Abundance and Money
I keep asking myself the question: How can we create an abundant economy without relying on the traditional scarcity-driven concept of money?
Money exists primarily as a motivator for human activity, but love is a far greater motivator. People will often do things for love that they wouldn’t do for money.
This led me to ask: How can we evolve our economic system so that it functions more like love—an abundant, freely given resource?
This paper explores how digitized money systems, innovations in universal basic income (UBI), and love-based economic models could redefine the future of wealth and work.
The Problem with Traditional Money Systems
Money was initially created to address dissimilarity of wants and indivisibility of goods. Over time, it evolved into a medium for trade, progressing from physical coins to the modern system of encrypted bits in mobile wallets.
While technology and human innovation have advanced tremendously, money remains fundamentally rooted in scarcity. Even modern cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, highlight scarcity as a feature of their design, making Bitcoin an Good, not Currency.
Yet, the world itself is becoming more abundant, especially in terms of resources like information, energy, and automation. This abundance stands in stark contrast to how we still treat money—as a limited resource ever-flowing from the many to the few.
My Grandfather, born in 1899, with an 8 th grade education, noted that “If we spread all the money out evenly to everyone, 10 years from now the same people would have it.” And its true, some people are really good at making money!
But there is a consequence.
To understand this consequence, consider the analogy of a poker game where one player is 10X better than the other players. Eventually, the best player wins, and eventually hoards most of the chips, and unless more chips are reintroduced, the game will stop.
This is not unlike our current global economy: successful entities accumulate wealth, while others are left with less to circulate. Central banks often inject more money to stimulate activity by printing money which increases the cost of goods and inflates the value of necessities. In the end, it’s not WHO has the money, it’s how FAST it moves through the economy.
Enter: Digital Money as Monetary Energy
Michael Saylor has framed Bitcoin as “monetary energy”—a new form of wealth that transcends traditional limitations. Saylor argues that Bitcoin’s scarcity is actually a strength because it resists inflation and can’t be easily manipulated by central banks.
However, the key idea to borrow from Saylor is that money doesn’t need to be physical or tied to a specific government’s whims; it can exist in digital form, untethered from material scarcity, yet still provide security and ownership.
In a way, Bitcoin decentralizes wealth, allowing more people to access the system of value exchange. This is a step toward abundance, as it distributes economic power and makes the playing field more level, much like love—something everyone can give and receive.
Scarcity as a Choice: The Economic Views of Noah Smith
Noah Smith, an economist who champions innovation-driven growth, argues that we’re living in an era where technological advancements are breaking the traditional scarcity model. Smith suggests that we should focus more on expanding human capital and innovation rather than worrying about inflation or budget deficits.
By adopting Smith’s framework, we can see how a love-based economy, where financial incentives are tied to human well-being and creativity, could function. His ideas support the argument that an abundant economy could work if we invest in human capital and foster environments where people can pursue innovative, value-driven activities, rather than being shackled by scarcity-driven monetary policies.
These notions dove-tail with Saylor’s concept of Digital Energy.
So what ideas are out there at the moment that can lead us to a better, more democratic form of Distribution of Human Energy?
Universal Basic Income (UBI): Bridging the Gap to Abundance
A practical way to begin transforming our economic system into one driven by abundance is through Universal Basic Income (UBI).
Initially, I was skeptical of UBI because it seemed like a band-aid solution to a system based on scarcity and possession. However, recent experiments, particularly in Finland, have shifted my view.
The Finnish government’s UBI experiment provided recipients with a basic income that resulted in improved well-being, higher life satisfaction, and even a small but significant increase in employment.
This suggests that giving people financial security allows them to focus on more meaningful, creative activities, rather than being trapped in jobs for mere survival.
Andrew Yang, who ran for president in 2020 on a platform of UBI, proposed a Freedom Dividend—a version of UBI that gives every American $1,000 a month. Yang’s argument is that automation and AI are displacing jobs, and we need to rethink how wealth is distributed.
His vision aligns with the idea of an abundant economy where financial security allows people to innovate, pursue passions, and create, rather than compete over limited resources.
Expiring Money: An Abundance-Based Solution
One of the actionable ideas I find interesting is expiring money. Money, if unused or hoarded by the 1% of the 1% who simply run out of productive uses for their money, would lose its value after a certain period.
Use it or lose it!
Expiring money would force it back into circulation, increasing economic velocity and stimulating human activity and creation. In digital systems, this can be implemented through smart contracts on blockchain technology.
Expiring money could encourage people to invest or spend on socially beneficial projects, much like how love grows through sharing. This system would encourage more human activity, which, as we’ve discussed, is the true value behind money.
Love as the Ultimate Motivator
At the heart of this discussion is the idea that love, not money, is the most powerful motivator. Love doesn’t diminish when shared, and it creates a positive feedback loop that benefits both the giver and the recipient.
An abundant economic system would mimic these properties: one where wealth creation, innovation, and well-being are shared and continually regenerating.
To make money more like love, we need to rethink how it flows, who controls it, and how it is used. A system based on universal access, digital abundance, and human capital would enable us to build a society that thrives on creativity, well-being, and prosperity for all.
I truly believe that the Scarcity System no longer serves humanity. Modern technology, digital money, and ideas like UBI offer a pathway to an abundant economy where human activity, driven by love, becomes the true measure of value and “success.”