Comment on Gold vs. Bitcoin Investments — GoldSilver

Response to Review article of GoldSilver LLC

This article presents some thoughts for debate, in response to the gold silver review of GoldSilver LLC

Disclaimer: The author has ongoing articles on the same subject, which build on some of the concepts discussed here.

Comments

The review of GoldSilver is top-notch, from an investors point of view.

The information is presented clearly, with no hint of bias in either direction, given no specialist knowledge of Bitcoin.

The authors admit investment interests in both Gold and Bitcoin.

Criticisms

Only one, a general criticism of the investor mindset, which comes to mind on reading the text and table in section 9, on the question of whether or not Bitcoin is “Money”; the comparisons are made on a zero-sum basis.

By zero-sum, we mean the emphasis being solely on scarcity, which excludes the possibility that humans themselves are valuable, with the capability to generate wealth, and the fact that all wealth is generated by humans.

Gold and Bitcoin are merely assets, which can be exchanged for others, which does not necessarily create wealth.

The implications of this, on our current dilemma as a species, dealing with such things as environmental destruction, mass unemployment, COVID-19, street protests over inequality, and concerns of over-population, are not trivial.

With the zero-sum mindset, none of our current problems come as a surprise.

All of those things are inevitable, if wealth is considered to be a finite pre-existing quality, which must be shared amongst a rising population of all humans, because in such a system, the “Weakest” will always be taken advantage of by the “Strongest”, and our population will necessarily reduce over time, due to ever increasing mortality, our species eventually dying by its own hand.

And yet, that mindset is artificial, ignoring that actual wealth, and the creation of it is a human construct, unique to all humans.

Inequality depends entirely on all people believing that all wealth is in the form of assets.

One could even go further and assert that this mentality, however necessary it might seem to the individual, is at the heart of colonialism.

It is the very mindset that preserves colonialism; to obtain, and possess the wealth of others. In other words, greed.

The urge to grab and possess assets in the face of scarcity, or anticipated scarcity, is one which seems necessary for survival to the individual, and yet it assures our destruction as a species.

Functioning in that mindset removes our ability to generate wealth.

Functioning in that mindset enslaves us.

Unfortunately, many businesses appear to exist, which depend on that mindset to sustain their business model.

No wealth creation appears to result from such business, in fact, only wealth destruction.

The criticisms above might seem harsh, as we would put GoldSilver to be a fine example of a well principled, upstanding company.

It is not the individuals we find at fault, but a problematic mindset, which we see in almost every individual of modern society, and one that has been prevalent for thousands of years.

It is this mindset that has to be changed, from one of taking, to one of giving.

No small challenge, perhaps, but there might be a way, if genuine wealth creation can be shown to be infinitely more valuable to us as a species, and the only possible way to avoid continuing, increasing, widespread misery and eventual disaster.