The internet is littered with talk about the future of money. There’s fervor about how Universal Basic Income will solve all of our problems. There’s concern about what we’re all going to do for money when automation does away with our jobs. There’s vague talk about how post-scarcity is right around the corner and money soon won’t matter anymore. These statements indicate an incomplete understanding of what money is and how it works.

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People say things like “I think money is…” as if money isn’t universally understood. Rest assured, money is and has to be unambiguously and precisely defined, whether you grasp the definition or not. The whole world can’t be simultaneously participating in a system of measuring wealth if the system doesn’t have very specific rules. We won’t be able to address problems with money until we’re talking about it accurately and concretely. 

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