Throughout history, the concepts of abundance and scarcity have shaped our understanding of economics, resource allocation, and human behavior.  Value has always been tied to scarcity. Gold is precious because it’s rare. A Picasso painting sells for millions because there’s only one of it. When something is abundant, it loses value. Scarcity drives worth.

But in today’s fiat system, governments have flipped this equation upside down. By endlessly printing money out of thin air, they’ve created an illusion of abundance while eroding real value - our purchasing power, our savings, and ultimately, our life energy.

The Illusion of Abundance in Fiat

Fiat currency is the paper (or digital) money governments create which has no inherent backing. Since the U.S. abandoned the gold standard in 1971, central banks have had free rein to print as much as they want, as the currency in circulation was no longer required to be “backed” by something of value (in this example, gold).

The result? The U.S. M2 money supply ballooned from $4.3 trillion in 1990 to over $21 trillion by 2023. Similar stories played out worldwide as countless governments bailed out industries, “stimulated” economies, and responded to crises they themselves created - like the financial crash in 2008 and COVID-19.

On the surface, government “stimulus” looks like abundance: more money, more spending, more growth. But in reality, the more abundant the money, the less valuable each unit of currency ultimately becomes.

How Abundance Creates Scarcity

When fiat floods the system, several predictable outcomes erode value:

Inflation Erodes Purchasing Power

The most direct consequence of an overly abundant money supply is inflation - more money chasing the same quantity of goods or services inevitably pushes prices up. What cost $1 in 1971 costs over $7 today. Wages haven’t kept pace, therefor each dollar you earn buys less food, less housing, less energy.

Asset Bubbles and Misallocation

Fresh fiat often flows into assets like stocks or real estate, driving up prices far beyond fundamentals. Investors and cantillonaires, the ones closest to the money printer who I cover in my blog The Canitllonaire Class, get richer, while essentials like housing become unaffordable for the average worker. San Francisco’s median home price topping $1.3 million in 2023 is a clear example. In this case, the abundance of money ultimately results in a scarcity of access to basic needs.

Devaluation of Labor and Savings

We trade our time and life energy, the most precious and finite asset we possess, for money that elites can print at will. As Jack Mallers said, “No man should work for something another man can print.” The result of this terrible exchange is that workers find their wages stagnant and savers are punished with interest earnings that fail to even keep pace with inflation. In 2022, with 8% inflation and savings accounts below 1%, savers lost value simply by holding cash.

Global Currency Wars and Inequality

When the U.S. prints Dollars, it exports the inflationary effects abroad. This is thanks to the petrodollar, requiring countries to denominate oil transactions in USD, as well as the Dollar’s global reserve currency status. Nations that peg their currency to the dollar, especially in developing economies, see their currencies debased as a result, causing inequality to soar. Oxfam reported in 2023 that the top 1% captured nearly half of all global wealth gains since 2020, fueled by fiat abundance.

The Philosophical Angle: Scarcity Creates Value

Money is supposed to be a store of value and a consistent unit of measure. But fiat, by design, loses value the more abundant it becomes. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe (2008) and Venezuela (2018) proved this in a most brutal fashion, where it took wheelbarrows of cash to buy bread.

Contrast this with Bitcoin: capped at 21 million coins, infinitely divisible, and resistant to manipulation. Its scarcity is absolute. That’s why, over time, Bitcoin’s price has reached higher highs and maintained higher lows, even in down turns when volatility is at its peak. Scarcity preserves value; abundance destroys it.

Breaking the Stake

So what can we do? Traditional finance, the industry most staked to the fiat matrix, offers the same tired prescriptions:

• Invest fiat in “hard assets” like real estate or gold.

• Push governments for fiscal discipline (a fantasy in a system that requires infinite printing).

• Diversify globally (as if other fiat currencies aren’t also inflating).

But none of these break the stake. They just tie you tighter to the system.

The real solution is twofold:

• Opt out and unsubscribe: Exchange your time or your fiat for Bitcoin, where the scarcity and stored value can’t be corrupted by a third party.

• Reframe abundance: Real abundance isn’t found in more fiat or assets at all - it’s actually rooted in experiences, relationships, and knowledge. Inflation can’t touch those.

Conclusion: Scarcity of Value in an Abundant Fiat World

The paradox is clear: the more abundant fiat becomes, the scarcer its value. This is not a bug, it’s a feature of the fiat matrix that fuels inflation, widens inequality, and steals the life energy of everyday people.

To reclaim real abundance, we must unsubscribe from the fiat illusion, break our stake to the system, and refocus on what truly matters: sovereignty, fulfillment, and preserving value in something that can’t be endlessly corrupted by a third party.

Jake Galt