Thoughts of Money
Money Happenings, Locally and Globally
The King County Council in Washington has passed a measure to require businesses in unincorporated King County to accept cash in most cases. The Vashon Loop’s editorial position has been strongly pro-cash, for reasons which include the ones listed by the council—protecting the vulnerable, who are very often un-banked or under-banked.
With money in the air, we’re sharing an article concerning money which will be appearing in the next issue of the print newspaper. It was written several months ago, and has been bumped forward several times due to space constraints. In that time, the acknowledged Federal debt has indeed crossed the $32 trillion mark for the first time in history.
The USA is staggering along under more debt than you might expect:
Debt is money you borrow–rent, if you like. If the rent is very close to zero, who cares how much you’ve borrowed? But over time, if you print endless money at no cost, confidence in all those dollars starts to fade. How can you tell confidence in your money is fading? People want more of it to sell you the same thing–inflation!
This is why the “free money” party is ending. After the 2008 financial disaster, we had free money until around 2016. The cost of money climbed a bit, then crashed right back down to near zero with Covid. In recent years, unless you don’t drive, eat, or heat your home, you’ve felt the sharp pinch of inflation. In response, the price of renting money is being moved up away from zero:
When these interest rates climb, things like borrowing money to buy a house become more expensive. Yet what does it do to the nation which has _already_ borrowed around 32 trillion dollars? Two years ago the interest rate for new national debt was around 0.07%. Today it’s around 4.57%–a 65-fold increase. Debt was extremely cheap, but those days are behind us. The USA military costs more than the next nine nation’s militaries combined, and yet the federal budgeting types forecast our debt payments will surpass our military spending by 2030.
If this wasn’t The Loop, I’d now try to sell you Bitcoin, or gold, or seeds, or guns. Maybe you’ll buy one or more of these, and maybe you’ll feel a little safer. We’re all conditioned to make ourselves happier by _buying things_. Money permeates our reality.
But can _things_ really make you safe and happy? Even if you have food–it can rot. Water tanks might leak, or tools rust. Possessions can be stolen.
There are two things which will serve you well no matter what you have, or need, or lose. The first is a philosophy of life. If your sense of self worth rests on job titles and paychecks, would the lack of employment destroy you? Who are you without your phone?
The great systems of thought in human history do not depend upon your paycheck or how you spend it. They also inevitably involve _communities_ of people who share similar conclusions. I’m not going to recommend a particular system to you, but I do recommend that you start looking.
The second thing which will serve you is self reliance. Most modern people with an urban background are entirely disconnected from all the systems which make their lives possible. How does water reach your faucet? Where does the drain take it? How are lights, plugs, and switches connected? How is a window attached to your house?
It’s an overwhelming list, but take heart from how one eats an elephant: one bite at a time. It’s not about knowing everything all at once. Pick one single project, and work it through to completion. Now you’ll know about how, say, wires go into the back of a light switch. That bit of information is much less important than the _real_ lesson: you can learn, and use that knowledge to great effect.
Now make your faucet stop dripping. Then change your car’s oil (along with its oil filter!). Eventually, a new challenge causes you to feel anticipation and curiosity, rather than a smothering sense of dread and helplessness.
When money seems to be going wonky, make sure that it’s just one part of your life. When needed, pull out a $20 bill, look at it, and say: “It’s just green ink on paper”.