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389 sats \ 6 replies \ @Brunswick 22 Sep 2022 \ on: Daily discussion thread
Ask SN: My kids are losing motivation to earn sats in our gig-microeconomy when their past earnings aren't redeemable for as much toys as it was before. Yes I know its counter-intuitive since they could be earning more sats at these prices, but their past work feels like it was in vein. Chores are priced in dollars and its converted to sats when they're paid. How do I reinvigorate their desire to earn in this bear market?
Interest rates. Pun, very intended. :)
Lend them money, and tell them the rates are volatile, but fixed after they lend you money. Make them determined by "the market". Except, in reality, you adjust rates based on their interest. Get the pun?
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I tried to get them to understand self-banking and paying yourself back with interest but that went over like a lead balloon and they got terribly confused and thought that I was explaining simple saving.
Its not a bad idea to introduce lending, but if the loans were priced in bitcoin that could tear them up when the price multiplies several times. Deflation is terrible for holders of debt, wages go down but the loan stays the same.
If I gave them a loan in fiat (an inflationary currency), and let them pay it back over time with their bitcoin (deflationary asset), this could work to their advantage and help them retain their past earnings.
I could also collateralize their loans, so if they default, I can take back their toy and sell it at a discount to their siblings. Devious, but it might work.
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I just re-read my own reply. I mixed up the advice in my first 3 words of the advice part. Must have been multi-tasking. Sorry.
Correcting, and clarifying:
Borrow money from them. Post a daily rate that changes, based on their interest in lending you money, but lock it in once the deal is struck for a specific term.
Do it in BTC terms. High interest rates. I'm talking like 200%.
Kids need to see and measure the difference day to day. From their horizon, any fiat is stable.
Presumably you could afford to pay triple digit annual interest for a week or two on on their (assuming small) stack.
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Start with everything priced in sats. Then their perspective will be different.
https://www.pricedinbitcoin21.com
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It fluctuates too much for that to work. Pricing in bitcoin isn't practical until the price stabilizes.
I could, on one hand, price their work on the future value of bitcoin but then they wouldn't be able to use it at all until it reaches that value.
On the other hand, I could price everything in today's value of bitcoin and hold it there indefinitely but then I would be overpaying them in the future.
If I adjusted the prices every day, week, or month, that might be more equitable but its also cumbersome and its easy to fall back to just using the spot price when its time to pay.
If I price everything in bitcoin, that's a great idea but given I would need to adjust it every day or week, I'll quickly forget to update it and will again fall back to using the spot price.
One approach I tried was to ask them to send me an invoice using alby which requires them to calculate the number of sats. This hasn't worked out as well as I had hoped, they just forget to bill me for their work.
I'm trying to motivate 4 kids between 3rd and 7th grade.
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I know is hard to let go the "fiat price mentality" but is a must.
I was in the same situation few years ago and always I was in a continuous frustratikn doing calculations etc until I said fuck it, this fiat is useless.
So I start doing it the way around, fiat --> sat, in my mind and slowly my frustration was gone.
All this come from our "trained" mind forced to think only in fiat amount. As old users is very hard for us to get rid of it.
Don't let your kids to fall in the same thinking as us. They are our future.
You are doing great job with them. Well done!
May the Bitcoin be with them and with you!
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