kymafi on Nostr: Ya you have some great points here. This is an older post - the idea is much clearer ...

Ya you have some great points here. This is an older post - the idea is much clearer in my book which I wrote later: https://kymafi.com/end-of-fiat/read/

The main point of confusion is the entomology of fiat. It’s defined in the book broadly as “a metric of value, that detaches from labor, scarcity, time and energy”. It goes over the history of value since the beginning and then addresses my claim that it is the root cause of dukkha.

The Buddha lived in a time of fiat (coinage declared by the rulers of his time which were debased eventually like modern society). His philosophy of the self or ego is largely correct but the book focuses on how self and identity is formed from a delusional metric. Money is the base layer of society of which people believe in regardless of religion or practice, yet it’s a belief system based on authority. Even today we form self identity based on how money is earned (professions, occupations or side hustles) and judge others based on the metric.

Craving is a downstream effect of this - so the Buddha was right in a way, but it was not a complete truth because he was unaware and had no alternative value system. It’s fascinating that he largely rejected money, lived as a beggar asking for food via alms, yet since this idea was incomplete, his philosophy turned into a materialistic religion- today zendos costs thousands for retreats, zen masters charge large sums of fiat for courses on meditation, and they perpetuate the cycle of dissatisfaction they claim to end.

Hope this helps!