In 1729, the French philosopher Voltaire wrote: ‘All paper money returns to its intrinsic value: zero.’

Since then, over 500 fiat currencies have become worthless. The only surviving currency from that time is the British Pound which originally got its name because it was worth a pound of silver.

Today a pound of silver is worth 214 British Pounds. So it may not have become completely worthless but it has lost 99.5 per cent of its value. Not quite zero, but close enough.

What was obvious to an 18th Century philosopher has been lost on most Australians despite all the evidence staring them in the face.

When an average house goes from $100,000 to $1,000,000 in the space of a few decades, it is not a sign of your house rising 10x in value. It is sign that your currency has collapsed by 90 per cent.

Anything scarce and desirable, like real estate, has risen in price dramatically in the last few decades. Anything infinite, like cash, has collapsed

Fiat currencies lose their value because they are created out of thin air. They have no intrinsic value so they always return to zero.

Our entire economy relies on a steady stream of free and easy money being created on a regular basis. If this stream slows down you usually have a recession or a collapse. To fix the recession or collapse the government creates more money in the form of stimulus.

This means that too much free and easy money creates a boom which eventually leads to a bust. To fix the bust they create more free and easy money.

It is an idiotic cycle where the cause of the problem is also the solution to the problem. This is why the problem is never truly solved. It can’t be fixed or reformed. Voting Liberal or Labor or Green won’t make the slightest difference.

The only solution is an entirely new system. A form of money that no one can create out of thin air. This is what bitcoin is. No one can create more of it unless they expend huge amounts of energy. In a very simple sense bitcoin is backed by the energy of the planet.

In 1921 Henry Ford envisioned this energy-backed currency and believed it would put an end to all wars. The following quotes are from an interview he did with The New York Tribune 100 years ago.

‘The essential evil of gold in its relation to war is the fact that it can be controlled. Break the control and you stop war.’

Every country left the gold standard in the following decades. Since then, money has become even more controlled and we have had an endless procession of wars.

He further explained the benefits of an energy-backed currency, like bitcoin, that can’t be controlled by any government or international banking group.

‘Under the energy currency system, the standard would be a certain amount of energy exerted for one hour that would be equal to one dollar. It’s simply a case of thinking in terms different from those laid down to us by the international banking group to which we have grown so accustomed that we think there is no other desirable standard.’

Since then, we have grown even more accustomed to the ‘international banking group’ he describes. And most people still believe there is no desirable alternative. They believe the current system is the only one that can possibly exist so they stick to it like obedient and compliant slaves.

These people actually want governments and central banks to have control over the money supply. It is the safest option and there’s nothing they desire more than the delusion of a government wanting to keep them safe.