The important thing about this podcast episode is, Jordan Peterson has a sizable audience. His viewers are probably not exposed to Bitcoin, and their first impression will arrive with the best quality of information possible. Everyone involved should be proud.
Anyway, make sure to read part 1 of this limited series, it contains crucial information. In the second part, the gang will cover legal tender laws, Elon Musk’s bogus claims, Bitcoin as a medium of exchange, and its use by criminals. And Jordan Peterson will bring a unique perspective to most of the topics, and some choice quotes that you’ll be able to use at the next dinner party that you’re invited to.
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Let’s Meet Jordan Peterson ‘s Guests/ Experts
- John Vallis, host of the Bitcoin Rapid-Fire podcast
- Richard James, director of the film “Hard Money.” As usual, Bitcoinist already recommended and analyzed it.
- Gigi Der, software engineer and author of “21 Lessons: What I’ve Learned from Falling Down the Bitcoin Rabbit Hole.”
- Robert Breedlove, Bitcoin deep thinker, host of The “What is Money?” Show, and controversial figure Bitcoinist has also been following.
Doesn’t The Dollar Already Work As Money?
The “Hard Money” expert, director Richard James, tackles this one. He admits that the Dollar works, but, compared to what? “We can make a fundamental distinction between a money that’s chosen by the free market and a money that’s forced upon someone by the use of a threat of force, which is essentially what the US Dollar is, and any other fiat currency.”
The use of the Dollar is “imposed by these legal tender laws.” You can’t legally use gold as a medium of exchange or draw up a contract with the payment terms expressed in gold. “I’m also, in a technical sense, prevented from saving my money in gold,” says James, because of capital gain taxes. A chunk of what you save, you’ll have to pay to the government. And you’re technically not gaining any returns, because the money is worth less because of inflation.
He takes it one step further and claims that most people are investing “not to earn a real return” but to beat inflation. “People aren’t able to simply save money.” They are compelled to take the risks inherent in investing just to maintain their purchasing power. And then, they have to pay taxes.
After that, Jordan Peterson plays devil’s advocate and poses the idea that we could see inflation as a wealth tax. James answers, “The problem with using inflation as a redistribution method is that it actually unfairly works against the poor people in society.” The reason is that those who are wealthy don’t store their money in dollars but in assets. And those assets appreciate with inflation. On the other hand, those living paycheck to paycheck don’t have that luxury. And their savings are worth less every day.
Jordan Peterson Dispels Elon Musk’s Environmental Concerns
It’s time for Gigi to defend the citadel. He doesn’t even mention the green energy ambitions of the Bitcoin mining industry. He claims that energy usage is necessary because it anchors the system to the real world. Plus, Bitcoin uses the energy to:
- Secure the system
- Distribute new coins
- Secure the past. To make sure that the system’s history is incorruptible.
- Decentralization of time itself
That last point requires some explaining. “If you wouldn’t have something like physical Proof-Of-Work, you would need to trust a central authority in terms of time. Because the order of transactions needs an absolute order of time.” So, in conclusion, “All these things combined are solved by the Proof-Of-Work system that Satoshi Nakamoto introduced.”
After listening carefully, Peterson synthesizes those ideas in a quote for the ages. “Whatever energy is expended in the production of Bitcoin and the maintenance of the system should be more than recouped by the increased efficiency of every system that uses Bitcoin as a transactional device.” Boom! If we take that into account, “There’ll be a net energy gain and not a net energy loss if you calculated it across the entire system.”
To close the idea, Breedlove claims “There’s no value in money without sacrifice.” Energy usage is crucial for the Bitcoin system. And the Bitcoin system is worth it.
When Will Bitcoin Work As A Medium Of Exchange?
It’s very usable already, according to Gigi. There are people living on the Bitcoin standard. But in any case, a while ago you could say that people weren’t using e-commerce to transact. We could also compare it to electricity, “Bitcoin is a network and electricity is a network.” The famous “network effects” take a while to grab momentum, it happens “gradually, then suddenly.”
In any case, Gigi claims that Bitcoin is “unstoppable, just like the Internet was.” Jordan Peterson asks him why he thinks that, Gigi responds “Bitcoin is pure information.” That’s another key aspect of this complex phenomenon. “It’s very hard to destroy information if it’s distributed well enough.”
BTC price chart for 08/12/2021 on Coinbase | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
What Are Bitcoin’s Downsides? What About The Criminal Who Use It?
Gigi doesn’t try to argue against the criminal element. He says that Bitcoin is a “powerful tool” that people can use for good or evil. And that “The genie is out of the bottle” and it’s impossible to contain it now. Vallis doubles down on the idea using Jordan Peterson ‘s vocabulary. Bitcoin “sanctifies the sovereignty of every individual and what they choose to do with that sovereignty is their choice.”
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However, Jordan Peterson sees another angle. He puts them on the spot and says that they claimed that “there’s an intrinsic ethic” to the tool. And that, if they’re right, “you can rely on an incorruptible currency” as an unalterable “signal of value.”
An with that idea, they close the transmission promising to do it again. We at Bitcoinist can’t wait for that to happen.
Featured Image: Screenshot from the podcast episode | Charts by TradingView
