Looking around the world today, there is a lot that we could complain about. Prices are ridiculously high, the dating scene is a mess, and microplastics are in our balls...

What is the root cause of our woes? Is it the debt-based fiat financial system, moral decay, unbridled consumerism, or an invisible evil that underlies all of it?

Perennial Problems

Here in crypto, many of us share the belief "change the money, change the world". After all, money is what makes the world go round, and is the root of most unethical behavior.

But even if we managed, with all our mental might, to replace fiat with crypto, and rooted these problems out of society, would us humans finally be satisfied?

Consider how King David (the second ruler of Israel), who lived three thousand years ago, was also complaining of evil and wickedness in his time:

Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping.

Psalms 6:8

If David's struggle was indeed real, I wonder if he ever thought that surely the world would be free of evil and suffering 3000 years into the future.

Recurring Dissatisfaction

Consider how in modern times we live better than any ancient king or pharaoh, yet take for granted almost everything that was passed down to us over several millennia.

We can fly across the world in less than a day, drive across the city in less than an hour, and access the world's knowledge at our fingertips in an instant.

We can keep ourselves physically comfortable with things like air conditioning, heating, microwaves, stoves, dishwashers, and refrigerators.

Even if we consider all the suffering our ancestors had to withstand to get society to where it is today, we will still feel unsatisfied under our present circumstances.

Feeling Gratitude

Feeling dissatisfied is natural, and likely part of God's design. For without discontentment, we humans never would have built the modern world that surrounds us.

To advance, we must work hard, take risks, fail, fail, and fail again, before we finally succeed. Then, after some temporary satisfaction, we will find discontentment again.

So we proceed to chase progress, and achieve success after success. Despite all our achievements, we still feel like there is something missing in our lives.

Perhaps what is missing in our hearts is gratitude for everything that has been bestowed upon us by God, along with our hard-working, risk-taking ancestors.

I'm not saying that advancing human society isn't a worthwhile goal, but we need to balance our efforts for the future with gratitude for what we already have today.

Accepting Suffering

At this point I am convinced that crypto will eventually replace fiat. The people will take back control of their money, and society will transform for the better.

But will we humans finally be content when that happens? Probably not.

According to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, "to live is to suffer". Suffering sculpts the soul, and attempting to avoid it will only make it worse.

You can transcend suffering, however, by recognizing that it's inevitable on your spiritual journey, just as it is for everyone else, and everyone who came before you.

As we struggle to reform finance, we can practice gratitude for all the conveniences we have today that only the kings of biblical or medieval times could have dreamed of.

Until next time...

If you found this article interesting, be sure to check out my other posts on crypto and finance here on the HIVE blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.

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Images Courtesy Of Venice AI [1]