Bitcoin & BBQs: Happy Independence Day
Bitcoin is a revolutionary savings technology: more burgers for less bitcoin
July 4th is a day of celebration, synonymous with independence and freedom, here in the United States. Many people take the holiday to gather with family and friends, often enjoying a BBQ.
Yet it seems that any gathering these days always serves as a reminder of how expensive life has become. A trip to the grocery store can be a wake-up call, and suddenly, the party you're hosting becomes a bit more stressful.
This year, the average cost for a 10-person July 4th cookout is estimated at $71.22, a 30% increase from 2019. Of course, this uses government data, so the actual inflation rate is higher. This stat also includes cheap "foods" such as cookies and chips that can be industrially produced with artificial ingredients. The cost of nearly all real foods has increased considerably more than 30% in the past five years.
Despite inflation wreaking havoc on our everyday lives and introducing more financial stress than we'd like for a holiday grill out, it seems that most people don't understand it, and many are hoping that prices will eventually come down.
But that is not the case, nor will it ever be. Since 2019, virtually every good or service has seen a price increase of 40% or more. Why?
It's quite straightforward. The US Government and Federal Reserve increased the money supply by about 40% from March 2020 to December 2021. More dollars chasing the same amount of goods means that prices increase.
The consequences of this are dire. Inflation means less time with your family and friends at a BBQ and more time stressing about your finances and working more for less.
Inflation steals people's time. You spend your time earning dollars (or another fiat currency) and saving those dollars for retirement. All of a sudden, there's a rapid increase in the supply of dollars. Consequently, your earnings afford you fewer goods, and your retirement savings last you fewer years. Your time was stolen.
Most people's quality of life declines in the fiat system because they cannot grow their earnings faster than the pace of inflation. Their savings account is paying interest far below the inflation rate, and investing those dollars into equities or real estate is merely keeping pace with the rising cost of living.
The good news is that bitcoin offers a solution to the problems of a centralized monetary system that steals from the masses to enrich a few, acting as a form of tyranny through the insidious tax of inflation.
Unlike the fiat system, which, for most, offers a declining quality of life over time, bitcoin offers an improving quality of life. Bitcoin is merely a tool for preserving and growing your savings.
Its unique attributes make it the best savings technology and a valuable tool to improve your quality of life over time:
Fixed Supply: Bitcoin's supply is capped at 21 million. Unlike fiat currencies like the dollar, which can be at a whim of a keystroke, bitcoin is scarce. More scarce than gold and other assets, bitcoin's supply cap helps to preserve your value over time, acting as a hedge against inflation.
Decentralization and Security: Bitcoin is a decentralized network, it is not controlled by any single entity. This means that no government, central bank, corporation, or billionaire has outsized influence on the protocol and can use it to advantage themselves at the disadvantage of everyone else.
Accessibility: Anyone with an internet connection can use Bitcoin to save and send value globally. This makes it a far more accessible savings tool than equities, real estate, or other investments.
The cost of your 2024’s July 4th BBQ was 30% higher in dollar terms according to the data cited earlier. It’s almost certainly higher than that as the chart below shows that beef prices have increased over 100% in dollar terms since 2019.
However, relative to bitcoin’s appreciation over that same time, your delicious hamburgers would have been 90% cheaper than they were five years ago.
Bitcoin, like any technology, gives you more for less.
Adopting bitcoin as a savings method can improve your financial situation and quality of life over time. It can reduce your financial pressure and allow you to spend more time with family and friends rather than stressing over finances. Rather than your quality of life eroding from inflation, your quality of life can improve by adopting a better savings technology.
This 4th of July, consider how this revolutionary savings technology, bitcoin, can offer you more hot dogs and hamburgers. Happy Independence Day!
Great article Jackson! And you touch on a really great point regarding industrial foods: fiat money brings fiat thinking and fiat behavior including FIAT FOOD! In order to live in a fiat system things must get cheaper and food is primary among them. As they become cheaper to produce and buy, they become less and less healthy.
Consider fast food: we recently lost Morgan Spurlock the producer of “Super Size Me!” the ground-breaking documentary on McDonalds and fast food. He demonstrated on himself that fast food is deadly by eating McDonalds for a month. It nearly killed him 20 years ago.
By exiting a fiat system, we are able to re-incentivize society from the lowest common denominator of MONEY, the base measure of VALUE. For this reason I am a Bitcoin Maximalist and one-issue voter. I have many other issues I consider when voting but only ONE issue can fix most, if not ALL of the others and that’s BITCOIN. When we re-organize at the lowest common denominator measuring value, we fix broken societal incentives and have the opportunity to improve society and people’s lives like we never have before.
And don’t get me started on the Pharmaceutical industry!
Let my people go OUT of the FIAT CAVE and be Free, Happy and Healthy!