Of Bullshit And Bitcoin - Part 1, Prologue

This will be along series about economic value and how Bitcoin, whatever it truly is, fits into the being a "store of value" over being a decentralized frictionless low cost transaction medium.

This image was created with the help of Stable Diffusion Flux Checkpoint via Civitai.com.

"Eliot has sent me Bullshit & the Ballad for Big Louise." He mistitles "The Triumph of Bullshit" and "Ballade pour la grosse Lulu." "They are excellent bits of scholarly ribaldry ... I am longing to print them in Blast; but stick to my naif determination to have no 'Words Ending in -Uck, -Unt and -Ugger.'_” - A line from a letter from Wyndham Lewis to Ezra Pound, on February 2, 1915. This is supposedly the first time the world “bullshit” is used in American literature when printed into a letter anthology.

The origin of the term “bullshit” goes back, as I understand it, at least to Greek times, but I cannot find direct reference to it. That line from the letter is the first time it showed up in print in America. Back to the story.

I will be having a biopsy on January 6 at the local hospital PPO “DMV”, my term for an unresponsive bureaucracy that cancelled two previous planned ones and then delayed any catch up until 3 months after a hurricane passed through the area. The robotic surgery rep couldn’t come, so the process stalled. (Open question: When your surgeon cancels a surgery because an robotic equipment rep is not present for it, does that not give you pause to think about the skill level of the surgeon? Just sayin’.)

This post is designed to set up my opinion about Bitcoin in particular and cryptocurrencies generally. It could be delayed if something else more serious is found (I kind of doubt it, but you never know!).

The Contrast of The Meaning of Value Across Eras of History

The first post will be about what Americans considered valuable from the early 1790s, the founding of the American republic, to the present day.

The reason I called this series “Of Bullshit and Bitcoin” was to make those comparisons so that the reader can understand fully the changes in what were considered valuable things important to their lives. Where true manual labor was required, an almost purely agrarian economy, everything had to be a hard quantifiable real asset. Even bullshit was a valuable commodity in farming! Today’s post-modern world of technological ultra-convenience removes all of that and provides processed product in return for a currency with no intrinsic value, manipulatable by any large enough entity to control its value remotely. That creates huge problems for a large nation with diverse interests and dwindling manufacturing capabilities it might need to defend itself.

In between those times, governmental, political, and bureaucratic processes bastardized what was considered valuable. That process drove the public to seek whatever it could find and afford to grow wealth. In 2024, when nations are drowning in debt, economies are in various states of financial illness and collapse, all the norms have changed.

It is my purpose in writing this series is to expose the good and the incredibly bad things that surround the topic of cryptocurrency for an international society, The world teeters on the raw edge of corporatist/fascist dictatorship around the globe, perhaps under global one-party leadership. What can we do to fix that?

Let us hop into the discussion!

What Was Truly Valuable In 1790s America?

I peeled this summary from Grok today, but I can do into deeper depth statistically if needed in coming sessions. What was life like in the budding United States of America in the 1790s after the United States Constitution was ratified? Here is a summary:

“In the 1790s, the United States was largely an agrarian society, and thus, the major occupations of Americans during this period were:

1. Farmers - Agriculture was the backbone of the economy, with the majority of the population engaged in farming. This included not just crop cultivation but also livestock raising. Most farmers were self-sufficient, growing food for their families and perhaps a surplus for trade or market.

2. Artisans and Craftsmen - These included blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers (barrel makers), tanners, shoemakers, and weavers among others. Artisans made goods for local consumption, often working out of their homes or small shops.

3. Merchants and Shopkeepers - These individuals sold goods either produced locally or imported. They operated general stores or specialized shops in towns and cities.

4. Fishermen - Especially in coastal areas, fishing was a significant occupation. Fishermen provided food for local communities and for export.

5. Sailors and Shipbuilders - With America's extensive coastline, maritime activities were crucial. This included both those who crewed ships and those who built them.

6. Laborers - This was a broad category including dock workers, construction workers, and others involved in manual labor.

7. Servants and Slaves - Domestic service was common, with many households employing servants. Slavery was legal in the United States during this period, particularly in the South, where enslaved people were forced to work in agriculture, domestic service, and other labor-intensive tasks.

8. Clergy and Teachers - Education and religion were important, with many small communities having at least one teacher and one minister or priest.

9. Lawyers, Doctors, and other Professionals - Though fewer in number compared to today, these professions existed in urban centers and larger towns.

10. Soldiers and Militiamen - After the American Revolution, maintaining a military presence was necessary, though the standing army was small, supplemented by militias.

The 1790 U.S. Census did not categorize employment in detailed occupational groups, but from various historical records, we can infer these were the primary ways Americans made their living. The economy was predominantly rural, with most Americans living in small villages, towns, or on farms, and commerce was mostly local with some inter-regional trade.”

What was the most valued occupation to build wealth? The profitable manipulation of natural assets to trade for other goods. Food production and ag production drove the economic wagon!

The clear conclusion one can make is that hard assets were used to create provisions and excess provision to be sold for barter and for monetary trade in the American 1790s. There were no 7-Elevens and Circle Ks to find sustenance. Bill and Ted might have learned their own history lessons in real time in the continental wilderness. There were no history tests, only tests of endurance.

I do not own the rights to this content, I am simply applying fair use to a segment of cinema.

You grew your food or you ran a trade so you could trade your wares for food. If you were an indentured immigrant or a slave, you worked for the man or woman who ran the farm (most often them were men, save for women like Abigail Adams, for example). That person fed you in recompense. The struggle in those times was absolutely real.

Contrast that to today’s environment. According to a Michigan State University survey, most people hardly even consider the origins of their food other than the store it comes from. Americans are totally divorced from what it takes to put the food on their plant and rarely consider how it is grown or treated before it is sold to them.

My father and mother both grew up on a farm during the Great Depression, and they were both aware of want when supplies ran low, which they most often did during the 1930s, when they were teenagers, until after World War II ended. Their concepts of plenty were formed in a era when there were constant shortages. They figured out ways to maximize yields on limited farm land, and they learned how to trade and barter.

My grandfather Buffalo actually ran a supply goods store that was very similar to a “convenience store” for things like flour and dry goods, and when refrigeration eventually showed up, for things like milk, eggs, and butter. He would call his store a “dammit store” as in “Damn it, I forgot the flour” or “Damn it, I forget the tobacco.” During the depression, many were in debt up to their eyeballs and were desperate to cover their bills. My grandfather, one of the greatest barterers of all time in East Tennessee, knew the prices of things, particularly raw land. He retired eventually by taking payment for past debts in raw land. Land was so cheap in the 1930s that people did not mind turning it over as payment as they knew land could be used as collateral.

Even banks would accept land as payment upon appraisal. Everyone in that era dealt in hard assets. You could take gold for money before the gold window closed in 1933. Hard assets could be used because they were in abundance and readily accessible if you had worked and saved your earnings to hold them. There were no “digital assets”. The only digits you had were the five on each hand you were born with. You could learn basic counting with them, use them in labor, and carry you goods home with them. They were portable but NOT virtual.

The US Dollar was backed with gold until Bretton Woods came along after August 15, 1971. That changed forever how things were valued, and the inflation that was started with Social Security, the world wars and conflicts the U.S. Government invested in domestically and overseas, the “Great Society” programs that paid people to sit at home and not work, the Vietnam War, prescription drug benefits, Obamacare, Medicare and Medicaid, and every other grift mechanism. Add to that the undeclared forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the paid illegal migration, student loan forgiveness, the takeover of the U.S. mortgage business, and insane ‘Covidiocy’ stimulus spending that has yet to be retracted, and U.S. Federal debt blew out the wazoo on the U.S. taxpayers and citizenry. Trillions of dollars in debt were created, with no visible means to repay them quickly. America drained itself of manufacturing capacity and the high paying jobs that went with it.

This is what debt looks like now, after the gold backing was removed from the U.S Dollar:

Notice how rapidly we expanded debt after 1971 and how it metastasized after 1981. Debt was never a problem really as had growth to back it up. All of that truly began to die in 1971.

Back to Bullshit!

To get back to the 1790s and cost of goods, what was bullshit worth? I am deadly serious, what was it worth? This answer is also a Grok summary but I will add context to it in a moment.

“In the late 1790s, the market price for cow and bull manure was not commonly documented in the same systematic way as modern price charts or graphs. However, there are indirect and anecdotal references to the value of manure during this period. Cattle and livestock were often stipulated to be in a fixed number per acre minimum to ensure the soil remained fertile. That is where, as one says today, the poop hit the propeller (the shit hit the fan) when it came to a reasonable valuation for land. Manure and thus livestock were central to the long term viability of the farm, and thus it’s value was derived from that measure.

• Historical Context: During the late 18th century, manure from cattle was highly valued for its fertilizing properties. Farms generally used manure on their own lands or traded it informally with neighbors. There wasn't a widespread, documented market price for manure, but its value was acknowledged in terms of improving soil fertility.

Documented cases:

• Lease Conditions: There are historical records where landowners would stipulate in lease agreements the number of cows to be kept on the property, with the implicit understanding that the manure produced would benefit the land. For instance, an article from the Evening Gazette in 1799 mentions a farm lease where the tenant was required to keep at least ten cows and retail the milk, hinting at the indirect value of manure through land use agreements. However, this does not provide a direct market price for manure but shows its agricultural importance.

• Price Estimates: While exact prices are elusive, some sources offer insights into the broader economic context:

• Cow Prices: An account from 1804 in Charles County, MD, mentions one cow costing $10, which indirectly suggests the value of manure given the cow's productivity.

• General Commodity Prices: Various documents from the late 18th and early 19th centuries provide price lists for different commodities but do not specifically list manure prices. For example, sources from the University of Missouri Libraries mention prices for farm animals but not their byproducts like manure.

• Market Development: The concept of a formal market for manure where prices are publicly listed or graphed does not appear until much later, with the industrialization of agriculture. The idea of manure as a commodity with a set price would have been less structured in the late 1790s.

Conclusion: While there are no specific price charts or graphs for cow or bull manure from the late 1790s, the value of manure was recognized and utilized in agricultural practices. The closest one might get to understanding its "market price" would be through references in land lease agreements or by inferring from the cost of livestock and the agricultural practices of the time. However, for a direct, documented market price, there isn't clear evidence available from that era.”

Though there were no specific prices associated with manure, it was vitally important to know that a certain population of cattle or other farm animals resided on the land to keep it fertile. The importance of this (in this incomplete London REAL clip) is clear and is just as important today as globalist seek to destroy cattle and livestock population over “flatulence”. Watch this clip from X.

The Development of Farm Economics Over Time And It’s Creation of American Wealth

The article linked here discusses how agriculture gradually expanded in the American colonies and eventually the United States of America. In the late 1700s in America, farm valuation for sale was influenced by several key factors:

Land Quality and Productivity: The fertility and productivity of the soil were primary considerations. Farms that could support cash crops like tobacco or wheat were more valuable. For instance, in Virginia, tobacco was a significant cash crop, and farms capable of producing it had higher market value. Similarly, wheat was highly valued in areas like North Carolina, where it was twice as valuable as corn. Land that had been improved through crop rotation or other agricultural practices, like planting turnips to enrich the soil, would also command a higher price.

Location: Proximity to markets, navigable rivers, or major trade routes like the Atlantic seaboard significantly affected a farm's value. Farms closer to urban centers or accessible by water for shipping goods had higher valuations due to easier access to markets. This was particularly important given the reliance on local markets and the cost of transportation before widespread use of railroads. One reason Greenville, South Carolina (and even Spartanburg, South Carolina) existed was that large farms surrounded the area, and ag products like cotton could be easily transported. It was this quality of crop production that allowed entrepreneurs to build cotton mills fabric manufacturing facilities in Greenville, making it the “Textile Capital of The World” until around 1980.

Size and Usability: The size of the land was a straightforward factor, but the usability of the land, including the presence of natural features like streams for irrigation or the absence of obstacles like large rocks, also played a role. Larger plots could be more valuable if they were entirely usable for farming, but smaller plots with advantageous features might also be highly valued.

Improvements: Any improvements on the land, such as buildings (houses, barns), fencing, wells, or even dovecotes, increased the farm's value. These structures not only demonstrated the farm's readiness for operation but also added to its immediate utility and comfort for potential buyers.

Legal Considerations: The legal status of the land, including whether it was freehold or leasehold, could affect its value. The Public Land Act of 1796, for instance, influenced land values by setting a price for federal land sales, which was initially at $2 per acre for minimum 640-acre plots, though this changed over time.

Crop Variety and Livestock: Farms that could support a diverse set of crops or had established livestock operations were often more valuable. The ability to produce multiple types of crops (like wheat, corn, and tobacco) or to manage different types of livestock (pigs, cattle, poultry) suggested a well-rounded, less risk-prone farm business.

The valuation process in this period was more informal compared to modern times, typically involving negotiations based on these factors rather than standardized appraisals. However, these considerations laid the groundwork for how farms would be assessed for value in subsequent decades.

The Shift From Hard Asset Economy To Virtual Economy Led To Greater Dependency And Less Self-Reliance. That Lack Of Self-Reliance Is Deadly At The Extremes.

To cut to the chase, every hard asset had real value, as hard assets determined if one ate or not, PERIOD. Fairy tale value was the lifeblood of the snake oil salesperson in colonial times. There was no virtual value to anything, perhaps other than God’s grace, and even that, as many of you know, is dependent on faith.

What many in this modern era do not understand is with conveniences, our modern society has lost its ability to fend for itself, much like Hank Williams Jr. sings in this song from January 1982:

I could go on for pages about what a nuclear war could do to breakdown society completely (and the statistics are horrific), but I will let these articles do it for you when you have the time to read them. This one is for nuclear war, and the other is for a massive EMP attack or massive natural EMP event. To get an idea of what could happen in either scenario, a decent cinematic representation is made in the movie “The Road”.

In my world, if Antony Blinkin told me, which he did, that nuclear war would be no different than “climate change”, I would force him to watch “The Road”, dress him up in military gear, get him a rifle, and have him airlifted over Ukraine and pushed out of the plane, with a parachute of course, and let him fight that pre-nuclear conflict on the front lines. We are paying for it after all. I even believe a few of you would kick in a few bucks to make sure his flight arrangements were confirmed.

The point I am trying to make is that across time, the physical universe we depend on for survival has been taxed, regulated, and inflated away from the vast majority of us. As a result, wealth disparity, a governmentally-created condition, has become nearly exponential in nature. The most vulnerable victims and potential slaves of this creation, millennials, Gen Z’-ers, and Gen Alphas will begin to see gold in anything considered “scarce”, whether it is physical or not. That is the true promise and greatest threat provided by cryptocurrencies, including the granddaddy of them all, BITCOIN.

I will get deeper into how the virtual economy is more malleable by large entities than anyone thinks, particularly the Bitcoin maximalists out there.

Bitcoin too is corrupt, and I will do my best to explain how in this series continues. Forgive the hurried nature of this post. Thank you as always for supporting The Buffalo Trader’s Writing Desk!

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