We have this atomized, digitized, monetized culture and there is no comprehension of the networks enabling it.

For one thing, markets need money to circulate, while people see it as the signal to extract and store. That’s why capitalism is not synonymous with a market based economy.

As a medium, money functions as a public utility, like roads. Its functionality is in its fungibility. We own it like we own the section of road we are using, or the air and water passing through our bodies. It doesn’t store well.

Blood is a medium, fat is a store. Roads are a medium, parking lots are a store. The hallway is a medium, the hall closet is a store. If the average five year old can understand the difference, why does our entire economy run on mistaking the two?

Mostly money functions as a contract, with the asset backed by a debt. Though some forms are commodities, when the value is inherent in the token, like gold, or bitcoin.

Which means that to store the asset, similar amounts of debt have to be created. One way is to squeeze the flow of money through the actual economy, requiring it to run on debt and drawing the saved money back into circulation. Which means capitalism requires austerity.

The other primary method is having the government borrow surplus money. The capital markets couldn’t function, without the government siphoning up trillions in excess money. Where would it go otherwise? Derivatives? Apple stock? Ferraris? The secret sauce of capitalism is that public debt backs private wealth.

So here we are, with everyone rushing around, gathering up as much cash as possible and not caring what other people think, but the reality is that it’s just a contract between the individual and the community. A glorified voucher system. Promises from those people we don’t trust.

Eventually we will need to learn to invest in a public commons. Storing value in the community and the environment. Society needs both public and private spaces and we have a long way to go, on the larger learning curve.