Every step of human social development seems to be full of twists and turns, but the overall trend is to move forward along the continuous improvement of productivity. Productivity, in short, is the ability of human beings to produce to meet their own needs. This definition itself embodies the spirit of humanism: if what we produce does not meet direct or indirect needs, then whether such production activities still meet the definition of productivity is worth pondering.
For example, if humans are enslaved by AI in the future and engage in activities that AI needs rather than humans themselves, can such activities still be considered production activities? Therefore, we divide human activities into two categories: productive activities and non-productive activities, and productive activities are called labor.
Source of value
So, where does value come from? Some people think that value comes from production, while others think that value comes from interest. But how does interest come from? Interest comes from the growth of value, and the growth of value is rooted in production, that is, labor. The basis behind this is a basic law in the universe: the law of increasing entropy. Without production activities, entropy will destroy all value.
Labor and Value
In the world of Bitcoin, we have discovered an interesting phenomenon. Bitcoin production (or "mining") is an inefficient activity. No matter how miners increase their computing power, the output rate set by the Bitcoin system (generating a block approximately every 10 minutes) remains unchanged. This is in stark contrast to traditional production activities, where technological advances and machine upgrades usually mean that more products can be produced faster, resulting in a decrease in product value.
Technological progress and the disappearance of value
The overall progress of high technology, once popularized throughout the industry, will lead to companies producing more advanced products, but at the same time will also lead to a decline in product value and a drop in stock prices. The stock market is a weighing machine in the long run, and technological progress allows companies to produce better use value, but with a lighter "weight" (i.e. value).
Bitcoin: Breaking the logic of traditional capital
In an inefficient production system like Bitcoin, the increase in miners’ computing power does not lead to a decrease in the value of BTC. On the contrary, due to the high security provided, the value of BTC continues to increase. This is contrary to the traditional logic of capital movement.
Under traditional capitalist production relations, the value of workers is often overshadowed by the value obtained by capital. Capital pursues the production and acquisition of value, but its actual end point is to destroy its own value.
Anti-efficiency: the new logic of capital
The anti-efficiency characteristics of the Bitcoin system provide a new perspective to understand the creation and disappearance of value. In the world of Bitcoin, efficiency is not a friend of value, but its natural enemy. Anti-efficiency, that is, while maintaining competitiveness in the market, producing with lower efficiency can actually bring higher value.
Differences between Bitcoin and traditional assets
Comparing Bitcoin with traditional assets such as stocks and bonds, we will find that Bitcoin provides a different value logic. Bitcoin does not rely on the rules of traditional capital movement, and its value is not determined by production efficiency in the traditional sense, but by its unique supply mechanism and decentralized characteristics.
in conclusion
The existence and development of Bitcoin challenges the traditional capitalist production logic and provides a new perspective for understanding value and production relations. With the continuous development of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, we may witness a major shift in capitalist theory and practice, ushering in a new economic and social development process.
Source: https://www.zhucebian.com/?redian/280.html
