Bitcoin is Toxic to Fiat Mentality. Bitcoin Tech Talk #259

Rent-seeking is a common feature of any fiat economy. This is because there’s a large pot of money to be gained through Cantillon effects, and that means a lot of economic activity is not subject to normal market forces, like the need to satisfy customers. Like a malignant cancer, rent-seeking tends to spread through the economy, usually through government regulation, where many unnecessary positions, created to satisfy some bureaucrat, end up adding cost. Such positions tend to be perceived as relatively easy, as the hard work of creating something the market wants is avoided.

I say perceived, because rent-seeking positions are what a lot of people aspire to. In a sense, rent-seeking jobs are easy because they optimize the work to salary ratio. The much more underrated dynamic at play is that such work tends to feel meaningless and many people in such positions have a profound sense of despair. The reason is obvious. Work that doesn’t contribute anything to anyone may pay well, but provides little in the way of self actualization or life satisfaction.