When Things Get Real

We live in strange times where reality itself seems to have been suspended. However, this is sure to give way to the extreme opposite. Reality is about to come knocking on everybody's door, and those unprepared will end up homeless, cold and hungry. The reason for this being that it's impossible to take a national year off without dire consequences. Those under the impression that value can increase without an increase in production are wrong, no matter what the stock market may tell us. Even more wrong are those who believe that there can be value where there's no utility or substance. Yet, a majority of people seem to be of this opinion.

All but forgotten is Richard Cantillon's observation that all wealth derives from productive land. Everything else rests on the ability of farmers to satisfy our basic need for food. Without food, nothing has value. Right above this level comes shelter, furniture and utilities, without which we are cold and uncomfortable.

It's only when all needs related to the real world are met that other things become valuable. Art, literature, games and science is only valuable to those who have their more basic needs met. The more abstract the artefact, the more it relies on the underlying hierarchy. Yet we now have a situation where the mere idea that something may be more valuable in the future is keeping prices elevated. Bitcoin made new highs today, and Tesla is priced at thousand times its earnings. Propaganda, surveillance and control have become growth industries. Money has become digital. People are increasingly living their lives in virtual bubbles where almost all of what little production there is is data related.

Politicians are implementing crazy policies that discount the real world as if it's a mere extension to the world of ideas. Currencies are printed as if that in itself can keep us warm and comfortable in our homes. However, the real world doesn't care about digital currencies, be it dollars or Bitcoin. The real world is solely about production. Without production we'll all be hungry and cold, no matter what number is registered in a bank or on an internet ledger.

When things get real, only real things matter. In times of crisis no-one swaps scarce resources for mere ideas. There has to be real value in the form of utility or production. A mere number, or the possibility of future returns, will not do. Only commodity money will be accepted. People will learn the hard way that money belongs among things because food and shelter belongs among things.

There will be a return to things as the consequences from failed policies start piling up. Once hunger and cold become knocking on people's doors, they'll realize the folly of owning ideas rather than things.

Gold eagle

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