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RE: Bitcoin! What It Really Is, The Beginning Of The End!
I don't see bitcoin as proof of money itself being unnecessary, but it definitely combats the idea of national currencies and central banking. Money is a tool that serves a definite purpose, and it is not going to be obsolete for the foreseeable future. A medium of exchange, a store of wealth, and a measure for rational economic calculation are all necessary for an advanced economy.
Agree those things are needed for an advanced economy, but I don't think an economy is needed for an advanced civilization.
The economy is just the sum total of all voluntary exchanges between individuals. An advanced economy is absolutely necessary for an advanced civilization. Consumption requires prior production. Goods and services are naturally scarce. Only the ability to engage in rational economic calculation at the individual level allows progress to occur in any meaningful way. The computers we are using now are only possible because of the economy and in spite of government controls.
When labour and energy are free, there will be no scarcity of goods and services. Voluntary exchanges will only be that of individuals exchanging ideas and creative expressions. We are on the cusp of having the technology to achieve this.
Labor is never free, because there is always an opportunity cost for the laborer. Energy will never be free because of physics. Automation and mechanization do not replace labor, they multiply its effectiveness and open up new industries that were previously unavailable.