Our Failed Economic System is Killing Us

You can’t write about saving the world from climate change or environmental issues without recognizing the monster in the room. It’s money, or rather the economic system that enables this invisible hand to do all kinds of “bad things.”

Our current system is based on Keynesian economics, a system that works well on paper but gets corrupted when you put people into it.

Keynesian economics bears the name of John Maynard Keynes, a British economist, and his theory is geared toward manipulating macroeconomic trends.

It’s what our Federal Reserve does when there is a recession, it influences the macroeconomic trends by making credit more available (i.e. printing money).

On the surface, this system makes sense if you implement it correctly. In times of surplus (where we make more money than we spend) you’re supposed to save that money for the lean times. When a recession hits then the government can take the surplus and spend it on projects to stimulate economic growth.

Then when everything is growing again, you take the surplus money and save it again.

That sounds like a wonderful and smart idea! Spend your savings in the bad times to tide you over and then save your excess in good times.

Except for our asshole politicians don’t do that. They whittle every damn surplus down to spend on bullshit. In the good times, they spend instead of saving.

Then when the recession comes, they have no savings. So what do they do? They ask the Federal Reserve to do something to save the economy so they can be re-elected again.

The Federal Reserve says, “yes, let’s get you the money to spend” and start printing money. All those extra dollars circulating in the economy start driving prices up and we’re stuck with inflation.

Sometimes the inflation remains tame, the Federal Reserve’s target is around 2%, which coincides with the typical raises people get.

Now, after years of massive quantitative easing (kicking the inflation can down the road) we’re seeing a sleeping dragon wake up. We’re seeing massive inflation rear its head.

Watch out!

I know people who are paying $8 dollars for a dozen eggs. I bought 8 cans of local craft beer and spent $37 dollars the other night. They now come in packs of 4, not 6, all thanks to shrinkflation.

On top of that, companies are laying off people. We’re not sure exactly what’s happening but some companies are tired of giving their slaves perks and high salaries.

People are facing high prices for basic food items, high prices for rent and housing, layoffs, politicians taking away safety nets, and a general feeling of dystopia.

It’s a small wonder we haven’t rioted yet.

The current implementation of our economic system is broken. It’s flawed and it’s killing us.

I watched a TikTok the other day about the store of value. A woman held up a gold coin and said this was the store of value for centuries, and if it was good for them it should be good for you.

I agree with her 100%.

You could buy a new Corvette in the 1950s for around 3,600 ounces of silver.

Today you can buy a new Corvette for around 3,500 ounces of silver.

Gold and silver don’t care about your stinking inflation. Those metals are the true store of value, better than fiat currencies and “faith in any government.”

Why? Because governments fail. They turn corrupt and manipulate the markets to their favor until one day the rot is so bad, that the market abandons them.

How do inflation and all this market chicanery tie into our dystopian vision of the future? Simple, if you can control the printing presses then you can control people and governments.

If you can print money and debase the currency, you can control the world.

Money is the invisible hand that rewards winners and leaves little old ladies starving on the street. It shoots up school kids with assault rifles and forces births. It exploits workers and cuts social programs. Money laughs at your idea of free healthcare for all. It cuts down forests, operates slaughterhouses, and runs private prisons.

Money cares only about money.

Money, like capitalism, needs to be restrained. It’s run amok for far too long.

What’s the alternative economic system to Keynesian economics? Some argue that the Austrian economic system is better, but it’s just as flawed as the Keynesian model.

It relies on entrepreneurs doing the “right thing” and that price action is all we need to know about the market.

The problem with believing that entrepreneurs will do the “right thing” is that it never works. Politicians have always said that fewer regulations would allow businesses to restrain themselves but that never happens. Look at what happened in East Palestine and the Real Estate crash of 2007/2008?

There is no perfect system to replace the ones that are in place now because every economic system is flawed. They don’t work because we humans are corruptible. We can’t help ourselves, so we have to go back to basics.

Let’s start but re-introducing the gold standard in the United States. It will cut down on inflation overnight because you can’t print your way out of problems.

Sure the markets will crash because they’re so damn overinflated but who gives a fuck, right?

Reintroducing a gold standard will bring about stability in food prices, housing, and everything else. It will restrain the government from starting wars and funding stupid stuff.

In other words, my idea to restrain the government is a pipe dream. My vision for a just and stable world, one where we’re not exploiting people and the environment BECAUSE OF MONEY, will just be a pipe dream till it breaks.

It will stop one day, I just don’t know when.