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Journal of a Wayward Philosopher
The Moral Value of Money
June 7, 2019
Hot Springs, VA
“No action can be virtuous unless it is freely chosen.” – Murray Rothbard
The S&P closed today’s trading session at $2,873. Gold closed at $1,345 per ounce. Crude Oil closed at $54.10 per barrel. The 10-year Treasury rate closed at 2.08%. Bitcoin is trading around $8,034 per BTC today.
Dear Journal,
Spring is in full bloom here in the mountains of Virginia.
The forest is green and lush. The wildflowers sprawl out, claiming their territory. The cardinals sing overhead… While the blue jays scrounge for sunflower seeds below. And the forest critters emerge, in search of a quick meal…
Yes, nothing brings perspective quite like spring in the mountains.
As you observe nature, you realize it doesn’t care much for your thoughts or plans. In fact, your plans look rather silly to it.
For example, we thought our bird feeders were just for birds. Nature didn’t care.
That’s because nature operates in survival mode. The only thing that matters is the next meal.
If the history books are to be trusted, humans once operated that way too. We hunted and gathered what we needed to survive… Often competing violently with other humans in the process.
But that gradually changed as we developed technology. Fire… the wheel… farming… irrigation… money… capital markets… steam power… electricity… cars… the internet… Bitcoin…
Each jump in technology took us away from the scarcity of survival mode. That’s because each jump helped us produce more. And work together more efficiently.
That’s what separates us from nature. Voluntary action and mutual exchange. They are the engine of human civilization.
And money is the lubricant. It makes all the pieces go.
Money gets a bad rap today… But it’s really a moral process.
To earn money, you must provide something of value to your fellow man. You must produce a good or provide a service he is willing to pay for. Or you must offer your time and labor to a company that provides desired goods and services.
In other words, you must serve your neighbors.
That’s it. That’s the only way for an honest person to make money. But it’s not a one-way street.
Your neighbors pay you money for what you provide to them. Then they serve you by producing different goods and services… And you pay them money in return.
People serving people serving people, in other words.
And guess who makes the most money? The person who provides the most value. The person who figures out the best way to serve his fellow man.
That’s the moral value of money.
Now, those who make more money than they need to survive can save it. That savings is called capital.
And that capital can be pooled with other people’s capital to do some really great things. It can be used to develop new technology or medical therapies… renovate old buildings on Main Street… finance young entrepreneurs… create new educational systems for children… establish mutual aid networks… convert idle farms into solar power hubs… build blockchain systems to bring property rights to the Third World… and anything else the brilliant human mind can think of.
All of which improves the lives of individuals. And makes the world a better place to live.
It’s a virtuous cycle. The more value you provide… the more money you earn… the more value you are able to provide.
A gentleman observed this virtuous cycle and gave it a name a few hundred years ago. Capitalism, he called it.
I know its popular to decry capitalism today. Especially during election season.
But at its heart, capitalism is about production and service. It’s about voluntary action and mutual exchange.
The problem is that we still have a few who are stuck in the past. Instead of production and service, they rely on coercion, theft, and violence. That’s how they make their living.
That’s not capitalism. It’s politics… And it’s still popular in Washington and on Wall Street.
But politics is obsolete. And I promise you, those systems based on coercion, theft, and violence will ultimately collapse in on themselves.
After all, if the history books are to be trusted, such systems always do.
Regardless, those who understand the moral value of money will continue to produce, serve, and create. And our world will become better and better as a result.
More to come,
Joe Withrow
Wayward Philosopher
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