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Will you take the red or the blue pill?

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What is time?

Do you have any idea?

What is the time right now?

Does it exist?

Einstein says 'no'.

 

Building on Einstein’s quote, I used to regularly present that the world has no borders. We invented them.

I live in Poland: just look at the history of Poland.

Poland was the largest mass of Europe in the 17th century. It then had a war with Sweden that decimated much of the Hussars, the horse riding army that was the pride of Poland. They beat Sweden but then the Russians and Ottomans invaded and Poland was wiped out. 200 years later, it was wiped out again by Germany. It’s actually quite surprising that Poland exists today. But countries and borders are just something we invent.

 

It becomes weird when you strip away illusions.

For example, you think you own your home? What if you don’t? What if an invading force steps in and says your home is mine, get out! It has happened many times over the years, particularly during wars. I remember a guy in Kiev airport talking to me about his house in Crimea. It was his summer home but now he can’t go anymore. It belongs to the Russians.

Time and countries don’t exist. But then, companies don’t exist. We invented them.

Companies only exist as legal entities – they don’t live and breathe. They’re not real. You work for something invented by someone. When you go back to basics, that’s obvious too. Someone like Steve Jobs starts a company with his mate Steve Wozniak and they called it Apple. I’m surprised they got away with it as the Beatles invented that company ten years earlier but hey, they did. Now that’s a company worth more than most today ...

... but it’s just a made-up bit of fiction, like time and borders.

Money is just made-up. Money is a fiction. I’ve written this often, but money is meaningless. If your country reissued your national banknote tomorrow and said this one is now worth ten zits and your one is now zitless, you would immediately trade in all your zitless notes to get the new zit ones. Thing is, that we are getting rid of paper so your notes are now worth nothing anyway. You need digital zits.

Money, like time, borders and companies, is just a construct … and it’s being deconstructed.

This is hard to deal with as, when you strip the world back to its basics, everything is invented. Laws, religion, money, government, countries, borders, time … it is why libertarians say we can reinvent money, as money is just a construct.

Truth.

Unfortunately for me and you, it’s one of those red and blue pill moments. Try this out ... click here and try the red pill or the blue pill.

Which pill do you take?

Oh, and watch out for Matrix Resurrections.

 

Chris Skinner Author Avatar

Chris M Skinner

Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...

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