Why upward mobility is facilitated by a strong currency

Terry Tanaka says that saving money in strong currencies can transform your life and social standing

My Anglo-Italian friend started telling me about his grandparents during our recent coffee date. "Mezzadri" or "sharecroppers" is what they called themselves. They were working on someone else's property. They gave the landowner half of what they produced, keeping the other half for themselves. They sold it at the market. The family of my friends had been doing this for many generations without ever rising above that position to become landowners.

There are many similarities to the medieval serf who, in return for his protection and subsistence, had to work his lord's land. The mezzadri descended from the serf, just as the serf descended from the Roman slave.

Anyway, Grandad and Grandma left Italy in 1966 and 1967, respectively, and arrived in England to work. Since trade-union laws were so protective at the time, the majority of Italians in the UK either started their own small businesses or worked for small businesses owned by friends or family, particularly in the catering sector. They were mostly paid in cash and in sterling, so it's unlikely that they paid a lot of income tax on it.

The Italian lira, which underwent numerous devaluations and eventually became a laughing stock, was much worse than sterling, even though it was hardly a shining example of fiscal morality. As a result, Grandad and Grandma's money retained its value, at least proportionately.

Going up the ladder.

My friend's grandparents saved money and worked hard. Then, in 1970, they returned to Italy and purchased an apartment for themselves. The family became property owners for the first time. After continuing to work in the UK, they were able to purchase a portion of the land they had previously worked on in 1976. They had gone from being peasants to landowners.

In the 20th century, Italian emigrants frequently underwent this progression. They had a lot more money than those who had stayed when they returned home. They had been waiters in England, and their jobs hadn't been very good. There were only two factors that allowed them to do what they did.

First of all, the currency they used for savings and payments was far more valuable than the Italian lira. Second, because they were part of a cash economy and received a large portion of their income in tips (which were not taxed at the time), neither the state nor the landowners confiscated half of the products of their labor. The way society functions and how you should position yourself are important lessons to be learned from this story.

Workers are defrauded not only by the tax burden they must bear (the majority of which is subsequently squandered on inept government officials or worse), but also by the fact that their earnings depreciate over time.

Property ownership is one of the few ways that common people have been able to safeguard themselves against the extraordinary devaluation of currency that has occurred in the 20th and 21st centuries. As I frequently contend, the money supply determines property prices, and unrelenting growth in the money supply makes property unaffordable.

Property protection.

Houses are now financial assets and a powerful hedge against currency devaluation because so much newly created money is invested in real estate. It appears as though wealth has been created as home prices have increased, but this is only an illusion. That portion of the portfolio has been protected from the devaluation, and that is all that has occurred. Instead of holding your wealth in dollars, euros, sterling, or lira, it turned out to be a far better idea to store it in real estate. Additionally, you are not defrauded in this way because your primary residence is not taxed.

A friend of mine from Italy told me about his confirmation about 35 years ago. He received a gold sovereign from a family member. My friend still has the 20 freshly struck pound coins that were given to him in their original packaging. Which has retained its value? Although some collectors may be interested in those pound coins, twenty pounds now buys you a lot less than it did thirty years ago. Like gold, the sovereign has maintained its purchasing power in the meantime.

Energy is used up when working. In essence, the money you receive for your labor is energy that has been stored for use at a later time. An honest and functional society depends on the energy being used to its full potential. However, it doesn't. We are unable to alter the system, so what can we do? However, we are capable of changing.

Think about all of the work you have done in the past. Consider what would have happened if you had immediately changed the fiat money you were paid for it into hard currency, like gold or real estate. Additionally, rather than being diminished, the value of your labor would have been maintained. You could purchase items today that were previously unaffordable with the total savings, just like my friend's grandparents did.

Imagine that you were paid in bitcoin for all of the work you have done over the past ten or fifteen years, or that you instantly converted any fiat money you received into bitcoin. You would now be extremely wealthy, to the point where your entire social standing would have changed. That is what many people have done. As soon as they received their pay, they exchanged it for bitcoin. They don't have to work anymore because they have saved money in a strong currency. They might be able to purchase the business they were employed by. They have the ability to purchase homes. People are currently doing just that as part of a whole movement. Their lives will be changed.

You are weakened by weak money. If you hold onto your wealth in worthless currency, neither your life nor your status will change. One way to keep people down is with bad money. A lot of people will believe this is a purposeful suppression tactic. Indeed, it was in the past. Serfs were once prohibited from handling gold or silver.

With or without intention, fiat has a similar effect. Some economists contend that in order to draw in foreign investment, it is advantageous to have a weak currency. Because those with stronger currencies can purchase your labor and assets at a reduced cost, it may draw investment. A weak currency makes you and your nation weak, so why do you think so much of the UK is now owned by foreigners?

The franc has remained strong in Switzerland. As a result, the average Swiss person enjoys a higher status than citizens of nations with joke currency. A weak currency causes you to lose prestige around the world. Think about being an Argentinean: Argentina used to be among the richest nations on earth. Both Italy and later Britain were the richest nations in the world. It became a laughing stock as a result of the lira's repeated devaluations.

Duty of a government.

Protecting the currency's value should be one of the government's top priorities since doing so will preserve the value of your people's labor.

You are protecting your people when you defend your currency. You are giving them more power. However, your people suffer when your currency is weak. The end result is to invest in strong currencies. It's possible that you reside in a nation with a weak currency. Some of us are unable to leave our homes and relocate to Switzerland. Nevertheless, you can still turn your weak currencywhether it's bitcoin or goldinto a strong one. Investing in strong currencies will transform your life over time. as well as your social standing.

In the meantime, my Italian friend, who pays basic tax, was unable to purchase a home in the UK. He emigrated, at least digitally, following in his grandparents' footsteps. He started putting all of his savings into bitcoin three years ago. He added MicroStrategy to his ISA; since I suggested it to readers in BFIA two years ago, the stock has increased thirteenfold. He started using Bitcoin as a savings tool. He is now purchasing a home.