The "What is Money?" Show WiM010 - Dear Eric Weinstein
Origin of the Conversation
- Chris Espley wrote a Twitter thread in April 2020 after listening to Eric Weinstein on Joe Rogan.
- The thread, offering a Bitcoiner's perspective on societal problems, resonated with many.
Bitcoin as a Sensemaking Framework
- Espley's goal is to explain the "Bitcoin portal," a sensemaking framework for understanding societal problems.
- He wants to contrast this with Weinstein's framework, which attributes problems to a stall in theoretical physics.
Money as an Economic Lens
- Money acts as a lens through which we perceive economic realities like prices.
- Corrupting this lens via monetary easing distorts our understanding of economic value.
In April 2020, after watching Eric Weinstein’s appearance on Joe Rogan (episode #1453), Chris Espley wrote a thread on Twitter which gave a Bitcoiner’s perspective on some of the societal problems Weinstein had identified.
Bitcoiners aren’t a homogenous group, but the thread proved popular, suggesting the themes resonated with a significant number of Bitcoiners and explained their perspective well.
In this episode of the What is Money? Show, Robert Breedlove and Chris Espley explore and expand on the themes discussed within the original thread.
Introduction
00:00:04 – 00:05:14 Why Eric Weinstein?
00:05:15 - 00:09:57The purpose of this conversation - Building our Portal
00:09:58 - 00:15:33Zooming out - The parameters of our Portal
We’re living through cultural and economy decay
00:15:33 - 00:23:18 Bitcoiners vs. Weinstein – What we agree on (Or: We’re living through cultural and economic decay
00:23:19 - 00:27:40 WTF happened in 1971? – Systemic Rot
00:27:41 - 00:31:42 Skin in the Game – The limits of the Keynesian perspective
00:31:44 - 00:33:41A stall in innovation in physics - Weinstein’s perspective
Why mainstream explanations come up short
00:33:42 - 00:38:02The money is the root, not theoretical physics
00:38:03 - 00:44:09Keynesian’s are too zoomed in
00:44:06 - 00:47:07Gen X vs. Millennial perspectives
00:47:08 - 00:53:46Millennial disillusionment in art and popular culture
00:53:46 - 01:03:54The monetary system is the unseen cause
01:03:58 - 01:14:23Meme wars - Why Bitcoin wins
The history of money
01:14:24 - 01:19:08The function of money
01:19:08 - 01:21:16Why gold emerged as money
01:21:17 - 01:22:33How gold empowered civilisations to become great
01:22:34 - 01:26:56Why we moved beyond gold
01:26:58 - 01:32:29Money, standards and social scalability
Fiat money is the root of the problem
01:32:37 - 01:42:21Money is the base layer of civilisation
01:38:39 - 01:42:20Fiat money is decivilizing
01:42:21 - 01:52:20Corrupting the money is the cause of decay
01:52:20 - 01:56:57The problems with Weinstein’s perspective
How problems with the money are causing societal decay
01:57:02 - 02:03:10Fiat money robs society of its course-correction mechanism
02:03:12 - 02:06:42Fiat money insulates society from the consequences of its actions
02:06:43 - 02:09:34Fiat money gives power to Wall Street
02:09:35 - 02:14:41Good money creates great civilizations
02:14:42 - 02:20:55Fiat money embeds dishonesty into the system
Bitcoin is the solution, Bitcoin is the future
02:30:44 - 02:30:43Bitcoin is the bedrock for a new society, economy and morality
02:33:22 - 02:33:21To understand Bitcoin’s implications is to understand the future
02:38:57 - 02:38:56Bitcoin accelerates the transition to the digital age
02:58:20 - 03:05:51A Bitcoin future is a hopeful future
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