s, lots more are long real estate, some are long crypto or bitcoin….they are all dropping together right now.
The GLD, the gold stock etf was up a bit today, the dollar was down a bit, GLD is a better safe haven then the dollar, right now…haha
As an insurance policy, a hedge you can offset your losses by shorting, betting against the market.
Here is a great example
Nasdaq QQQ Invesco ETF (QQQ)
may 18 2022 294 put options up 3,450.00 % percent today….so an $1000.00 investment would be about $34,500.00….in one day….
there is money to be made betting against the market…..
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/quotes/QQQ/options
Re: market crash today…
the famous deer in the headlights is out today…very cool
click link to see the deer….
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/american-consumer-strong-narrative-implodes-stocks-bond-yields-crater
this is a good thing, maybe all the zombie companies will go under now…
a note on that…..Stocks have no intrinsic value as chapter 11 will teach you. How many companies erased their cash positions for their own Stock? Idiots. Why do they think they can sell it in a crisis? Horrible business educations are destroying this country.
Everyone is long fiat, in your wallet or bank account, lots are long stocks or bonds through 401K’s, lots more are long real estate, some are long crypto or bitcoin….they are all dropping together right now.
As an insurance policy, a hedge you can offset your losses by shorting, betting against the market.
Here is a great example
Nasdaq QQQ Invesco ETF (QQQ)
Betting on long nasdaq put options today…a way to bet against the market…lots of leverage with options…
Nasdaq QQQ Invesco ETF (QQQ)
may 20 2022 285 put options up 343.96% percent today….
there is money to be made betting against the market…..
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/quotes/QQQ/options?expiration=2022-05-20-m
Re: shorting the stock market…
Vix up 10% today in 4 hours…..not bad…..
https://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?p=d1&t=VX
Re: VIX call options…one example…
VIX is the fear index it trades opposite to the s&p 500 stocks, a way to bet against the market…
VS TR 2X Long VIX Futures ETF (UVIX)..
the may 20th 2022 20 call options were up 333% today…
https://www.barchart.com/stocks/quotes/UVIX/options
Betting on long nasdaq put options today…a way to bet against the market…lots of leverage with options…
Nasdaq QQQ Invesco ETF (QQQ)
may 18 2022 294 put options up 1,533.33% percent today….
there is money to be made betting against the market…..
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/quotes/QQQ/options
VS TR 2X Long VIX Futures ETF (UVIX)..
the may 20th 2022 20 call options ended up 966% today…in one day……
it is a bet against the market, that the market will drop….
Hi Anon,
I just checked prices for silver 1 ounce coins; they are up about $6 vs. last time I bought (about six months ago). I decided to buy a few more, before the price goes up another $6…. or $60!
Eric, gold, silver and lead are great. I look at them as insurance that I hope I never need. But I’ve been interested in crypto from the start. Mostly because of the technology. But also because of the social/political/economic implications. I look at it as a huge experiment. The results have been fascinating to date. The basic technology has spawned any number of interesting side projects. As for “who controls it?”. There is no central committee. Its a decentralized system. I’ll ask you a question in return; Who controls the dollar? Then an even better question; Who controls those who control the dollar? Once you understand those questions, you will understand why Rothbard spoke about that aspect of economics privately.
RE: “Once you understand those questions, you will understand why Rothbard spoke about that aspect of economics privately.”
WTF does That mean?
…Got any links?
Sure. Try this for a start.
https://mises.org/library/conspiracy-theory-history-revisited
Hi Eric
Fantastic, i am a gold and silver bug since at least 1999….they are not in a bubble, everything else is, they have huge upside potential….
For a few years now, I have been wanting a pair of solid silver candlesticks, like I imagine they had in the film, Les Miserables.
I was disappointed to find out most (all?) silver candlesticks have a thin tin foil wrap on them. It’s – almost – like taking off the foil on a Hershey’s Kiss. I did it once.
…Ha! ‘tin foil’, I never noticed that before, if ya, noe-what-I-mean.
‘Les Mis Candle Stick redemption’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWCibUA6Y94
I came real close to buying some “silver bullets” once.
If Only, they were real, maybe?
“Coins & Bars”
“Beans & Franks”
Hi Eric…
good day for the GLD gold miners etf
Gold SPDR (GLD)
171.87 +2.45 (+1.45%)
GLD may 20 2022 172 call options up 438.89% today..in one day..hahaha
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/quotes/GLD/options?moneyness=10&expiration=2022-05-20-m
SLV is the silver miners etf
Silver Trust Ishares (SLV)
20.13 +0.40 (+2.03%)
SLV may 20 2022 20 call options up 163.64% today
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/quotes/SLV/options?moneyness=10&expiration=2022-05-20-m
gold silver bugs winning today…lol
hi Eric
Von Greyerz: Gold As ‘Cheap’ Today As In 1971
Nobody Owns Gold!
So if gold is the best performing asset class in this century why are only 0.5% of world financial assets invested in physical gold?
The simple answer is that most investors neither understand nor follow gold, which is why it is so cheap.
Virtually no investor is aware that gold has been the best performing asset class in the last 22 years.
But as inflation continues to rise, institutional investors in particular will be required to buy inflation protection. Stocks, bonds and property have become bubble assets with a massive downside risk and offering ZERO inflation protection.
Many investors will therefore turn to physical gold and precious metals mining stocks.
The total value of the 33 biggest mining stocks is only $210 billion with only 6 worth more than $10 billion.
Global stock market capitalisation is just over $90 trillion so gold mining stocks represent only 0.2% of that.
And if we add the total value of physical gold for private investment, total investable gold assets amount to $2.5 trillion. With global financial investment assets at $220 trillion, the physical gold investment market is only just over 1% of global assets.
What is clear is that the total sums in gold mining stocks or physical gold is minuscule compared to global financial investments.
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/von-greyerz-gold-cheap-today-1971
Hi Anon,
I think the better question is: Why don’t more people use gold – as money. This “investing” business is peripheral to what money is, properly speaking – which is a way to store value in a stable format that can be used to transact with. It perverts this idea to think of “investing” in money. Right now, gold and silver are harder to use as money, not being legal tender. But – unlike Bitcoin – they have real value and people will accept them in payment, under the table. And after the fall, when the time comes to reboot civilization, gold and silver will be worth even more – as money – again.
Gold and Silver likely would retain intrinsic value and thus be useful as MONEY in such a dire economic situation. However, other than their industrial uses (electrical contacts, for example), flatware, and jewelry, they’re not “wealth” either…LAND and what can be produced from it (crops, timber, stone, minerals, water) or what can subsist off it (livestock) ARE.
I’ve no issue with having gold and/or silver bullion and jewelry on hand; but FIRST, I’d have stored food, WATER, purification supplies, extra clothing, medical supplies, especially Rx, tools, GUNS, and AMMO. And maybe a few cases of whiskey and/or rum to trade! Of course, a wee problem with that…in such a dire situation, I’d be targeted by robbers…especially those carrying BADGES, as they’d justify their robbery on the basis of accusing me of “hoarding”!
Eric, I also want that. But its not going to happen. Why? Because the Masters of The Universe™ OWN this (and most other) governments, and the central banks and the global economy. Sound money doesn’t benefit them. Nor does it benefit the politicians they own.
Always remember that governments are simply gangs of thieves and murderers writ large. They exist only because of the illusions/delusions (that their “educational” systems, and mass/social media foster). Lacking the near total ignorance and apathy of the general population, this madness would have ended long before any of us was born. Now, nature will run its course. May our God have mercy on us all.
There really is no stable store of wealth anymore. All markets fluctuate wildly -Gold dipped to $1650 last fall….rose to over $2K a month or two ago, and is now hovering around $1800. At some point, it too will dive, as it is in a bubble, and when the once-sovereign nations join the “One-World Digital Currency” scheme, they will no longer have any need of their reserves, and thus there will be tons of gold dumped on the market- not to mention small investors cashing-out as the economies collapse (for need of money, and or when they see the aforementioned gold dump occurring).
Real estate? Statistics don’t even begine to tell the story…lots of new stuff was built lately, which goes for a lot, as does older stuff in desirable locales…while some places are tanking already. Add in the ’08 crash, and things don’t look too rosy, unless one bought when it was at thebottom- which is true for just about commodity/investment these days.
Tjhe days of long-term investment in anything are long gone. The only ones who will win are those who buy after a “crash” and havbe the guts to stay in till it rebuilds, …but there is no way of knowing if the crash you buy into is yet just another temporary trough, or the start of the “Big One”, from which there will be no return.
Everything’s in a bubble, from metals to RE to cars and tractors….and when the bubble really does burst, it’s going to make these intermediate crashes look like nothing by comparison.
Bitcoin is but a joke. Anonymous and untraceable? Then how do you prove you have it when they tell you you dont, or when they disappear? Any “currency” that can be substantially influenced but what Eloon Musk does…or even says, is even worse than the crap that Uncle prints. It’s sad that Bitcoin has gained such a following as an alternative to Uncle’s crapola, when the whole idea of having an alternative is supposed to be to have something of intrinsic value and stability- neither of which characterizes Bitcoin or any crypto.
Things you can use to sustain yourself are the only true investments- Land that you can live on and raise food on and do what you want and be independent (But now is too late to buy if you haven’t already)…tools; self-sustainable vehicles…etc.
Nunz, the fun part is that people don’t realize that fiat is just as bad as crypto. Over the last several thousand years, every single fiat currency has eventually gone to its natural value. Zero. People confuse currency with money. Money has taken many, many forms. But gold and silver have been seen as money for thousands of years. As for the CBDC’s it remains to be seen what they turn into. Given that that Russia/China/India and many others are rapidly moving away from the dollar, and pegging their currencies to commodities, the petrodollar might well be on its way out. The Empire is fond of bullying weak third world countries. They really do not know how to deal with a near peer competitor that has a massive military,
and as many nukes are they have.
I’m quite interested in some crypto. Especially something like this. https://www.getmonero.org/
The mathematics is fascinating, and the internal design has been well thought out. Various applications of the block chain could become quite resistant to even quantum computation.
Which is what makes it dangerous to the Usual Suspects. I’m quite looking forward to the further developments.
Hey BJ!
Amen to what you said about fiat- but crypto is really no different. Just as fiat is created by adherence to certain arbitrary rules instituted by it’s creators and controllers….so is crypto. While the privacy aspects of crypto are definitely attractive, they are all still just fiat currencies which represents nothing of value. And, as I pointed out earlier, the very thing which serves to make them secure and private, can just as easily work against us. Come the day that you go to use a crypto, such as Monero, and it’s infrastructure has disappeared, or you are asked to prove what is yours is indeed yours, merely citing a long string of numbers is not going to cut it. If/when the internet goes down long-term or permanently (And I believe it will) how do you redeem your crypto, much less prove you own any….and would it still have any value if you could? Crypto is even worse than fiat paper in that regard (and that’s a hard status to achieve!)…’cause at least with paper…yoiu actually have a tangible, physical representation of what you have; with crypto, you still have all the pitfalls of fiat paper….without even the advantage of being able to physically possess it/use it when the grid and or interwebs go down, etc.
Hi BJ
20 U.S. dollars bought one ounce of gold in 1900
In 2022 it takes 1800 U.S. dollars to buy one ounce of gold
That means the U.S. dollar is worth $0.01 now….. that is one cent, it dropped 99%.
A car costs $50,000 now, a crappy small house some places costs one million dollars, a gallon of gas is $6.00, now you know the real reason.
They ran the printing presses and destroyed your money. On a gold standard that can’t happen.
Hi Nunzio
A switch to bitcoin benefits…
No more income tax to pay interest (usury) to evil globalist central bankers on their keystroke created fake fiat currency
Fiat is legal tender, what that means is it is forced tender, you are forced to use it, through using it you give the globalist/communists their source of power. you are forced at gun point to use it.
All fiat is borrowed into existence and interest is charged (usury) , that is evil, it is banned in Islamic and Christian religions. With bitcoin there is no usury or interest charged.
bitcoin isn’t just created with a keystroke like fiat is, bitcoin is mined privately and it requires work, electricity, equipment and a huge amount of calculations, number crunching. (mining is processing the transactions on the network). this is all done by private individuals, no government or bank involved, real free enterprise. no usury, interest charged by an evil bankster…..
fiat requires no work to create it, fiat is borrowed into existence and interest is charged (usury), the taxpayers pay the interest…lol…billions and billions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
AND…..through the tax system you are forced to pay the interest, guess why income tax exists……..so you can pay interest to crooked evil banksters….
PLUS….if you have fiat it’s value drops to zero because of inflation (money printing), so you get robbed two ways, through income tax then through inflation as the fiat value shrinks….haha…lol
but…..gold and silver are far better…….
“GOLD IS THE MONEY OF KINGS, SILVER IS THE MONEY OF GENTLEMEN, BARTER IS THE MONEY OF PEASANTS – BUT DEBT IS THE MONEY OF SLAVES.”
https://america-first.org/2019/10/17/the-problem-with-fiat-currency/?v=7516fd43adaa
The fiat fans that hate bitcoin love paying tax and supporting/enabling, making very rich, evil globalist/banksters with their usury….lol
Hi Eric
I am old fashioned I like gold and silver
but….
Bitcoin price $ U.S.
2012 5.00 = .002 ounces of gold
2022 29,899 = 16.6 ounces of gold
Gold one ounce price $
2001 267
2011 1325
2022 1800
Real estate (house) $ U.S.
2001 203,000 = 760 ounces of gold
2011 259,700 = 196 ounces of gold
2022 507,800 = 282 ounces of gold
since 2001 houses priced in gold have gone down
since 2012 bitcoin has done well as an investment up from $5.00 to $29,000, a $1.00 investment = $5800 now, not bad.
this year not so much, bitcoin is volatile….since 2021 down 54%
some other investment losers this year….
since 2021 netflix down 72%
since 2021 GE down 34%
since 2021 twitter down 48%
since 2021 tesla down 41%
One ounce of gold is an ounce of gold. An ounce of silver is an ounce of silver. The dollar prices of Au and Ag are manipulated and not accurate. The only reason one should look at the dollar price of Au and Ag is to see how much they can acquire with dollars.
If Au and Ag plummet to $1 today, I’ll buy up every ounce I can.
Bitcoin is a way to make dollars. That’s it. Bitcoin has no value. Make it while you can, because once the dollar is toast, so is Bitcoin. As I, and millions of others will not provide 8 hours of labor or a service for .002332 Bitcoins (or whatever). I’d rather work for a mercury dime.
> As I, and millions of others will not provide 8 hours of labor or a service for .002332 Bitcoins (or whatever). I’d rather work for a mercury dime.
AMEN. Give me junk any day of the week. A few months ago, I found a silver quarter in my change, knew it right away because of the sound. Made my day since it happens so rare anymore.
I’ll work an hour for six RN-12YC spark plugs for that 225 Slant Six propelling a Dodge Dart. When it gets that bad, there will be a BARTER economy, as no money will be safe.
Crypto will be a bigger and bigger deal and many fortunes will be made. However, somewhere north of 90% of these digital assets will go to zero and the people who buy them will lose their shirts. Stick with bitcoin and ethereum and in the long run it will probably go much much higher relative to FRN.
Crypto and NFT all are a scam and depend on finding a bigger fool to buy them.
https://antsstyle.medium.com/why-nfts-are-bad-the-long-version-2c16dae145e2
no….using/owning fiat = communist/globalist/marxist….supporter
using fiat = supporting the globalists/leftist/satanists
bitcoin owners = same as anti maskers, also anti marxist/communist fiat currency
With more than 30 million Americans and 300 million citizens globally HODL-ing, Bitcoiners are already a political constituency.
There’s even a Bitcoin backed SuperPAC now whose stated aim is to rid the government of anti-Bitcoin politicians like Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Anti-bitcoin = in bed with Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Don’t use communist/marxist fiat….
Using Fiat currency = the 5th plank of the communist manifesto
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.
The Ten Planks of the
Communist Manifesto
1848 by Karl Heinrich Marx
Although Marx advocated the use of any means, especially including violent revolution, to bring about socialist dictatorship, he suggested ten political goals for developed countries such as the United States. How far has the United States — traditionally the bastion of freedom, free markets, and private property — gone down the Marxist road to fulfill these socialist aims? You be the judge. The following are Marx’s ten planks from his Communist Manifesto.
1. Abolition of private property in land and application of all rents of land to public purpose.
The courts have interpreted the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1868) to give the government far more “eminent domain” power than was originally intended, Under the rubric of “eminent domain” and various zoning regulations, land use regulations by the Bureau of Land Managementproperty taxes, and “environmental” excuses, private property rights have become very diluted and private property in landis, vehicles, and other forms are seized almost every day in this country under the “forfeiture” provisions of the RICO statutes and the so-called War on Drugs..
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
The 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, 1913 (which some scholars maintain was never properly ratified), and various State income taxes, established this major Marxist coup in the United States many decades ago. These taxes continue to drain the lifeblood out of the American economy and greatly reduce the accumulation of desperately needed capital for future growth, business starts, job creation, and salary increases.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Another Marxian attack on private property rights is in the form of Federal & State estate taxes and other inheritance taxes, which have abolished or at least greatly diluted the right of private property owners to determine the disposition and distribution of their estates upon their death. Instead, government bureaucrats get their greedy hands involved .
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
We call it government seizures, tax liens, “forfeiture” Public “law” 99-570 (1986); Executive order 11490, sections 1205, 2002 which gives private land to the Department of Urban Development; the imprisonment of “terrorists” and those who speak out or write against the “government” (1997 Crime/Terrorist Bill); or the IRS confiscation of property without due process.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transportation in the hands of the state.
In the U.S., communication and transportation are controlled and regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established by the Communications Act of 1934 and the Department of Transportation and the Interstate Commerce Commission (established by Congress in 1887), and the Federal Aviation Administration as well as Executive orders 11490, 10999 — not to mention various state bureaucracies and regulations. There is also the federal postal monopoly, AMTRAK and CONRAIL — outright socialist (government-owned) enterprises. Instead of free-market private enteprrise in these important industries, these fields in America are semi-cartelized through the government’s regulatory-industiral complex.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
While the U.S. does not have vast “collective farms” (which failed so miserably in the Soviet Union), we nevertheless do have a significant degree of government involvement in agriculture in the form of price support subsidies and acreage alotments and land-use controls. The Desert Entry Act and The Department of Agriculture. As well as the Department of Commerce and Labor, Department of Interior, the Evironmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Mines, National Park Service, and the IRS control of business through corporate regulations.
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of Industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
We call it the Social Security Administration and The Department of Labor. The National debt and inflation caused by the communal bank has caused the need for a two “income” family. Woman in the workplace since the 1920’s, the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, assorted Socialist Unions, affirmative action, the Federal Public Works Program and of course Executive order 11000. And I almost forgot…The Equal Rights Amendment means that women should do all work that men do including the military and since passage it would make women subject to the draft.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.
We call it the Planning Reorganization Act of 1949 , zoning (Title 17 1910-1990) and Super Corporate Farms, as well as Executive orders 11647, 11731 (ten regions) and Public “law” 89-136.
10. Free education for all children in government schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc. etc.
People are being taxed to support what we call ‘public’ schools, which train the young to work for the communal debt system. We also call it the Department of Education, the NEA and Outcome Based “Education” .
https://www.laissez-fairerepublic.com/TenPlanks.html
Let me tell you a couple things about how asymmetric cryptography works — I use it at work for security all the time. With symmetric encryption, you have a “shared secret”, e.g., a password. That means that, if I encrypt something, I can keep the secret to myself or entrust it to other people and then either we all can decrypt the thing or just I can do it.
With asymmetric encryption, you have two parts of the key, a private and public key. The private key must be kept secure and not divulged. The public key, as it sounds, can (and should) be distributed publicly.
I can “sign” something with my private key and then anyone with the public key can verify that the signature is indeed mine because the public key will only verify my specific private key signature. I believe this feature is being used by “crypto” currencies.
Now encryption is a little backwards. If I want something encrypted that only I can decrypt, I use the public key to encrypt it. Then only I can decrypt the thing with my private key. My private key will only decrypt something that has been encrypted with the corresponding public key. So I can give you something encrypted and my public key that encrypted it all day long, you can’t decipher it without my private key.
I’m not sure to what extent crypto currencies are using these features only because I haven’t bother to look at it much. I’ve never been very interested and still am not. Well, more like, I’m super disinterested in crypto currencies given recent developments.
It’s good to know a bit about it, especially so that the crypto people don’t try to sound like they know something that other people don’t. There’s a super amount of technical detail under the hood but that’s the gist.
This was written in 2021
The United States in just two decades has gone from a global leader in trade to being completely overtaken by rising nation-state superpower China. As it turns out, Triffin’s worries have turned out to be warranted, and the U.S. finds itself with two distinct paths:
Option 1:
Reverse course and “defend the dollar” by having the Federal Reserve raise interest rates and curtail asset purchases, thus spiraling the global economy into an unprecedented depression in the process, while driving an already-polarized society further apart as unemployment skyrockets, asset values plummet, and the real costs of debt explode.
………spiraling the global economy into an unprecedented depression in the process, while driving an already-polarized society further apart as unemployment skyrockets….so another lockdown coming to control people, based on fake germ phobia……
Or
Option 2:
Continue the devaluation of the dollar while equities, real estate, and other asset classes continue to melt up in nominal terms, as the U.S. attempts to onshore the manufacturing that left its borders over the last two decades, all while keeping the social unrest at a minimum.
haha…all while keeping the social unrest at a minimum. so that is what the lockdown bs was for……..
This was written in 2021, it looks like they went with option 1 in 2022.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/markets/as-your-assets-inflate-bitcoin-pro
A LETTER TO CONSERVATIVES WHO DON’T YET HOLD BITCOIN
the importance of voting with our dollars. Commonly dubbed “Get Woke, Go Broke”, the strategy of boycotting woke companies that spit in the face of conservative values has proven to be an effective one. The current news cycle has Carhartt facing this backlash but many other brands have faced the same.
If there is any organization that has shown to have complete disregard for conservative values it is the United States government. With annual federal spending at $6.8 trillion and annual federal tax revenue at $4 trillion, an abandonment of fiat currency would force an instant $2.8 trillion cut in federal spending. Should we exodus away from the dollar, then the federal government would struggle to fund all of the three-letter agencies that infringe upon so many of our liberties.
The U.S. government has gone woke and we can make them go broke by boycotting the dollar and storing our wealth in bitcoin. I believe that after what happened in 2020, it should be obvious that voting at the ballot box isn’t the answer. Vote with your wallet. Buying bitcoin and getting it off the exchange is a vote for free market currency. Storing large sums of cash in a savings account is a vote for currency that comes with printing privileges for members of the elite class.
using fiat = supporting the globalists/leftist/satanists
bitcoin owners = same as anti maskers
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/letter-to-conservatives-on-bitcoin
Hi Anon,
If I’d “stored my wealth” in Bitcoin, I’d have just lost about two-thirds of my wealth. No thanks. Bitcoin is analogous to the Orange Man in that both are controlled opposition and false hope. The only hope for sound money is just that – sound money. Money that can’t be jiggered with, that retains its value and has intrinsic value. I know of no other form of money that meets these criteria except for gold and silver (and paper money tied to/backed-by it).
Eric,
You’re right in that if you want a stable store of wealth, many cryptocurrencies are NOT the way to do that. The dollar isn’t a very good choice either, easily seen also by recent events. Yes, money that couldn’t be jiggered with would be nice at times, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, we have Congress and the Fed ready to jigger any time, any day.
Keep in mind however, that the underlying technology is used to do MANY things in which transactions of wealth or property are involved.
Also, there are “stablecoins”, such as Tether, which is linked to the price of the dollar. There are also gold stablecoins, for example, that are linked to either the price of gold, or to some quantity of physical gold itself. You could, if so desired, use such a coin to exchange a few pounds of gold in a few seconds without having to mail it or exchange it for dollars first. Just for example. Crypto isn’t limited to Bitcoin or the like.
I though cryptocurrency was controlled opposition at first, too. My experience over the past decade or so seems to tell me otherwise. Not that I couldn’t be wrong, but I don’t think so, generally speaking.
Also, speaking of technical matters, have you looked into the indentation scheme of comments here? It can get a tad confusing, now and then.
Hi Eric
Bitcoin price $ U.S.
2012 $5.00 = .002 ounces of gold
2022 $29,899 = 16.6 ounces of gold
Gold one ounce price $
2001 $267
2011 $1325
2022 $1800
this year not so much, bitcoin is volatile….since 2021 down 54%, but….it doesn’t matter…. since 2012 bitcoin has done well as an investment up from $5.00 to $29,000, a $1.00 investment = $5800 now, not bad. but people still bitch and complain……..
OK, so bitcoin is a horrible investment, tell us a better one….you can’t
since 1900 the U.S. dollar is way, way worse down 98%
cash was the worst investment, it goes to zero every time…fiat always goes to zero….
Hi Anon,
“OK, so bitcoin is a horrible investment, tell us a better one….you can’t”
Yes, I can. Tangible assets such as land, equipment and so on that have actual value in and of themselves. That are useful, in and of themselves – and which you physically possess. Put your money in such things and you will always have the value of such things, even if your money has no value at all.
As far as gold and silver. Yes, their value fluctuates. But they have never become value-less and are unlikely to become so because they are real. They are physical things that have value, in and of themselves. Most of all – as far as money – they are anonymous in a way that digital money can never be. They are inherently independent of any central government or other authority. It is why they – and paper money backed by gold – are the soundest form of money there is.
As far Bitcoin: It’s unreal. Literally, as it has no actual existence. It is a construct, like a digital representation of the “virus” online. People believe in the existence of both. It – Bitcoin – is real in the sense that it can be bought and sold. But it is fundamentally a speculative instrument whose value depends entirely on faith in its value as it has no other underlying value. No objective value has been created when a Bitcoin has been “mined.” It is not tied to anything of value, except insofar as people believe it has value.
And this idea that anything online is “anonymous” – especially as regards money – is naive. The shady/opaque origins of Bitcoin are also problematic.
Hi Eric
real estate…..Since 2001 houses priced in gold have gone down….
Rivian is way worse then bitcoin, so is Netflix
Bitcoin price $ U.S.
2012 5.00 = .002 ounces of gold
2022 29,899 = 16.6 ounces of gold
Gold one ounce price $
2001 267
2011 1325
2022 1800
Real estate (house) $ U.S.
2001 203,000 = 760 ounces of gold
2011 259,700 = 196 ounces of gold
2022 507,800 = 282 ounces of gold
since 2001 houses priced in gold have gone down
since 2012 bitcoin has done well as an investment up from $5.00 to $29,000, a $1.00 investment = $5800 now, not bad.
this year not so much, bitcoin is volatile….since 2021 down 54%
some other investment losers this year….
since 2021 netflix down 72%
since 2021 GE down 34%
since 2021 twitter down 48%
since 2021 tesla down 41%
since 2021 Rivian down 86%
since 1900 the U.S. dollar is way, way worse down 98%
so cash is the worst……
people complain about bitcoin, the dollar is far worse…the reason some people switched to bitcoin…….
I am old school I still like gold and silver….
If things get really bad, food, water and energy will be the most valuable.
They said these wars now are over oil, probably true, the next wars will be over gold, (notice russia and china headed towards gold backed currencies), then the wars after that will be over water…..
Anon,
“If things get really bad, food, water and energy will be the most valuable.”
Lead will be more valuable than all of those.
Plus your math is not right you continue to say multiple times
“2012 5.00 = .002 ounces of gold”
5/.002 = $2500 and ounce. Gold never even reached $1800 in 2012.
Hi Eric
just from as an investment return since 2012…..
since 2012 bitcoin has done well as an investment up from $5.00 to $29,000,
a $1.00 investment = $5800 now,
did real estate and equipment beat it?
I don’t know of any investment since 2012 that beats it……
and from $0.001 in 2010 to $30,000 today nothing did…
but….I like gold and silver better
I recall the 1959 Pat Frank novel, “Alas Babylon”. In the wake of a nuclear war set ca. 1960, the residents of the fictional Central Florida town of Fort Repose (doubling for Mt. Dora, FL), do their best to survive after major cities like Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa, and, later that day, which the people simply call, “The Day”, nearby Orlando. Supplies dry up, and, for example, a station operator sells out his supply of gasoline, charmed by the ringing up of cash, suddenly rendered worthless, even though a rump US Government, with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Mrs. Josephine VanBrukker-Brown, as President, running the nation from Denver, CO, exists. A band of neighbors, led by bachelor-of-leisure and part-time attorney Randy Bragg, formerly a US Army Lieutenant, having serving in the Korean War, works to survive, including fending off road bandits. They pool their resources and, use a Model A Ford that proves to be the most fuel efficient vehicle, but, eventually, there’s no gasoline to be had, so it just sits. A black family lives among the band of neighbors, and they have a mule, named Balaam, which the band takes turns guarding in the barn, as the mule is way too valuable to be left unguarded, and there’s one man extra with a shotgun to guard the mule when he’s used to plow or to pull a cart. Since Randy’s home is part of an old family citrus grove, and they all have some livestock, including chickens, they’re able to eat, but so many residents of “Fort Repose” die off from malnutrition or related diseases. It becomes a grim existence, but nearly a year after “The Day”, when an Air Force helicopter touches down near the Bragg home, and informs them as they’re one of the few towns left intact in Florida, the entire state having been designated a “Contaminated Zone”, that they can be offered evacuation, which the band of survivors refuses.
Eric, nothing really has intrinsic value. Value is a subjective judgement. Utility on the other hand is closer to the concept structure. You might find this of interest.
https://mises.org/library/subjective-value-and-market-prices
Hi BJ,
You write, “Eric, nothing really has intrinsic value.”
Really? Like a roof over your head and food in the ‘fridge?
Eric, subjective value is situational. Your roof and food are great, in the proper situations. In others not so much. That ties back to utility. Value is a subjective judgement. In some situations a gallon of water would have much more value than a million (or more) dollars. In others an AR 15 and some extra ammo would have even more value. Don’t conflate value with utility.
Hi BJ,
I understand the distinction – but maintain that value is also value. A roof over your head is always valuable. So also food. And money that is stable, a secure means for storing wealth as opposed to manipulating the value of it.
The broader point is that something like Bitcoin has no real value – because it isn’t a real thing. Other than as an instrument of speculation. Which may be of value – to those who want to speculate. But the crux of my leeriness about Bitcoin is that it is not trustworthy as money in the way that gold and silver are; i.e., physical assets that have intrinsic value, that are very hard to inflate (devalue) and which are by the nature of physical assets, both anonymous and much harder to control.
I think people who want sound money ought to be promoting gold and silver (and paper redeemable for gold and silver) as money, not a digital anything as substitute for them.
“value is also value”? Perhaps you meant value is always value? 🙂 Value is a subjective judgement. Now that judgement may hold in many or even most situations. But if a counter example can be presented, then its not universal. Example, how much value is the roof over your head, if it keeps you in one position, and this makes defense against overwhelming odds impossible? The same applies to the food in your fridge. It being in your fridge implies that it needs to be there. How mobile would you be with that fridge?
Money **ideally** has certain traits. Those are durability, portability, divisibility, uniformity, limited supply, and acceptability. Look at those last two closely. Fiat obviously fails in that regard. As for acceptability, how acceptable would it be (especially these days) absent the governments guns? That is why fiat is currency, not money.
Bitcoin lacks in durability (needs either the internet, or sneaker net). It also fails (for now) in universal acceptability (but the dollar does as well, these days). That makes bitcoin also currency. Believe me, I’m not an bitcoin fanatic. Even the best crypto has blind spots. But I am interested in the technology, and the implications of crypto. Money is a fascinating subject, that for obviously reasons isn’t taught in the governments “education system”.
Mores the pity. But then how would they keep their fractional reserve (now at zero) and central banking scams running?
|Bitcoin lacks in durability (needs either the internet, or sneaker net)
Bitcoin will need more than the internet (and sneaker net is useless with any cryptocurrency) , it will need miners to validate any transaction. If the miners don’t have power or connectivity, you own useless bits of nothingness.
|That makes bitcoin also currency
Huh? how does lack of two important definitions of currency make something a currency?
FM404, there are already distributed apps that work on flash drives. Its part of the third generation application push. I’ve seen some of the prototypes. Its rather interesting how far things have progressed. There are also mesh networks developing. Some cover entire countries at this point.
Bitcoin lacks two of the traits of *Money*. That drops it to currency.
BJ, Still going to need electricity to do anything with them.
Thanks for clearing my tired mind up about what you were calling bitcoin. 🙂
@eric, the idea is just that you “own” a number, but in a weird sense. You obviously could make 100 copies of the number and hand them out to friends, and it seems money from thin air. The toughest part to grasp is that bitcoin does not use “ownership” in any common-sense way. It’s instead that the blockchain, which maintains a permanent record of every transaction, is stored on millions or billions of hard drives around the world, and who “owns” that number depends on who those other hard drives that you have no control over say owns it. Basically, all those drives have encoded in the blockchain is, “Wallet #XXXX owns BTC #YYYYY”, and that’s that.
Handing out those numbers to your friends made no difference, because that transaction did not get logged on all those hard drives. Unlike anything we are familiar with, you can’t present title or COO or a stock certificate or even just show them the gold coin in hand. You only own it because everyone else agrees it is your, and there’s nothing you can do about it if they don’t.
TestingHi FP,
It works!
Thanks eric. I just wanted to make sure my expertly hilarious
strikethrough-correctiongag in response to Scott would be as hilarious and expert as it appeared in my head.I stand by
Ukrainemy efforts.Roger that, FP!
I try to be amiable.
‘Crypto is Now Less So’ — eric
E-bros are now less so, too:
‘After selling 8 million shares at $26.80 [last] Monday, Ford reportedly dumped another 7 million shares of Rivian at $26.88 on Friday.
‘That brought Ford’s total shares sold to more than $400 million, according to Bloomberg. It cuts Ford’s stake in Rivian to nearly 87 million shares. The sales come after a lockup ended last week.
‘Ford had initially invested $1.2 billion in Rivian and saw the value of its investment balloon since Rivian’s public market debut. But since then, its stock has crashed.’ — ZH
Rivian’s stock chart, but six months old, shows a spike to almost $180 early on, followed by a plunge to $20 a few days ago.
https://tinyurl.com/hvsecy5c
EV’s, comrades: get woke, go broke. Tesla’s chart don’t look so great either.
There is already far too much institutional money already involved owning bitcoin or positioning to get involved, bitcoin isn’t going to zero, forget about it….
The only question is to what extent Bitcoin overtakes the fiat economy, whether it becomes an official global reserve asset or functions outside the system entirely as increasingly more individuals and locales opt-out of the fiat world order.
Two more political autonomous zones did just that, announcing Bitcoin as legal tender:
Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal
Prosperos, a private chartered city in Honduras
While Mexican Senator Indira Kempis came to the conference to announce that she’s introducing legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in Mexico.
With more than 30 million Americans and 300 million citizens globally HODL-ing, Bitcoiners are already a political constituency.
There’s even a Bitcoin backed SuperPAC now whose stated aim is to rid the government of anti-Bitcoin politicians like Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Anti-bitcoin = in bed with Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Hi Jim
Rivian is way worse then bitcoin, so is Netflix
Bitcoin price $ U.S.
2012 5.00 = .002 ounces of gold
2022 29,899 = 16.6 ounces of gold
Gold one ounce price $
2001 267
2011 1325
2022 1800
Real estate (house) $ U.S.
2001 203,000 = 760 ounces of gold
2011 259,700 = 196 ounces of gold
2022 507,800 = 282 ounces of gold
since 2001 houses priced in gold have gone down
since 2012 bitcoin has done well as an investment up from $5.00 to $29,000, a $1.00 investment = $5800 now, not bad.
this year not so much, bitcoin is volatile….since 2021 down 54%
some other investment losers this year….
since 2021 netflix down 72%
since 2021 GE down 34%
since 2021 twitter down 48%
since 2021 tesla down 41%
since 2021 Rivian down 86%
since 1900 the U.S. dollar is way, way worse down 98%
so cash is the worst……
My major beef with crypto is that a lot of people and places don’t take crypto as payment.
You may have a bazillion bitcoins, but they won’t do you any good if you can’t pay for anything in bitcoins.
Whereas for all of its problems, people still take dollar bills as payment because they know that others will also take them as payment.
Which brings me to this: Others have said it before, but it bears repeating, that the completely digital, not physical, nature of crypto means that it can be lost in a hack attack or server crash, that it lends itself to tracking and surveillance, and that it’s not much use in a grid down scenario.
At one point I thought I was missing out, but it looks like I wasn’t, after all.
Whatever happened to Leo Wanta and the 27.5 trillion dollars salted away somewhere?
Nice chart of LUNA at coinbase.
You can get back in on the ground floor with LUNA at an amazingly low price.
6.5 trillion times the all time high of 119 USD equals a market cap of 773.5 trillion dollars.
Was the most valuable crypto, well, maybe. The Seneca Cliff arrived and LUNA is now 0.000218 USD per LUNA. The market cap is now 1.4 billion USD, so there is still some value there.
Terra has nosedived into the ground at ludicrous speed.
Crypt off is more like it.
Go to Google and type in “crypto definition.” Here’s the first thing that comes up: “a person having a secret allegiance to a political creed, especially communism.” That’s right, crypto is another synonym for communism, viz. cryptos are prototypes for the digital currency favored by today’s totalitarians. Is it therefore surprising that the left-leaning Millennial crowd is going gaga over bitcoin?
Hi Jim,
“Crypto” is an interesting term in this context; a kind of double entendre. Hidden, opaque. Secretive. Yet also not. It’s said to be a way to “free” money from authoritarian oversight – and yet it can also be a tool to accomplish authoritarian oversight of money. Whatever the case may prove to be, I doubt crypto is sound money – and that’s perhaps the most important reason not to trust it.
hahaha….communist…..
using fiat = supporting the globalists/leftist/satanists
bitcoin owners = same as anti maskers, also anti marxist/communist fiat currency
With more than 30 million Americans and 300 million citizens globally HODL-ing, Bitcoiners are already a political constituency.
There’s even a Bitcoin backed SuperPAC now whose stated aim is to rid the government of anti-Bitcoin politicians like Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Anti-bitcoin = in bed with Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Don’t use communist fiat….
Using Fiat currency = the 5th plank of the communist manifesto
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.
money safe in the bank?…..haha
trigger a stock market crash….part of agenda 2030?
use this as an excuse to freeze ALL financial markets, shut down all the markets, seize all pensions and 401K’s, bank accounts, ban cash. Everything confiscated to pay off the huge debt, lots of governments are bankrupt, all for the greater good…haha
In the US, provisions for depositor bail-ins existed even before Cyprus, with the “Statutory Bail-Ins” provisions in the 2010 Dodd-Frank bill.
The fact is, if you’re living in any of the largest economies globally, then your country is party to a supra-national agreement on “flexible bank bail-in bonds” put in place at the G-20 Brisbane Summit in 2014.
So while you have the ability to choose not to do business with Coinbase (or better, properly custody your digital assets), your country has already granted itself the same ability to bail-in your fiat savings a long time ago, and it isn’t voluntary.
It’s the one issue that is completely bipartisan and duly ossified into the law of the land. From loose canon populists to far-left Marxist ideologues, nobody within the corridors or power is talking about getting rid of the government’s authority to confiscate your savings to recapitalize a failing banking system. When this thing blows up subject to the inexorable outcome of their own failed policies and under its own warped incentives, there won’t be any quibbling over it, it’s the law.
“Hell yeah, we’ll take your savings.”
Given the behaviour of governments just this year alone, where
in Canada having the wrong political views could get your bank accounts seized,
The US seized the foreign reserves of two sovereign nations
European banks are frantically seizing assets of persons with surnames ending in ‘-ved’ , ‘-nin’, ‘-tin’, ‘-lin’ or ‘-ov’
Russia, for their part, is seizing assets of Western companies within their borders
Two things become apparent:
First, we’re in an age where your assets and savings are considered fair game for everybody else, either as guilt-by-association with somebody else’s political ideology, or as retaliation for government actions you had no involvement with.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/if-you-thought-coinbase-bankruptcy-disclosures-were-bad
The leftist communists love the new MMT, you can just print money, no need to work. insanity….
re: money clinking, gold and silver are the hardest currencies……but there is a new opinion now…….bitcoin is the hardest currency.
fiat currency goes to zero value in 100 years.
gold and silver have always been considered the hardest currency (store of value), it is low tech so easier to trade with, but it has storage and transport issues..
gold and not so much even rarer silver can also lose value because of new found supplies,
bitcoin is a fixed amount, only a limited number will be produced, so difficult for it to lose value some people figure bitcoin is the hardest currency now. the problem is it is dependent on technology, but it is the easiest way to move money around.
bitcoin: one of the main purposes was to escape central bank printing.
if things get really bad, food, energy and water are more valuable then money, as in no offer, none for sale.
Hi Aanon,
In re: “bitcoin is a fixed amount, only a limited number will be produced, so difficult for it to lose value some people figure bitcoin is the hardest currency now.”
People keep saying this – but I don’t understand how it is so. Anything that is digital can be produced in limitless amounts. Some say there is a mathematical limit, but this is opaque to the point of obsidian. Gold and silver are inherently limited – sans alchemy. Yes, the supply can be increased. But only a little. And the ease-of-use issues can be eliminated by adding in paper or even digital money that is tied to gold and silver, redeemable in fixed amounts of them, as was once the case. This also takes away the inflationary/control power that government has and renders money what it ought to be – money. Something anyone can easily understand and which, accordingly, makes it hard to defraud anyone.
Gold and Silver have “storage and transportation issues” that did not exist when the dollar was pegged to Gold and Silver. When a paper dollar could be redeemed for an ounce of silver, there was no such problem. Send your dollar across the country, and the recipient could exchange it for an ounce of silver, if so desired. Back when banks actually served a purpose other than making themselves money. When their purpose was to keep that dollar/Silver exchange functioning. Hell, now they don’t even keep dollars in stock. In the process of liquidating my late father’s estate, being the trustee, I drew a cashiers check in the amount of $30k for my son. Having no more confidence in banks than I do, he tried to cash it. After spending an afternoon trying to do so, and going to several banks, he finally found a bank that had enough dollars on hand to cover it.
Cashiers checks used to be considered cash. Not anymore. Had a cashiers check bounce! Not kidding. My bank said I could sue and win, but it wasn’t worth the lawyers fees.
A certified check can have a stop payment, a bank draft can’t be cancelled, almost as good as cash
Hi John
It started with the goldsmiths the jewelers, 9the 1st bankers), they would store your gold for you and give you a receipt for it, you could go back later and get your gold. Then they figured out they could issue more receipts then the gold they held, (secretly stealing the gold), it works until everybody wants their gold back all at once, the 1st bank run.
U.S. dollar devaluation
in 2001 $261.00 bought 1 ounce of gold, today it costs $1800.00
in 2012 $5.00 bought one bitcoin, today it costs $29,000.00
in 1999 $1.00 bought 1 gallon of gas, today it costs $4.38
holding gold or bitcoin looks better then holding dollars
The War On ‘Woke’ Capitalism Has Begun
The True Cost of Wokeness
Germany is scrambling, looking at rationing power and in the early stages of reversing their own policy of shutting down their nuclear reactors. They are even considering recommissioning coal fired plants. It turns out you can’t heat the nation on hot air and platitudes.
The true cost of wokeness is beginning to hit home, we’re seeing it first at the gas pumps here in North America. We’re seeing it in energy shortages and rationing abroad.
Next up: out of control food inflation. They don’t call them “meal”-worms for nothing
In the Cathy Woods, Michael Saylor fireside at the conference, Woods noted the change in rhetoric coming out of Janet Yellen in just the last year:
Last year Yellen was harping on crypto’s use in illicit transactions. Now she’s talking about how they “are playing a significant role, not really so much in transactions, but in investment decisions of lots of Americans.”
“Somebody has been whispering into Yellen’s ear” opined Woods, her guess? SEC head Gary Gensler.
Saylor put the Biden executive order into context: “When was the last time the sitting President of the United States issued an executive order for all Federal agencies to get up to speed on an asset class?” – framing that as not presaging a crypto ban, but the de facto green light for the entire space.
There are numerous reasons for this, including:
Being a leading innovator in crypto is increasingly seen as a net-positive economically for the countries that adopt it
They provide a strategic advantage over countries that are attempting to ban it (China)
There is already too much institutional money already involved or positioning to get involved
The only question is to what extent Bitcoin overtakes the fiat economy, whether it becomes an official global reserve asset or functions outside the system entirely as increasingly more individuals and locales opt-out of the fiat world order.
Two more political autonomous zones did just that, announcing Bitcoin as legal tender:
Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal
Prosperos, a private chartered city in Honduras
While Mexican Senator Indira Kempis came to the conference to announce that she’s introducing legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in Mexico.
With more than 30 million Americans and 300 million citizens globally HODL-ing, Bitcoiners are already a political constituency. There’s even a Bitcoin backed SuperPAC now whose stated aim is to rid the government of anti-Bitcoin politicians like Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/war-woke-capitalism-has-begun
At least bitcoin is controlled by a million independent miners around the world instead of a few joos in NYC and London controlling our fiat. That has to be worth something.
Hi Mark,
In re: “At least bitcoin is controlled by a million independent miners around the world…”
Well, who are these “miners,” exactly? And why should any person trust in people whose identity is opaque and whose “work” seems dubious, at best?
Hi Eric
BITCOIN IS A REVOLUTION OF INDIVIDUALS, NOT OF INSTITUTIONS
Don’t look for the value of bitcoin in the big financial institutions and gurus. Its value lies in the anonymous people who make a conscious decision to participate in maintaining the Bitcoin network by purchasing their own in-home equipment, and saving via small weekly purchases of bitcoin.
This is quite different from what you are used to. In the fiduciary world, names, surnames, positions and institutions are agents of great importance and value. In Bitcoin, the opinions of Jamie Dimon, Warren Buffet and the CFO of BlackRock matter little. What makes this technology inevitable is the existence of an anonymous, uncompromising and unstoppable minority.
Try to understand what this minority thinks, what motivates them, how they interact with Bitcoin and why it is so difficult to stop them. The next time Charlie Munger gives his opinion on the matter, ignore it.
STUDY AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS
I’ve heard big names in Wall Street claim that bitcoin has no “intrinsic value” more times than is reasonable. After a few years of not understanding this “phenomenon,” I came to learn that many economists who have advanced degrees and work in finance have never read even one essay by Friedrich Hayek or Ludwig von Mises.
It would be of great value to your Bitcoin journey to set aside linear regressions and differential modeling for a while to focus on the ideas of Carl Menger and his disciples. I promise you that you will not become a gold bug overnight, but at the very least you will understand that the term “intrinsic value” does not make sense.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/open-letter-to-bitcoin-doubting-friend-on-wall-street
Hi Anon,
I want money that is under my control, not subject to being devalued or taken away without the need to even physically take it away from me. Bitcoin is something that no one seems to know where it came from or who controls it; we only know that is not controlled by us. That its value is ephemeral and based upon the willingness of others to ascribe value to it. It is not backed by anything of value, as gold and silver always have been – in and of themselves.
I trust Bitcoin as much as I trust Facebook.
Eric, who in their right mind would trust “The full faith and credit of the US government” if they didn’t have guns pointed at you? Crypto is a very fascinating subject that you might be interested in, if you could get some good basic information. Granted, its filled with fraud and hoaxers but that’s to be expected. I’d suggest you start with this.
https://www.sofi.com/crypto-guide/
If you are interested, there are many useful resources on youtube and other such.
Hi BJ,
I don’t trust “The full faith and credit of the US government.” For precisely the same reasons I don’t trust Bitcoin. They are both ungrounded to any standard of value; both easily devalued by increase in supply. Both controlled by entities over which we have no control.
I have read extensively about Bitcoin – and it’s still opaque to me. I may not be the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree but I’m also not an idiot. And if a person of average intelligence can’t understand something that ought to be straightforward and easy to explain then that’s a red flag they’re not meant to understand it.
Think time-share contracts.
Very good, 2+ hour video explaining how Cryptos and NFT are a scam. Watch a 1.5 speed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g
in a nutshell, it is a bigger fool scam. You need a bigger fool than you to cash out anything, since it is not inherently valuable in and of itself.
Thanks, Fool – I will check out the video after I get off the air later today!
I requires a computer of sorts, and an internet connection, which means it can be hacked, and likely will be at some point. If it hasn’t already been.
John, that’s true for many things. But that doesn’t prevent them from being useful. But open source is the key to dealing with many of the inherent flaws of software. That’s why the best crypto is open source, and the subject of regular audits. Beyond that lies the basic principles involved. They don’t care how many resources you throw at them. Certain things can be proven unbreakable. The one time pad, properly used is one of those. Others don’t have formal proofs yet, but are in the process of being examined. Hell, even mathematics itself depends on what you start with. Try not to throw out the baby with the bath water. 🙂
Bitcoin = wampum. 100,000,000 satoshi to equal one bitcoin is pure lunacy. Those bitcoiners really know how to fiddle with numbers.
108/42 = 2.57 USD per gallon of crude oil at a recent price.
Oil at 100 USD per barrel, Bitcoin at 31,200, one bitcoin will buy 312 barrels of oil, 42 x 312 = 13,104. At 61,000 dollars for one bitcoin, it would have bought 762 barrels of crude in October of 2021. You’re talking some real value when you have crude oil and refined fuels to make it happen.
Times four dollars per gallon for fuel, 52,416 dollars, 312 barrels of oil refined to fuels is worth more than one bitcoin, buy oil with bitcoin.
31200/4 = 7800 gallons of fuel at four dollars per gallon. 7800/15 = 520 15 gallon fill-ups. 7800 x 25 mpg = 195,000 miles of driving. One Bitcoin is going to get you places, you won’t have the Bitcoin, but who cares? A trip to the moon on gossamer wings, you will be happy you spent bitcoin on fuel.
Tied to a resource like crude oil, Bitcoin needs a lot of help to stand on two feet.
Spend your bitcoin on crude oil or fuel. You’ll be glad you did.
Tied to a real commodity, bitcoin is a loser. Just my two satoshi.
We are about 3 to 4 years behind China. Common prosperity, Agenda 2030: “You will own nothing an be happy.”
Reuters:
09/24/21
“China’s central bank has announced that all transactions of crypto-currencies are illegal, effectively banning digital tokens such as Bitcoin. “Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities,” the People’s Bank of China said, warning it “seriously endangers the safety of people’s assets”.”
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/what-s-behind-china-s-cryptocurrency-ban/
“Altogether, there is strong evidence to suggest that the cryptocurrency prohibition was a response to the perennial problem of capital flight from China. Given that a huge amount of capital flight already occurred through cryptocurrency exchanges, the PBOC will have been aware that cryptocurrency was exacerbating China’s chronic issue of capital flight.
With the common prosperity program, China aims to curb capital flight and encourage the domestic circulation of people’s wealth. China’s attempts at wealth redistribution would be far more difficult to accomplish if the rich circumvented China’s already strict capital controls through offshore cryptocurrency exchanges and acquired overseas assets.”
It’s simpler than that, Griff. Any authoritarian system, be it communism, or whatever the hell one calls what we have here these days, uses economics and currency as one of it’s chief means to control the masses. Any competition to their official system means that an alternative exists, and thus people can opt out of the commune, at least in some ways economically. This is why Fink Douche Roosevelt outlawed and confiscated gold; this is why they had to illegally create a central bank here (and why such was prohibited by the Constitution)….why there is income tax- though it’s receivers can just print as much money as they care to…..etc.
I think Bitcoin being such an alternative likely had a lot to do with it’s popularity, due to it’s anonymity and standing apart from any state controls….even though it was not a good alternative….. It’s like choosing to asphyxiate yourself, rather than waiting for the firing squad. (If they ever threaten to shoot me at sunrise, they’ll be sadly disappointed and out of luck! I don’t get up that early!)
That’s why China made BTC illegal, and why our gov’t is making noises to strictly control it. Gov’t CAN’T STAND competition!
bubbles??
The Housing Bubble Bust
the number of housing units per person (per capita) is now at the same level as the previous bubble. This doesn’t support the housing-shortage explanation on a national scale (though local scarcities could be driving prices much higher),
and points to a speculative cheap-credit-fueled FOMO frenzy as the primary source of the bubble.
Now that mortgage rates have risen from 3% to 5%, the speculative credit-FOMO bubble is popping.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/curveballs-housing-bubble-bust
I remain in the dark as I never took the time to look at Bitcoin. Just seemed sketchy, although I think computer hardware folks made out. When the balloon goes up I want physical things such as gold/silver, bartering things like whiskey and ammo, transportation things..working on that. I think 2008 was a cakewalk compared to what’s coming. Hope I’m wrong.
There’s a reason why seasoned investors call them shitcoins. They’re shit. The markets aren’t much better, but if you have a grasp of fundementals and macro perspective and follow the greats like Buffett, Munger, Bogle, and a few others, you will make money in the markets slowly, but surely. If you go for quick rich schemes, you’ll most likely get burned. Investing in companies that have zero earnings and lose millions per quarter for years, those are in the dirt as well, and still falling. Those are zombie companies…stocks like Carvana, for example, lol.
bitcoin owners call the other coins shitcoins
My sentiments also Eric, crypto is a fairy tale making alot of money for the promoters, and losing a whole lot of money for the bag holders. Buy my LUNA coin – it’s going to the moon!
Like Lehman Brothers stock, it started to slide then poof in 48 hours gone. All that wealth went poof, gone into nothingness and that is very DEFLATIONARY (which means the USD will get strong as CASH IS KING IN DEFLATION).
So when the BIG DOWNWAVE gets going when the EVERYTHING BUBBLE pops expect consumers to react by hoarding cash in fear.
The $USD is the currency of the global hegemon, which might be one BIG reason it doesn’t go to zero. The criminal politicians still have to pay contractors so they have a good reason to protect their fake currency from worthlessness.
—————-
In survey after survey – inflation is currently the #1 issue of Amerikans being screwed by the Fed money printers and Biden regime. The Democrats are in power and will get the blame. In regional elections they are losing. In less than 6 months political pundits are saying the Democrats are going to lose bigly, and Republicans will then control both houses, see online betting poll:
https://www.electionbettingodds.com/House2022.html
——————-
The real reason why cryptos are sliding is interest rates that are going up. Example, search “bigcharts treasury rate”
https://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=BX%3ATMUBMUSD03M
The reason why cryptos exploded (19,000 so far) is because the Fed lowered interest rates to zero then kept them there. This stoked fears of hyperinflation. Your bank savings rate went to a fraction of 0.1%. So money fled savings into stocks, real estate, art, old cars, metals, cryptos.
If interest rates continue up (and I argue they are rapidly going to retest the 1980 highs) then there is going to be a big shakeout in those 19,000 crypto currencies – and the demise of LUNA is just the start of this new trend.
The big one is upon us. The Fed says it is going to raise rates 6 more times in 0.50% jumps. That could spell doom for the stock market which was propelled by zero rates and unlimited margin. In fact I think the market is poised for a 1987/1929 crash based on the Elliott Wave count:
https://danericselliottwaves.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/wlshdaily-6.png
The stock market is “stair stepping” down in a 1-2, 1-2 pattern. That means in technical terms we are approaching “wave 3 of 3 of 3 down”.
So the crash of cryptos is just the start of something much bigger, the Grand Supercycle crash as they call it. LUNA coin was just the canary in the coal mind going tango uniform.
CRAP-TO is a more apt word.
“BridgeCoin”
Since there’s around 19,000 crypto “currencies” out there; sticking a bunch of money into anything that volatile and likely to fail does not strike me as a good investment or even risk. Investments to consider include gold, silver, brass and lead. Are there any other precious metals? How about food? The way prices are going up it might be a safe and eatable investment for the future.
When I see the graphics of Bitcoins, it makes me think of the fake “Covid” spikey ball cartoons. Neither is real, but we’re all to infer otherwise from the “pictures.”
“[I]t’s so difficult to understand, the almost-axiomatic clue that a scam’s afoot.” This is a great rule of thumb in general.
I too am very suspicious of the purported un-traceability of crypto transactions. Blockchain is merely a means for keeping a ledger of transactions. How is this less traceable than cash?
I think if you treat crypto like gambling in a a casino, maybe you can have some fun and maybe make some money, but it’s not what it’s touted to be.
Looks like the Robinhood traders are about to get smacked with reality as bitcoins of all stripes and the various NFT’s go to their intrinsic value – zero. Nothing but vaporware.
I think Bitcoin had a bit a Tulip mania going on as alternate to the rapidly inflating dollar.
“Tulip mania (Dutch: tulpenmanie) was a period during the Dutch Golden Age when contract prices for some bulbs of the recently introduced and fashionable tulip reached extraordinarily high levels, with the major acceleration starting in 1634 and then dramatically collapsing in February 1637.[2] It is generally considered to have been the first recorded speculative bubble or asset bubble in history.[3”
Yeah, it’s been a bitch. Five years ago I took out of crypto all the dollars I put into it, which was nine thousand of them. The recent market manipulation by Blackrock and Citadel smashed my free-ride crypto portfolio’s value to under $200K for the first time in a couple years.
The most stable currency is backed by those who wield the preponderance of violence. All financial power actually flows from the muzzle of a rifle.
Not gold, not faith, not innovation, fear of violence.
BTC has no army.
Actually bitcoin does have an army. But they don’t play by the conventional rules. They will not line up in uniform lines so they can be killed. That of course makes them “terrorists”. 🙂
Bitcoin is a fascinating example of emergent behavior. Its social/political/economic implications are a study of topics that the Empire and all of its various cronies around the world do not want people examining. Crypto is almost a religion to some people. Its become a belief system, that has spawned countless applications. Some rather useful, some a total waste of time. But over all, its that belief that the Usual Suspects seek to undermine to maintain their grip on power. It has been said by one of the great monsters of the 20th century; “That power comes from the barrel of a rifle”. But that is a very limited conception of power. History and current events have shown that real power comes from belief. It can make or break entire civilizations. It remains to be seen, what the implications of this belief system will be.
Hi BJ,
Without control over our finances, we are controlled. Who controls Bitcoin? Who could control it? The answers to these questions are important. My view is that while Bitcoin is interesting, it is dangerous – because of the threat it poses to real (physical) money. To anonymity as regards our transactions. I consider that people who believe Bitcoin to be “anonymous” are naive, at best. And regardless, anything that is online and “connected” is inherently controllable by forces beyond our control. Hard money is the antidote to that.
By hard money are you referring to gold/silver? I totally agree, but those aren’t the only possibilities. Look at oil for one example. It is one of the most important commodities in the world in this age. But oil is just one example. How about a basket of commodities? If it was properly created, it would minimize the inevitable attempts to game the system. That is the route that China/Russia/India and others are creating as we speak. Its looking like a direct competitor to the petrodollar. Entire countries have been destroyed to protect that. But those involved aren’t the minor third world countries that the Empire is fond of bullying. We are certainly living in “interesting times”…
Substitite “convid” for “bitcoin.”
“The value of a Bitcoin has melted away like a mid-May frost. In fact, it has almost no value left anymore…”
-Eric
It’s still more than 10x what it was 5 years ago and more than 3x what it was 2 years ago. If I would’ve kept my BTC investment in dollars, it would’ve just decayed in value that entire time.
Now is the time to buy. I would if I had any spare money, but life is demanding right now. These cycles repeat every few years or so.
My guess is, at this time, people need to call in their cattle and cash in their chips because inflation is eviscerating them. Thus, some have cashed in their crypto. It’ll be back.
Don’t sell now, Eric.
BaDnOn way back in 2014 I bought 3 from a dealer, just to see how it all worked. After realizing no one else would play along I just let it sit. A year or two later a company came along that would exchange BTC for gift cards. I doubled my money in Amazon gift cards and that was that. Of course had I held on it would be worth more than my home. Still outperformed most of my portfolio at the time anyway, so no regerts.
ReadyKilowatt,
I’m sorry to hear that! Even now, that would be $90k, and at the height of the market, would’ve been close to $200k. As long as you gained rather than lost, though. I oft think of the lost opportunity, though. If I would’ve just put in a $100 for the hell of it when I first heard of Bitcoin in 2010, and it was just a penny or so…
Bitcoin started at one tenth of one cent $0.001, went to about $69,000.00 (the best investment in history), now it is $31,000.00, at $3850.00 they said it was going to zero, then it went to $69,000.00, now at $31,000.00 they say it is going to zero….hahaha
BaDnOn: “Now is the time to buy.”
Because of the strength of the “fundamentals,” I suppose?
Not that I’d ever recommend buying Bitcoin or stocks or anything like that…but the thing is, if one does want to do so, these dips present the best opportunities. Buy [anything] when low…sell when high. ALL markets are volatile these days [and have been for the last 20 years]. At some point, there will be no coming back…just a massive dip- a ‘reset’. There’s no telling when this will be- It will likely be very soon…this could even be the start of it…or the rollar coaster could run a bit longer- who knows? Even gold is not immune. I bought a few pieces of gold on the big dip last year….even though ultimately, gold will likely go down with everything else. There’s no escaping it…but rather than just sitting and watching your money turn to dust, better to buy on the big dips and sell when it gets high again…. I wouldn’t mess with Bitcoin though- one day when ya turn on the old ‘puter, and the infrastructure of Bitcoin has vanished, what do you do? A physical asset that you have physical possession of will always have some value in the real world….but numbers on a screen and electrons?- Not so much (or at all).
It’s becoming easy to see how (K)louse Slob and the WEF’s goal of us ‘owning nothing’ is being implemented. All markets and currencies will collapse (are collapsing), and it’s too late to assemble durable physical commodities, as they either unobtanium or grossly overpriced(in a bubble which will also burst)- So already, we are at a point where there is little we can in conventional terms…which is why the self-sufficient loifestyle has always been so important to me- as it is the only way to maintain independence from *their* control.
“…These dips present the best opportunities.”
Exactamente, Nunzio!
Hey, I believe in having some gold and silver, too. “Diversify!” as the financial goofballs tout. Of course, concentrate on physical assets, and focus on means of production, before anything like crypto, but if you’re comfortable with the prospect, now if the time to buy.
BadOn, I just looked at the Bitcoin price- It’s already up about $2K from what it was when I looked at it a few days ago. I don’t like things like Bitcoin which have no intrinsic value or even a physical existence…but if I would have bought on every major crash over the last 5 years, and then sold when it got beck to it’s old high….I’d be swimming in money right now. Same is true with stocks or anything else that is liquid. Most people buy when it’s high, or hold it too long, and thus lose, or at least never gain in the long run….
Wasn’t Bitcoin down to around 6 or $8K about 2 years ago? This current dip was not really big enough in my book- but the aforementioned one…man!- Buying then would’ve been tantamount to getting in on the ground floor.
Nunz,
Yeah, that would’ve certainly been a better opportunity. It’s best not to think of it too much like that, though. Let’s say BTC goes to $1 million in a few years. It’s not outside the realm of possibility. That would turn $1,000 invested today into $33,000. Not bad. Of course, there’s no guarantee, BUT, you don’t want to look back at the good ‘ol days of BTC at $30k and wishing you’d acted then.
Without doubt, buy your ammo first, but if you’re othewise set…
Hi BaDnOn
I am old school I like gold and silver but………
gold and silver should be way higher, but the market is manipulated, controlled, bitcoin is too, but less so….
Bitcoin started at one tenth of one cent $0.001, went to about $69,000.00 (the best investment in history), now it is $31,000.00,
at $3850.00 they said it was going to zero, then it went to $69,000.00, now at $31,000.00 they say it is going to zero….hahaha
There is already far too much institutional money (very smart money), already involved owning bitcoin or positioning to get involved, bitcoin isn’t going to zero, forget about it….
these institutions do far more research before they invest in something then you can do in 3 lifetimes, so don’t worry about it……so the people that hate/knock/doubt bitcoin are smarter then these institutional investors…hahaha…
bitcoin is seen as digital gold, a store of value. there is only one bitcoin.
The other cryptos are a different story, the bitcoin owners call them shitcoins, there is only one bitcoin, ethereum has value also, the rest = a casino..
you can participate in bitcoin moves through a stock brokerage account, the symbol is GBTC, it is bought and sold like a stock/etf, 2 seconds in and out, you don’t have to use some other exchange, your investment is protected just like buying a stock.
The way things are today they have forced everybody into being a trader, speculator….see real estate…
The only question is to what extent Bitcoin overtakes the fiat economy, whether it becomes an official global reserve asset or functions outside the system entirely as increasingly more individuals and locales opt-out of the fiat world order.
Two more political autonomous zones did just that, announcing Bitcoin as legal tender:
Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal
Prosperos, a private chartered city in Honduras
While Mexican Senator Indira Kempis came to the conference to announce that she’s introducing legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in Mexico.
With more than 30 million Americans and 300 million citizens globally HODL-ing, Bitcoiners are already a political constituency.
There’s even a Bitcoin backed SuperPAC now whose stated aim is to rid the government of anti-Bitcoin politicians like Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Anti-bitcoin = in bed with Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Don’t use communist fiat….
Using Fiat currency = the 5th plank of the communist manifesto
Using fiat = supporting, enabling the globalist/leftist/satanist agenda…
at least bitcoin owners aren’t supporting klaus schwab and the globalists with their fiat….using fiat is the same as using a mask…..haha
the communist manifesto…..
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.
Anon,
I can agree with most of that, save for I think a few of the other coins are worthy efforts. Bitcoin, although still the reigning King of Crypto, is pretty inefficient. Something like Litecoin is really better for transactions. Also Moneros are great for much more anonymous transactions, to name a couple.
All better to use, if you can, than the Fed’s fiat. I’d say the biggest obstacle is tax reporting. If crypto was treated like currency instead of assets, the whole thing would explode in usage and adoption.
BaDnOn:
Now is the time to buy, you say? Sure, but admit it isn’t to invest in Bitcoin. It’s just to make dollars. You are basing everything you gained with Bitcoin in dollars. ReadyKilowatt had 3 Bitcoin, and you stated he would have had nearly $200k had he kept it. But didn’t he have 3 Bitcoin? Yeah it’s fun while it lasts, and some can make some serious $$$ dollars. But once the dollar is gone, you have… what? A couple of Bitcoins? Mmk no thanks.
And yes I definitely would have bought 100 of them when they were pennies, but I would have definitely sold them for dollars and bought land, silver and bullets.
Last one holding (HODLing) Bitcoin is the biggest chump. Because it is 100% worthless.
Hi Andrew,
I agree with your summary; Bitcoin appears to me to be a speculative instrument pretending to be money. It’s true people can use it as a medium of exchange, but as recent events prove, it is hardly a store of value. I regard it as I do similar scams; Those who buy in early can make a lot of money. But others lose a lot of their money. And that’s not what money ought to be be.
Andrew,
I based it in dollars because it makes relative sense in common experience. I could’ve compared Bitcoin value to silver or 9mm or gasoline. Dollar bills don’t really hold any value (as in have any other use) either. “Once the dollar is gone, you have.. what?” Paper emblazoned with dead presidents and Illuminati symbols?
You can think of either Bitcoins or dollars as tokens in the Worldwide Video Arcade and Car Wash. Yes, by themselves, those tokens are worthless, but in the proper settings, they can be exchanged for goods and services, which ARE valuable. This works just as long as people agree it works.
I’d say the biggest difference between dollars (or any other national currency) and a cryptocurrency is there are strict protocols for the production of cryptocurrency. Both, yes, are essentially created in computers and are nothing more than digital ghosts. But you can’t just “create” 100 Bitcoins because you say it is so. They are created through “mining” (performing all of the necessary calculations to “win” rights to the transaction), and then all of the other computers all over the world agree that your wallet was awarded x amount of Bitcoin.
With dollars, a small cadre of the elite just decide that there is to be more dollars now, and they are created. No one else has any say. And thus, trillions of dollars are “created” and the currency is devalued. Meanwhile, those same people and their friends and cronies, spend their nascent digital cash on hard assets. It’s only everyone else that has to EARN their dollars.
Nunz I think asset volatility like this is often the result of intentional market manipulation by the big players to scoop stuff up for cheap from shrimp like us. I imagine smaller more exposed accounts are selling and hedge funds and the like are quietly buying. Or I could be totally wrong. Usually am.
There are many economists who discount the need for a monetary standard based on precious metals (silver or gold) but a standard is the only way to keep the banksters and country treasuries honest. In the old days, the only way to “short” a coinage was to “shave” the edge from silver or gold coins; hence the process of “reeded edges” on coins (grooving the edge of coinage) which was instituted to keep the banksters and everyone else honest.
Now, back to a gold standard…
The same amount of gold that would purchase a car in 1920 will purchase a car today. This is due to gold having intrinsic value which is free from manipulation or the printing of “more dollars” (which reduces the true value of every existing dollar).
The last thing the banksters or world leaders want is a monetary standard that (((they))) cannot manipulate.
We know who (((they))) are…it is long overdue for an aware country (110) to institute the process…
LOL!!! Checked back in after taking a break for a while and the ((((usual suspects)))) are back to ((((their)))) old tricks! What a hoot!
Why not ditch the secret decoder ring nonsense, Annie, and since you claim to know who “they” are, why don’t you name “them”? Are you afraid? (A rhetorical question – we can all see you for the feckless coward that ((((you)))) are, just like the rest of ((((your kind)))). Just what “process” is is that ((((you)))) would like to institute? Come on now, don’t be coy! Let all that venemous hatred out for us all to see and enjoy!
By the way, getting back to old business, have you managed yet to convince anyone who was actually there that the holocaust did not happen? Do you still deny your participation in the notorius Daily Stormer BBS where we had some pleasant exchanges a few years ago?
Jason, I’m always uncertain how many ((( should be used for (((Them))). 🙂 But I suspect that most people here understand who and what is referred to. Like it or not (I don’t care for the tarring of an entire tribe for the actions of some of its members) that is the perception in some quarters. Also keep in mind an old saying; If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize. Of course, thats now claimed to be a “neo nazi” saying. But the fact that it remains true, is rather telling. For a self proclaimed group of victims, they certainly wield power FAR out of proportion to their numbers.
Hi BJ,
According to the ADL and other J-tribe organizations, abortion is one of their values.
And they wonder why they’re despised by cognizant goys…..for no reason whatsoever!
Hi Anon,
To oppose the tyranny of collectivism – which is fundamentally all tyrannies – one must take care not to fall into the trap of collectivizing people. Any people. There are no “tribes” except those composed of the individuals who choose to join them or who submit to them. Those who do can be judged according to what they, as individuals, have done. But not everyone is a willing member of the “tribe” – or submits to it. And they deserve to not be collectivized as part of the “tribe.”
The world is still trying to figure out crypto currency. The idea is sound, but people are looking at it like it is some sort of savior. It’s not. All it does is show a transaction between two wallets took place in a way that can’t be copied. This is an interesting math trick extrapolated by people who want to read more into it that is there.
When it was new and novel it caught the interest of Very Smart People™ who began dreaming up ways it might change The System™. And not only the true believer Smart People™, but people who get paid to sit around and think about the future for corporations and if it will risk the status quo. They hyped it up because it’s right up their alley, being math-ey and esoteric and about The Future and all that. It got into the financial news because you can only talk about FED policy for so long, and that allowed the fools to rush in.
Wash, rinse, repeat. I was all-in on the early ’90s Internet vision. All computers would be nodes, not divided up between clients and servers. Everything would be peer to peer and free as in beer. “Your left cufflink will communicate with your right cufflink via satellite” as Nicholas Negroponte said. Nevermind that no one even owns cufflinks anymore but that’s beside the point. But to build out that Internet would take trillions of dollars and we’d need millions of IT techs. So corners were cut, and nodes became clients and servers, and not too many people noticed our digital lives were being controlled by a few companies. Everyone worried about ISPs and privacy, while ignoring the big server farms that became Facebook and Google. Then came Napster and everyone who sold media under the old model felt their butthole clench even tighter, and it was game over for anything resembling peer-to-peer information exchange. All the underlying software of that early network model still exists but we can’t do that because of EULAs and laws.
Crypto currencies will figure out their purpose eventually. It won’t be the idealistic panacea the carpetbaggers want, but it also will eventually be useful. It’s already good for sending money overseas, so long as you exchange out to local currency quickly. Heck, maybe it will become the defacto medium of exchange for flea markets and farmer’s markets. And that’s worth something even if no one else wants it.
Wall street sees “labor” as being a necessary evil, its true value to be minimized at all cost while valuing the CEOs and “stockholders” above and beyond their true worth.
This even applies to CEOs, that run their corporations into the ground while still receiving massive “rewards” for their “expertise”.
Let’s not forget the corporate vultures (a la Mitt Romney) that specialize in parting out viable businesses in order to maximize their “profits”
Henry Ford “got it right” when he CREATED a market for his cars by making them inexpensive while paying his workforce a decent wage. He realized that a well-paid workforce would be able to buy his products, among other things. It could be safely argued that Ford, CREATED the middle class. Automobiles, once “playthings for the rich” were made affordable for the “ordinary common man”.
Henry Ford KNEW who the banksters and vulture capitalists were and made no bones about calling them out and naming them, Father Charles Coughlin did the same thing and was ostracized by the Catholic Church for pointing out the TRUTH about our vulture capitalist society.
“Vulture capitalism” can be defined as the owners of businesses and industries that collude with each other, also in collusion with the “money types” (banksters) depressing wages solely to increase their stockholder “profits” at the top while impoverishing those who actually WORK, producing their products.
All one has to do is look at today’s CEOs, even in failing companies, being paid exorbitant salaries, along with stock options and other “perks” while pleading poverty, pushing down wages for their employees.
Today’s capitalist “mantra” is that labor costs must be as cheap as possible while the “value” (profit) to the stockholder must be as great as possible. Sacrificing labor on the altar of “maximum profits” NEVER works in the long term.
Of course, in the short term, with cheap Chinese goods flooding the market, the economy looks, good, but without CONSUMERS who hold jobs that pay reasonably well, all bets are off. There needs to be a balance between profits and labor.
Presently, labor is looked upon as a “necessary evil” to be minimized at all costs. The problem arises-without labor there are no consumers. As I previously stated, a “balance” must be maintained. Labor is not evil, but a necessary component of capitalism.
Pre-WW2 Germany’s economic successes and the rapid rise of the German economy was predicated on labor being assigned “value”and monetized-something that is (and has been) missing in capitalist societies today.
If labor costs need to be trimmed to assure “profit” at the top, something is seriously wrong. In fact, in the well-paid American automobile industry, labor costs account only for approximately 10% of total costs.
Offshoring production results in consumers (customers) being “lost”.
As to “tariffs”, the American country ran on tariffs from its inception until 1913, when the “income tax” and “federal reserve” was established.
The American economy is being propped up by the “social safety net” which obscures the TRUE economic situation in the U S .
Slavery
All wealth is derived from mining, agriculture, or both, as in ethanol. It cannot be printed or key stroked. “Money” can be, but is not even close to real wealth. It is wholly dependent upon public confidence, which is rapidly waning, as it does from time to time. Usually with dire consequences.
My conclusion is that when the current “money” is stressed, looking for a “new and improved money” is counterproductive. I prefer retreating to a mining product, Gold or silver, or spending it on agricultural products, in quantity, and quickly. Both in hand.
The difference this time is that practically the whole world is involved.
very true John, but most don’t get it, or the big boys do but don’t care.
I was taught a long time ago, obviously from a smart professor that true wealth can only be created by making something of value/need out of raw materials, etc….
My recent ‘retreat’ was obtaining some farm machinery even though I don’t ‘need’ them right now.
If you ever have your bank accounts frozen (like the Canadian truckers) or confiscated I bet you wish you had some bitcoin laying around. It’s a store of value – a volatile one but nonethless – and a method of sending and receiving money outside the eye of Sauron. I think this is a great buying opportunity actually. After all the other trash coins and their NFT buddies go to zero I think bitcoin and perhaps ether will be the last two standing. The infrastructure built around bitcoin – the ETF’s, the mining networks, the widespread adoption, and the real utility it provides is too big now to just disappear Right now a lot of margin calls likely prompted bitcoin account liquidations so it’s moved in tandem with tech stocks but it is not a tech stock in any way so that correlation can’t continue.
Actually Eric you sould look into bitcoin and Monero as a donation method. You don’t have to hold it you can sell it right away. Monero is even more anonymous than bitcoin. Don’t ask me how, no idea.
Utter bullshit that one is more anonymous than the other. They all bite equally.
https://youtu.be/YQ_xWvX1n9g?t=5136
Hi Mark,
In re: “If you ever have your bank accounts frozen (like the Canadian truckers) or confiscated I bet you wish you had some bitcoin laying around. It’s a store of value – a volatile one but nonethless – and a method of sending and receiving money outside the eye of Sauron.”
Do you really believe that? I don’t. Because I don’t believe Bitcoin is some kind of “decentralized” (much less “anonymous”) form of “money.” Just as I do not believe Facebook is “organic.” All of these are subject to centralized control, ipso facto. And I strongly suspect that is why they were created.
Bitcoin is controlled by the miners. They’re the ones who take a fee for for transferring bitcoin between accounts. How many miners are there? No idea. But certainly the fact that authoritarian governments like China have banned bitcoin says something. I r think if a centralized authority controlled it something would have indicated that by now I don’t think it’s completely anonymous but it takes real detective work from my understanding to figure out transactions with bitcoin as opposed to say, Bank of America.
‘a method of sending and receiving money outside the eye of Sauron’ — Mark3
G7 countries froze $300 billion of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves. Every nation not tightly aligned with the G7 now understands that USD reserves are politically suspect and subject to arbitrary confiscation.
One may not like Russian oligarchs. But seizing their yachts — not because of any crime on their part, but simply because of their nationality — shows that the vaunted western rule of law is gone. Looting by executive decree is now the norm.
So is ‘corruption of blood’ (sanctions against enemy rulers’ families) — which is expressly prohibited by the former so-called ‘constitution,’ not that anyone cares.
Non-G7 countries, led by Russia, China and possibly India as well, are working furiously to establish secure payment networks among themselves that G7 plunderers can’t steal or disrupt.
Bearer money (cash and gold) can be stolen physically, but not electronically. Crypto, properly implemented, could provide anonymity and global availability. It’s popular in banana republics with rapidly devaluing currencies.
No easy answers. But when governments turn feral, people do what they can to protect themselves from looters with badges.
Re: bank accounts frozen (like the Canadian truckers)
that happened, it is very easy,
they tried to say they went after/froze crypto/bitcoin? accounts, a huge lie, far, far, harder to do, never happened, so they are far safer, a bank account is a bad joke…..make it difficult for the bastards…
The way events are unfolding, it might be in one’s best interest to “invest” in beans, rice, powdered milk and other essentials. The Regime has over 2 1/2 years left to unleash more havoc and destruction and we have a do nothing party (republicans) to stop it (even if they somehow get a congressional majority next year)!
Allen I went to Costco last week and for the first time the dry goods aisles were well-lit. On closer inspection I saw that the high storage shelves were empty. I’ve never seen that before. There’s always been SOMETHING up there, even if it had nothing to do with what was directly below on the floor. That’s the sort of thing that makes me check the price on the bulk bags of Jasmine rice and wonder if I should be buying 5 gallon buckets and heavy plastic bags…
Eric,
BTC’s reached a high of $67,802 on 11/9/2021; as of now, a BTC is worth $29,719. That’s a loss of over 56%! Where will it go? Who knows? Therein lies the rub…
Money has three, basic functions. It’s a medium of exchange. It’s a standard of value. Finally, it’s supposed to be a store of value. The first means I’ll give you X dollars for this or that. The second can be thought of as whether one got a good deal. For example, if I pay X dollars for a motorcycle and you pay Y, we can figure out who got the better deal; this is what’s meant by a standard of value. As a store of value, that means if I set X dollars aside today, they’ll be worth X dollars tomorrow-a questionable proposition in today’s inflationary times!
On the second function alone, BTC fails. How can BTC be any kind of standard of value when something that took 1-2 BTC to buy last year now costs 3-4, or more, BTC? How is that any sort of reference? Even with our fiat money, as long as we buy similar items at around the same time, we can determine who got the better deal. BTC cannot perform this fundamental function of money. If BTC’s value is always changing, how can it be any kind of standard of value? I don’t see how it can be.
Oh, and how can we be SURE that BTC is limited to 21,000,000 BTCs? How can anyone know this? Who or what determines the number of BTCs in existence? How can any one CAP BTC at that magic number? What’s to say its number cannot or will not be increased in the future? AFAIAC, to ask these questions is to answer them.
One of Warren Buffett’s fundamental rules for successful investing is to NEVER invest in something you don’t understand! How can one understand something like BTC, which only exists in the ether of cyberspace? I could never understand BTC, so I never invested in it…
> Oh, and how can we be SURE that BTC is limited to 21,000,000 BTCs?
Math, and the way the mining algorithm works. At Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, 50 BTC were created every 10 minutes (approximately) when a miner created a new block in the blockchain. Difficulty is adjusted up or down to keep the block-creation rate somewhere around one every 10 minutes. In 2013, the block reward was cut in half, to 25 BTC. In 2017 and 2021, it was halved again to 12.5 and 6.25 BTC respectively.
The smallest unit of account is the satoshi, of which there are 100 million per Bitcoin. In 2141, the repeated halving of the block reward will bring the block reward down to zero. At this point, no more Bitcoin will be produced. It is expected that miners will have long since started making most of their money from transaction fees, whereas in the early days of Bitcoin the block reward was the incentive.
Those 50 BTC per block the earliest miners earned were worthless for the first few years. The first purchase transacted in Bitcoin was of two pizzas for 10k BTC. When was the last time you paid $290 million for two pizzas? Instead of $29k each, Bitcoin would’ve been valued at less than half a cent for that first purchase.
I started getting semi-serious about mining in late 2012, when the block reward was worth about $650. Right now, even though the reward is an eighth of what it was in terms of Bitcoin, it’s worth over $180k. The latest block (as I write this) had 0.09 BTC in transaction fees awarded along with the block reward…about another $2600.
> “how can we be SURE that BTC is limited to 21,000,000 BTCs?”
> “Math, and the way the mining algorithm works.”
Trust
The Science™The Math™!** …and, also, the Algorithm™!
Go look at the crowd in the pictures of the last Bitcoin “conference” in Miami. Does that inspire confidence?
Like the Gold Rush, the people who made real money from Bitcoin were those supplying the mining tools. Graphics cards which should be $70 clearance bin items are still at $300.
Roscoe, have you looked at the pictures of the World Economic Forums conference, or that of the central bankers? I’d much prefer those at Miami 🙂 Don’t even get me started on GPU’s…You don’t want to know what the 3080ti’s cost 🙂
roscoe
using fiat = supporting the globalists/leftist/satanists
bitcoin owners = same as anti maskers, also anti marxist/communist fiat currency,
at least they don’t support klaus schwab and the globalist/statanists
so you support the globalists?
With more than 30 million Americans and 300 million citizens globally HODL-ing, Bitcoiners are already a political constituency.
There’s even a Bitcoin backed SuperPAC now whose stated aim is to rid the government of anti-Bitcoin politicians like Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Anti-bitcoin = in bed with Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
Don’t use communist fiat….
Using Fiat currency = the 5th plank of the communist manifesto
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.
Holland goes all tulip mania every April.
Had no interest in bitcoin at any time from the beginning. Had an account to buy some ethereum, whatever that is. Never did buy any of it.
I have little bitty coins called pennies. Snagged a 1965 penny here just the other day, very collectible penny, 55 dollar price tag. Some are 600 dollars each. One coin worth 5500 times its face value is a valuable coin. A penny saved is a dollar earned or something.
Glad I have pennies up the wazoo and not bitcoin. I bought a penny stock 20 years ago, a code company for computers, went up in smoke. You just never know when everything is going to turn into a pile of buffalo chips.
If the crazed Putin launches a strike, it won’t be just one nuclear-tipped missile at a time.
He’s too old to act like a crazy fool, an attack is foolish, just the idea of a nuclear strike, the threat, has Nancy drinking vodka non-stop.
If I lived in New York City or Warshington, District of Crybabies, I’d be worried.
Yeah…I wonder what Russia could do to the American/Western banking system…cyber attacks on this, that and the other thing.
Leaving aside bitcoins volatility and questionable utility as a means of exchange, it just sucks too much power and consumes too much computer hardware. It’s the currency version of the electric car: bloated, wasteful and mostly useless.
I wish I’d bought some when it was new but once it was all the rage and people still weren’t buying fast food with it I knew something was up.
Not only that, BTC isn’t good for another, fundamental function of money: a standard of value. If I pay X dollars for a car and you pay Y dollars for it, we can tell who got the better deal. How can you do that with a Bitcoin when its value changes all the time?
The $ and BTC both change in value, but the $ isn’t nearly as volatile as BTC. Hard to see BTC as anything but a gambling token.
‘This makes a dollar look sound – relative to a Bitcoin.’ — eric
Compare gold. Its supply is limited by the difficulty of physically mining it. Supply increases by about 1% annually, but so does population. Result: roughly zero inflation, long-term, when the dollar was anchored to it.
Making a politically-managed fiat currency legal tender destabilizes everything. Bitcoin is correlated to the Nasdaq stock index; gold is influenced by the fiat dollar’s value versus other fiat currencies; house prices (which ought to barely change) double and then halve in response to interest rates and QE.
As ol’ Fred Hayek complained, long-term investment is hardly possible in such a chaotic, unanchored monetary system.
What this monetary shambles does enable, in a gov-whipped economy, is large insider rents. When a babbling, brainless airhead like Nancy Pelosi makes millions on option trades, you may know that your corrupted country has no damned future.
Inflation, as Maynard Keynes observed, destabilizes a society like nothing else. Fed fools say they’re gonna pull a Volcker and crack down. But shadowy satanists more powerful than them are dead set on war in Europe, which is always inflationary.
Something has to give. Probably it starts with starvation in poor countries. Sri Lanka is suffering food riots. India just banned wheat exports. Others likely will follow. Hell, meet handbasket!
Hi Jim
Bitcoin started at one tenth of one cent $0.001, went to about $69,000.00 (the best investment in history), now it is $30,000.00,
at $3850.00 they said it was going to zero, then it went to $69,000.00, now at $31,000.00 they say it is going to zero….hahaha
The U.S. dollar has lost 98% of it’s value since 1900, fiat always goes to zero, all through history.
fiat is way worse then bitcoin.
When I first heard of bitcoin back when it was aound $300.00 I was intrigued by the possibility of a medium of exchange without banks. Sort of a PayPal without the PayPal. As time went on and I started hearing every Uber driver their cat talk about it I realized the whether intentional or not, initial adopters were sufficiently raking in enough retards for the pump and dump scheme it was. The Amway billionaire of the new age.
Personally I’d measure actual wealth in, calories, acres, round counts, or kilowatts. Something that actually sustains life. Not imaginary pixels on a screen in an open public ledger that is by no means private or decentralized.
To be fair cash is imaginary or subjective in value as gold and silver are too. You can at least find a lot if people who will trade items of value you for these things. Crypto in itself is not objectively good or bad but it has temdous potential for either. It just doesn’t contain what I would call actual value. So I don’t mess with it.
•Cues crypto-nerd comments about how I’m just too dumb to understand and well ya see you luddite, what youre not understanding is ______, _____, and ____!
RE: “whose value has been temporarily inflated far beyond what the market can bear, resulting in an inevitable crash of those ephemeral values”
I thought of the similarity with tulip mania.
“the sudden brief spike in the prices of certain tulips wasn’t due to any change in the underlying assets, emergence of new assets, or the preferences of buyers, but rather innovations in how tulips were briefly bought and sold.” …
https://mises.org/power-market/debunking-tulip-bubble