“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen” - Lenin
This is Fictitious Capital, a newsletter that explains concepts and systems that make up the global system at a time when everything is happening all at once...
Too many analyses and predictions, both in mainstream discourse and the reactions to it, are based on misconceptions and myths about how some fundamental things in our system work.
For example, can we compare 1 Joule of solar energy with 1 Joule of oil? Where does money come from and who controls the monetary system? In a world rife with discussions around decarbonization, money printing & inflation, de-dollarization, etc., understanding the fundamentals becomes paramount.
These preconceived notions are considered to be obvious — beyond debate or question. But these misconceptions lead to talking past each other, polarization, disillusionment, and a sense of dread. Knowledge that goes beyond surface level arguments is critical to countering these feelings — it is power.
This newsletter is a project to explore, explain, and map out what I call the base layer of society, the foundation atop which all our other domains of knowledge and analysis and debate rest.
This is base layer is largely the material realm — the world of energy, materials, and supply chains — along with the financial system which makes those materials work. In short, the material world are the cogs of the machine, while finance is the grease that makes them work.
We cannot understand the machine (the system) without knowing what the different parts are and how they are inextricably weaved together.
The goal of this newsletter is to publish explainers on these core, complex topics with clarity and relevance to people with multiple interests so that it may be useful in various disciplines & lines of work, creating a shared factbase which would lead to more informed debates about our future.
Why this newsletter:
We have all been hearing about, feeling the effects of, and coming to terms with various crises: Covid-19, climate change, political polarization, etc. I would argue however that there is deep crisis of despair gestating underneath the veil of political disagreements & policy debates. This is the result of a growing sense of uncertainty creeping into spaces that we were “sure of”; sensory and emotional overloads resulting from surface-level, dopamine/cortisol inducing content that triggers more than explains; and the understandable difficulty in accepting that maybe there is a fair amount of “fictitious capital” that upholds our current way of life.
My thesis is that the only way counter this despair is to make sense of the present, and hence make more informed and active choices about the future, by better understanding the current system. That is what this newsletter intends to do. Translate the work of relevant experts into simple discourse, push the level of understanding beyond academic/media reductions, facilitate connection of seemingly idiosyncratic dots, and ultimately enable more informed conversation.
Here’s a sharper 5-point pitch:
We are at a pivotal moment in civilizational development - and yes, I know every moment is called pivotal by people but the challenge I am taking on is to “prove” that we are truly in a moment where the foundations of our society are in flux.
The current structure of knowledge and discourse acts as if various topics are “islands” with limited interaction. A small but growing subset of people are challenging that by treating different areas as nodes that part of an interconnected network. I want to push that further by treating various topics/concepts as “threads” that are interwoven to create a blanket - basically that these threads are inextricable and together make a complex system.
This matters. Whether you are interested in policymaking, politics, investing, industry, development, figuring out where to settle for next 20 years, or are just a concerned citizen, the majority of topics I intend to cover are big picture enough to have a high degree of impact on your way of life.
The intention is to translate the knowledge of relevant experts into digestible content for “generalists” and also illustrating how these topics are indeed strands of thread, as opposed to islands. Focus is on mechanical and operational explanations, not political (to the extent possible). Academic gate-keeping, overwhelming amounts of information, click-baiting, and an increasing complexity of topics has led to a general lack of understanding in how our system actually works.
More understanding of the facts (yes, facts do still exist) and the mechanisms of the system can help lead to more meaningful discussions about politics and subjective choices. Even with all this information floating around, polarization is surging because all sides mostly don’t understand or agree with the foundations, which is a problem and should be easier to fix.
Analogy: It is important to understand the plumbing of the system (which is what this newsletter seeks to contribute to) before we can debate how to improve it, whether we should have pipes at all, etc. The plumbing is, and I hope most agree here, a matter of objective reality - the subjective opinions, which are definitely important, come later.
Some additional context:
As some of you may know, I enjoy writing opeds and articles, and having been doing so for many years now. While I have mostly written subjective commentary, this is my attempt to tone down the preachiness and be more explanatory in my writing (for all the reasons I explained above).
So I am eager for all sorts of comments and feedback!
Past writings:
Recent essays on inflation, money creation, Bitcoin, and the history of money. [template for the type of piece I hope to write here]
