Is Bitcoin Really Future-Proof? Yo Jack #2

Yo, what is going on guys? How you doing? You are listening to another episode of the Jack Mallers Show. I am your host, Jack. This is another edition of our new Q&A segment, Ask Jack, where you guys can call in to ask.jackm.com and at least once a week, I will play your clips and we'll hang out together and I'll respond to them. So, it is, what is it? It's Thursday morning, September 17th. I got my espresso. I got my espresso here.

And the last episode was so much fun. You guys really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it. So, I'm looking forward to this. Let's get this show on the road, shall we? First question, we got Ross. Appreciate Ross calling in. Let's hear what Ross has to say.

Awesome. I appreciate you, Ross. I think that's a great question. And funny enough, I've thought a lot about this. So, I'm trying to think how I want to tackle this one. Let me start from a place where I think us humans, we are children of mother nature. We're a function of mother nature. And what I mean by that is we're best to be governed by the physical laws of the universe. So a very obvious thing is we're best governed monetarily by something like gold than something like the Fed. Because gold, the constraints that come with gold, its characteristics like scarcity are enforced by mother nature itself, by the laws of the physical universe. Whereas something like the Federal Reserve is an abstraction that is man-made. And all of a sudden you play that forward decades or centuries and you have unelected old men that are waking up on random days and deciding the price of money which is effectively human time, energy, effort and labor. And so I approach the world and our species and society as whenever we drift too far away from physical reality, the laws of the universe, mother nature, I think we get ourselves in trouble and we're best acting as a child of mother nature, one with the universe, being governed by its laws.

So now let's talk about technology and your point of well you know what are you know what if people are doom scrolling Tik Tok and Instagram all day and now they see this AI thing and they want to get back to a world where all of this you know humanoid robots that are going to take over their jobs they want to get back to just farming. Well, I challenge this idea of technology because, you know, people think of technology like a robot or like Instagram or like iPhone screen time for 12 hours a day. And I hear you, Ross. You know, I'm on Twitter all the time. Sometimes I think way too much. But fire is technology, right? The wheel is technology.

I don't know if you guys know this. This is a little rabbit hole I've gone down. One of the most, in my opinion, consequential and important technologies in human history was the spear. If you guys do a little research, this is a crazy fun fact. The spear is as a technology is correlated to the most rapid growth of the human brain in our species history. Once we founded the spear and was able to deploy the spear in our everyday lives and make use of the spear as technology, our brains grew exponentially. And it's because it changed what we were allowed to consume. Fats, organs. We were eating higher quality calorically dense proteins and fats and ruminants and organs and that had a direct relationship with our physical anatomy and the growth of our brains and how intelligent we were as a species. So, I consider things like the spear a technology, but you know, and I'm making an assumption, Ross, but hearing your question, you're like, well, that's not what I meant. I meant, you know, big bright blue light screens that are in my face all day.

And so, what I would challenge back is I would say I agree that here's a here's another really good example. Humans are best eating, in my opinion, single ingredient foods. And I'd be hardressed to find anyone disagreeing with that. We are best when we are eating raw, organic, fresh, single-ingredient foods. Nowadays, you go to Chick-fil-A and you order chicken nuggets and they're like, 'Oh, it's grilled chicken. It's grilled chicken. It's healthy for you. Count the calories.' That chicken nugget has 40 ingredients. 40.

So, this is a perfect example of like if I'm going to eat chicken, I want one ingredient. And that ingredient is chicken. Nowadays, humans have built so many technological abstractions and maybe is for scale to make these things more affordable to combat inflation, whatever it was. But we're so abstracted away from the chicken itself that I'm eating a hodge podge of 40 ingredients in my body. And I think that there's a direct correlation to disease, to obesity, to all sorts of side effects the further away we drift. So I would say there are certain technologies that build abstractions away from the physical laws of the universe from mother nature. And those are dangerous and those are not good. This is like I would say this current iteration of fiat currency that we're living under is a technology and things like the Fed is a technology and swift is a technology and I would say this is dangerous levels of abstraction that remove our relationship with base energy exchange with the idea of scarcity. I would say that's dangerous abstraction.

Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets very dangerous levels of abstraction. Maybe social media in and the way that certain people use the tool is a level of abstraction away from core relationships from being in the sun. Right now, I would say that there are technologies that do not abstract us away from the physical realities and the laws of the universe that we should abide by and be governed by, but actually empower our ability to be natively human. And I would I would categorize Bitcoin in in that. I don't for me personally, Bitcoin does not boost my blue light screen time by 12 hours a day or remove my relationship with family and friends and replace it with robots and doom scrolling. You know, Bitcoin is bringing us back to being governed by energy, scarcity, proof of work. I think it really is taking a money that allows us to be governed by the physical realities of the world and allow and and making it digital so that we can teleport it over a communications channel like the internet. So I consider Bitcoin much closer to the spear to fire to the wheel and much less than a 40 ingredient chicken nugget for example.

But hopefully I landed that plane. But it's a it's a topic I think very often about because you know you especially with political rhetoric and people trying to really you know politicians are so good at hitting people where they're sensitive and where they're fearful and just turning it and twisting it into getting everyone emotional and wound up to to get votes. So politicians are very anti-technology, anti-AI, and you know, I think technology is bigger than doom scrolling Tik Tok and being mad at Mark Zuckerberg. I mean, the spear was a huge monumental innovation and technological leap for us humans because we all of a sudden were kings of the jungle. We could kill and hunt from distance where we didn't endanger ourselves while we were seeking and hunting food. And then the quality of the food, the quality of the calories, the quality of the energy had a direct correlation to the growth of our intelligence in our brain and our organs. That's a technology. Fire is a technology. I think so. I agree with you that I then and then I got to move on because I know I just rant and ramble and and I only end up answering like two questions.

So I I agree with you that right now society has found itself so far abstracted from mother nature from being governed. We're being told the sun is bad for us. That's outrageous. The sun is bad for us. Your chicken nuggets have 40 ingredients. Your money can't be audited, isn't scarce, and is centrally planned by both elected and unelected officials. I mean the levels of man-made abstraction that we are being governed by today I think is the reason that everyone has metabolic disease that everyone is obese that everyone's getting divorced that the quality of life that the amount of assassination attempts right now is rivaling the mid 1800s which was no coincidence the civil war. So, I think we're living in man-made abstractions and a lot of our technological innovations have ventured us far way too far away from where we're meant to be. And a lot of, you know, at least my life and the way I live my life and I would consider, you know, Bitcoin or culture is single ingredient foods, get in the sun, proof of work, energy, scarcity, hard money, earn more than you consume, love others. You know, Bitcoiners are having kids, not getting divorced necessarily, broad broadly speaking. So, I I would I would that's my answer. I do agree that we are venturing back to being governed by mother nature. We we are living through painful lessons of when we get too far abstracted and live in these man-made created governance structures. I actually think Bitcoin is a beneficiary of that and that people will be attracted to Bitcoin because of that. I think people would be like, 'Man, I'm sick of these tech guys always lying. These Sam Altman's always lying. These slimy schemy guys, you know, I'm sick of the Fed. You know, I'm going back to nature to Bitcoin in my opinion.' So hopefully that answer satisfied. Long rant, but I think about this a lot. What a phenomenal question to open up with.

Okay, second question. Let's hear from Nate. Thank you, Nate.

Hm. Get young people. You know what, man? I Well, first of all, I mean, let's just like say the obvious. Financial, economic, monetary education, broadly speaking, is a huge problem. I mean, in modern day curriculum, especially at university, you're taught Keynesian economics, which I think is just scientifically incorrect and wrong. So, you know, I would say for starters, thankful that guys like you are teaching and have an opportunity to teach things like Austrian theory or just what hard money is. The fact that there's money outside of state-issued or government-issued money and that money as a technology as we were just talking about with Ross, money as a technology is not any one single thing. You know, you can use many in in the same way that I could use a banana to try and fly and I'd have a really poor time and hurt or kill myself. Or I could use a jet to try and fly. There are good monies, there are bad monies. So that's for starters is hopefully allowing kids an opportunity to learn different opinions on economics and and not just taking Keynesian economics and shoving it down their throat. I think that that's caused a lot of harm, is incredibly unnecessary. I mean, there's all sorts of conspiracies as to why that is. So, we start there.

But I think what you're asking or at least, you know, I think that there's an opportunity, and this is a lot of what I try and do, is to make Bitcoin relatable and make it cool, and make it exciting and, show that there's opportunity within this thing. There's something really exciting and hopeful about a new idea that is positive, that is generous, that is inclusive, that is freedom fighting and showing that you know anyone can participate and contribute to it. It's open to all. It's not discriminatory and it's global. So I I think and what I think you're asking is you know how how are the you in a in a in a time where the youth are I would say more or less angry angry or depressed and this is data driven. This is not my opinion. You know I've given these keynotes now of trying to be vocal about the damage that's being done to our children. And you've got depression levels, suicide rates, all of the data that you would consider terrifying, scary, and broadly speaking, not good. It's off the charts. And you know, each new generation that comes to be born in this earth, they have a tougher and tougher and worse worse time. Nothing's affordable. Now all of a sudden, like you want to be a doctor, you want to be an accountant, you want to be a lawyer, and now all of a sudden Elon's robots are taking your job. There's no place for you to contribute to this world. It's lonely. You're doom scrolling these social your your relationships exists on your phone. It's very depressing.

And I think Bitcoin is a at least for me and what I try and do beyond teaching Keynesian economics and and hard money theory and all these things. What I try and do is it's positive. It's hopeful. It's inclusive. Hey, you can anyone can be a part of this network. Anyone can contribute to this thing. Whether you own a little bit, whether you do an educational video, whether you show up at a conference, whether you become an engineer at a company like Strike, doesn't really matter. But we're doing something positive. We're trying to affect change that is good, that is hopeful, that is inspiring, that is fun. I find Bitcoin a beacon of light and a beacon of hope in a very grim and dark. And so that's always been my message to kids is like this is cool. This is fun. This is inclusive. This is open. And I I think it's positive in a world that's like really not positive for children and for the youth.

I really don't know. You know, I've got a cousin that is about to go to university. I'm like, what? He's like, what do I study? What what do I what career should I pursue? What am I supposed to answer? Every headline, oh, software developers will no longer be needed. Well, screw lawyers. We don't need those. What is this kid supposed to do? And he's being asked to take out six figures worth of debt. How is he going to pay that back? And you're asking a 16-year-old child to answer these questions of do I get into $100,000 worth of student loans? He's at he's 16 and he doesn't know his place in this world. How to contribute. And I think something like Bitcoin, it's cool, it's fun, it's rebellious, it's ambitious. And so that's my message to the youth is like, yo, we got this. We got this. We're going to win. This thing is awesome. It's fun. It's ambitious. It's inclusive. Anyone can be a part of it. And by being a part of it, you're on my team. You're on Jack Dorsey's team. You're on Michael Saylor's team. You're on It's this growing team that's like, you know what? We're not going to stand for what we were born into. We didn't get to decide what we were born into, but we do get to decide what comes after. And Bitcoin's just it's a movement. It's a revolution in that way.

And I try and be relatable and fun because nobody wants like a kid. I'll tell you this. These kids don't want to see me with a bunch of like Harvard plaques and Goldman Sachs awards filled through this closet and Louis Vuitton and Gucci sneakers filled through this closet and me in a button-up suit with a blue jacket on and a bald head telling everyone, 'No, they don't want that.' They're like, 'Oh, Jack is just like me. Jack dropped out of school. Jack wasn't very good at math in high school.' But this Bitcoin thing is just saying, 'Hey, you know what? The world we're born into is actually not okay and it's not my fault. I'm not a loser. I'm not unique. I'm not a downer. I'm not wrong for not having a place in this world I was born into. Bitcoin is a different approach that says, 'Hey, screw this old system.' So anyway, that's that's my approach outside of the obvious, which is, you know, hopefully they're learning not just Keynesian economics. Okay, awesome.

Next question is totally anonymous. So as I have said before, you guys can submit these you do not have to write a name or an email. So we'll listen from this anonymous caller. Let's hear what they got to say.