Thank you for writing this, you've made a few points click in my mind that hadn't previously.
I think you're absolutely right: the issue is the unnatural desperation people have to keep making money to get their basic needs met (call this the Treadmill Effect: better keep running to keep up, or get knocked off). In this day and age in the west, no-one owns their home outright. The vast majority have large monthly payments they have to make, and the rest have property taxes, etc. Both of these are unnatural conditions.
In most countries, property ownership is restricted by government - you cannot just pick a plot and erect a house, workshop, factory etc.
True, and government has no right to do that because no-one has a right to do that.
In most countries, if you work or not you get taxed. Where you live, what you buy gets taxed.
True, and government has no right to do that because no-one has a right to do that.
I would also point out that historically, people used liquid-based currencies, which are based on wealth that exists today. If I hold such a currency, it means I own existing wealth based on value created in the past. Over the past century, the US Government has steadily forced Americans (and more recently, the rest of the world) to switch to debt-based currency. If I hold such a currency, it means I am owed nonexistent wealth based on the hope that people will create value to fill that void in the future.
- Government has no right to do that because no-one has a right to do that.
- That's a really stupid idea. That's what's ultimately responsible for the Treadmill Effect.
Let's unpack that a bit further: debt-based currency creates the Treadmill Effect. Why? Because a balance of debt-based currency is a promise of future value, not existing wealth; therefore, someone, somewhere needs to work to create that value in order to pay his debts. If he doesn't, he's out of a house, out of a car, out of his land... And the more of this debt based currency there is, the faster the treadmills are running.
I want to think more about this, and perhaps make a more in-depth post about it later.