Originally publish on Dec. 15, 2020
by Fabian Augustus
In the first part of this series "Fiat scarcity won't end end" I spoke on the stupidity that the wealthy and powerful exhibit in their current handling of fiat currency. Before I continue with this series of posts, however, I would like to provide a definition of fiat currency. "Fiat" is a noun that means an arbitrary order or decree. When applied to currencies like the U.S. Dollar or other fiat currencies around the world, this means money that can be printed out of thin air by centralized entities like the Federal Reserve and backed by the threat of violence. In other words fiat currencies are evaluated and enforced by the fear that others have towards the government evaluating and enforcing them. So, the American dollar is the World's reserve currency because the United States of America's military is larger than the militaries of the next 10 developed countries COMBINED! While this fact could have easily been discussed in part 1 of this series {which addressed the stupidity of the wealthy as it relates to the downward spiral of fiat currency), I will reference the ignorance that the majority of the population exhibit by keeping the wealth in fiat as well as the ignorance of the wealthy and powerful.
As for the masses, I see very bad things in the future who have ignored cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. I mention Bitcoin by name because like all crytpocurrencies, it represents an asymmetric investment in which one could buy (or "could have bought" as is becoming the case) a small amount (that they could have afforded to lose) with the potential to secure their future. Set aside the possibility of becoming rich from Bitcoin, just think about the possibility it has to secure one's future. Given the truths that were exposed in 2020, all Americans should have put at least 1% of their income into Bitcoin. I don't want to get into the specific numbers, but those friends and family I informed about Bitcoin would have gotten in when BTC was $3,500 to $4,000 per Bitcoin, so even if they sold when it got close to that momentous $20,000 U.S. dollar point of resistance, they would now have at least 5 times as money... that's a 500% return on investment. Even the last family members of whom I explained the promise of Bitcoin and the failure that fiat currency and near zero interest bank accounts represented, would have more than doubled their money as Bitcoin was accumulating around $10,000 U.S. dollars at the time. They chose instead to listen to their financial adviser who rattled off the same old debunked arguments against Bitcoin. It wasn't until later that I came to the following conclusion. None of those people listening to the debunked arguments referenced in the previous sentence will be able to afford BTC if and when it hits $100,000 dollars per bitcoin, but the progenitors of these bad faith arguments will be able to pay that hefty price. I deem them as bad faith arguments, because at best , those arguments are based in ignorance, as I believe is the case with Ray Dalio or outright lies as is the case with Kevin O'Leary who can be seen talking about the rise of Bitcoin November 14, 2017 (search on Youtube: "Kevin O'Leary Talks Bitcoin's Rise" then calling it useless around May 14, 2019 (Youtube search: "Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary: Bitcoin is a 'useless currency'") and finally talking about buying more bitcoin as late as December 1, 2020 (youtube: "Kevin O'Leary Considers Buying More Bitcoin on The Pomp Podcast - December 1st 2020"). So O'Leary has bought Bitcoin and continues to buy what he once called useless because he can and Ray Dalio will buy Bitcoin in the future because he can while most of the people who listened to either of their arguments will have to settle for Satoshis. Please don't misunderstand me, Satoshis (a fraction of a Bitcoin 1/100,000,000th of a Bitcoin) will still be better than pennies (a fraction of a U.S. dollar that might not even exist in the future).
And then there is the ignorance the masses seem to exhibit as it pertains to banks, the falling dollar (and other fiat currencies) and the manipulation behind the failing fiat currencies. First off, banks offer near zero interest on the money that most people store there. While this tiny bit of interest means nothing to those depositors with $0 to $10,000, $20,000 0r even $100,000 dollars locked up in a bank, it represents thousands if not millions of dollars to those who have millions to billions in those banks. This of course is not how the rich are making their passive income these days. No, the passive income of the rich is provided by our government. The 'Cares Act' represents one of (if not) the largest transfer of wealth the history of the United States, which is the richest country the world has ever known. I don't want to get into the weeds, so I will simply say that far too many people believe their money is safe in a bank but are ignorant to the fact that with every trillion dollars the Federal Reserve prints out of thin air, the value of every U.S. dollar is diminished. (See part 1 of this series for further explanation). Not only will Bitcoin's value be forced to increase (due to the actions of governments and central banks like the Federal Reserve) but there are Dapps like Crypto.com that not only offer sign up bonuses ($25 dollars) but interest on Bitcoin (as of the writing of this post it is 1% - 4.5% APY) and platforms like Celsius which as of this writing offers 6.02% on your first 2 bitcoin and 4.51% any BTC over the first 2 BTC. Disclaimer: While I do have BTC in both of these platforms, I am not affiliated with either in any other way. If this changes, I will state as much and do not take this as investment advise, as you should always do your own research. While many more points can be made against fiat currency and for Bitcoin, I do not have the time to go into them right now. I will delve into those arguments in future posts. For now, just share this with your reluctant friends and family. The longer you listen to doubters and liars, the less Bitcoin you will be able to buy (except for the dips, of course).
Now, as for the rich, I will simply point to their seemingly ignorance about the fall of Rome and more recently, the French Revolution. In the former, the debasement of the currency caused its decline while the guillotine played a big part in the latter. The wealthy believe that our government can maintain the status quo and they are correct to a certain extent. The military will protect them until enough members of the military realize that the wealthy are not only willing to jeopardize their own lives with useless and endless wars but also the lives of their family members and friends by denying any assistance during a pandemic and depression. They will one day realize the oat they took to defend the country from all enemies both foreign and DOMESTIC and currently our leaders are the biggest threat. I don't see Russian troops forcing thousands of cars to line up for free food. I don't see Chinese troops shutting down small businesses (local stores, restaurants, etc) while allowing businesses like (Amazon, Walmart, etc) stay open. I don't see any developed nation denying Americans healthcare during a once in a century pandemic. I don't see any of those developed countries denying Americans money to stay safely in their homes during the same pandemic. As a matter of fact, all other developed countries have paid the salaries of their citizens to stay safely home in order to flatten to rate of infection. America's current leadership has doomed at least a generation with its inequitable polices surrounding the dollar and its demonization of cyrptocurrencies. The wealthy think they can lie and buy their way out of the dollar and into Bitcoin (and in the short term, they can) but when all Bitcoin has been mined, they will be forced to give it all back. My hope is that things won't even get to that point and Bitcoin's promise of equality will be realized much sooner.
In the next and final part, I will discuss Greed and how it will impact both fiat and Bitcoin.
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