I almost stepped in dog shit earlier tonight.
Luckily, I dodged it at the last second. Otherwise, my evening walk would have been ruined. And unfortunately, someone else in front of me was not as lucky, based on the shoe marks that I saw in the pile of poop.
Now, instead of enjoying an evening walk, that person was probably scraping dog shit off the bottom of their shoe.
Yuck.
I see dog shit everywhere
The truth is, when living in Brooklyn, avoiding dog poop has become a part of life. Over time, it becomes second nature to see it / dodge it, no matter if I’m playing on my phone while out on a walk, pushing a stroller around, going for a run, etc.
And after long enough, I stopped getting mad about it.
At least, that’s how I felt. Until recently.
You see, while on vacation in Tokyo, I got used to a different standard – one with clean streets! (is that too much to ask for?)
I kid you not when I say this, but I did not see ANY dog shit for three whole weeks. Actually, it was the exact opposite – everything was so clean. No dog poop. No trash. No junk laying around. That included sidewalks, roads, subway stations, public bathrooms, etc.
It was lovely. And I got used to it. So now, back in Brooklyn, I can’t help but see dog shit everywhere.
Yuck.
Why am I telling you this?
Of course…you already know this is somehow related to bitcoin. So let’s just go there.
Bold claim: I believe that bitcoin will make more people pick up their dog shit.
Yes, you read that right – I believe bitcoin is going to help make streets poop free!
And I know this sounds ridiculous at first glance. You are probably thinking, “how could some magic internet money help get rid of dog poop on sidewalks?!”
Let me explain.
“Should I pick up my dog poop?”
To set the context, I don’t have a dog. But I can imagine multiple scenarios where if I did have one, that I could forget, simply not see, or even choose not to pick up after my dog poops.
Scenario 1: I was supposed to get paid today, but didn’t. And in this scenario, I needed that money to buy dinner tonight. And while out on a walk, I don’t even notice my dog pooping (since I’d likely be on my phone the whole time desperately searching for other ways to put food on the table).
Result = more poop on sidewalk
Scenario 2: I’m distracted thinking about the missing paycheck and forget to grab a poop bag before heading out on the walk. So even if I see my dog pooping, I can’t do anything about it.
Result = more poop on sidewalk
Scenario 3: I see my dog poop, but I’m stressing about the lack of food options for dinner and decide, “f*ck it”, and just walk off since no one is around and I have other pressing problems to deal with.
Result = more poop on sidewalk
Do you care more about the short term or long term?
One thing I know is, in these scenarios, if I was stressed figuring out how to feed my family tonight, I would be significantly discounting how my decision to pick up (or leave) the dog poop affects my long term future.
Too abstract? Let me be more specific.
Rationally, I’m sure all of us would agree that a dog-shit-infested neighborhood isn’t good for anyone. But, at the same time, I know that if I was consistently stressed about how to feed my family, I would’t be thinking much about:
- potential resale value of houses in the neighborhood 10+ years from now
- what happens if more people in the neighborhood also decide to stop picking up after their dogs (after following my example of not picking up)
After all, if I can’t even feed my family tonight…how much am I going to care about how clean the neighborhood is in the long run, or how much a house down the street might sell for 10+ years from now.
Right?
And that leads to…you guess it, more scenarios where I don’t / I can’t / I won’t pick up after my dog.
Yuck.
Life is getting harder
There are many reasons why someone doesn’t pick up after their dog. And I believe that it’s mostly related to money problems.
Maybe you don’t feel the urgent kind of stress about how to put food on the table tonight. But nonetheless, it’s the same underlying kind of stress figuring out how to afford gas, pay next month’s rent, cover the cost of an unexpected doctors visit bill, save up to buy a house, etc.
Lots of people are stressed about money
Right now, over 75% of people in the United States live paycheck to paycheck (source).
That is crazy high. Just think about it – it means 3 out of every 4 of your friends / co-workers don’t feel secure they’ll be able to afford the cost of life next month without getting their paycheck.
And even a quick scroll through LinkedIn will show you a decent number of people around you are losing their jobs right now.
If that’s not bad enough, the cost of food, gas, rent, and everything else is going up. And it’s going up faster than before. And not to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s not going away anytime soon (source).
More expensive
If the cost of everything is going up, let’s do a thought exercise.
Will there be more (or less) people who are living paycheck to paycheck? (I think there will be more)
And if more people are stressed about short term money issues, will they think about and care about and plan more for their long term future? (I think it will be less)
So what does that mean for dog poop on the streets? Sadly, I think it means more poop.
Yuck.
How does bitcoin fit into all of this?
Now, imagine the opposite scenario.
Instead of being stressed trying to put food on the table, you know with certainty that you can buy dinner tonight. Tomorrow. And well into the future.
And instead of feeling like everything around you is getting more expensive…for you, everything is getting more affordable. And bigger ticket items that once felt out of reach are also becoming more feasible to buy one day.
(sneak peek: this is what happens when you own bitcoin)
Another bold claim. I know.
Let’s look at this in action!
In a previous post, I showed you how the price of a house getting cheaper in bitcoin terms. To recap, back in 2017, it would have cost you ~315 bitcoin to buy the median home in the US. But now, in 2024, to buy a similar median sized house, it would only cost ~7 bitcoin.
And just as basic math reminder: 7 < 315
The same applies no matter if it is a house, car, tuition bill, insurance, gas, groceries, or even how much it costs to put food on the table tonight.
Everything gets cheaper in bitcoin terms!
As a side note, after thousands of hours of study / research about bitcoin, I’ve come to a rational conclusion that things will continue getting cheaper in bitcoin terms. (btw – this is why my family owns bitcoin)
Back to the dog poop…
So now, imagine it’s 2030-ish time frame (ie. roughly 5-10 years in the future), and you are out walking your dog. Now, the price of a house has trended down from 315 bitcoin, to 7 bitcoin, and now…all the way down to just 1 bitcoin.
And lucky for you, in this scenario, you own 1 bitcoin! (because for one reason or another, you pulled the trigger and bought 1 bitcoin in 2024 after reading a blog post from a random Bitcoiner Dad)
So while out on a walk, the same bad thing happens again – your paycheck didn’t go through.
But this time around, instead of wracking your brain about how you are going to afford dinner tonight, you know with certainty that your family won’t go hungry. Worst case, you know you have 1 bitcoin in your possession and you could sell a tiny fraction of it to buy food at any time.
So when your dog stops walking and starts pooping, you notice since you aren’t frantically on your phone researching how you are going to feed your family tonight.
Result = less poop on the street
Or imagine since you aren’t spending brain cycles wondering why your paycheck got delayed, you remember to take a poop bag when you head out for the walk.
Result = less poop on the street
Or maybe even better, even though you don’t want to pick up after your dog (because after all, who really wants to pick up poop, right?), you pick it up anyways.
Why? Because you are now planning to buy a house in the neighborhood (since it only costs 1 bitcoin and you own 1 bitcoin!).
Result = less poop on the street
My point is, when you own bitcoin, the trend is that life starts getting easier because things get cheaper. And as it does, you worry less about money in the short term. And that matters because I believe you’ll be significantly more aware how your decisions today affect your longer term future.
In this case, I believe it’ll mean you are more likely to pick up your dog shit because you will have more incentives to care about your neighborhood in the long run (since you can now afford to buy and live in the neighborhood long term).
An overnight sensation?
To be clear, I’m not implying in any way that the day you buy bitcoin, all your money worries go away.
But longer term, it does!
First, it starts off with less and ultimately no stress about food related costs. Then, it expands to feeling less stress about weekly expenses like gas, or how you’ll afford to take the family out to a nice restaurant.
From there, it keeps expanding to less stress about monthly expenses like rent / mortgage. And of course, it keeps working too even for bigger ticket items like the cost of a vacation, or buying a car, house, etc.
As a Bitcoiner and parent, this is the trend I’ve personally experienced. And it’s a similar trend I’ve heard from other parents who own bitcoin too.
Honestly, it’s a great feeling to worry less. And something I truly wish and believe every parent can experience for themselves. (it’s the reason I write this blog)
Is it too much to ask for clean streets?
Here is where it gets really interesting. Let’s say life is getting easier for you (ie. things are getting cheaper because you own bitcoin). And, life is getting easier for your neighbor too because they also bought some bitcoin. And then, the same thing starts happening for even more neighbors around you.
In this kind of neighborhood, do you think there will be more dog shit on the streets? Or less?
I believe it will be significantly less. And that is a better version of the future I’d like to live in!
Further down the rabbit hole
When you learn more about bitcoin, you’ll come across the expression of, “lowering your time preference”. Simply put, to lower your time preference just means to think about and care about your long term future instead of just optimizing for what is convenient or easy in the here and now.
In this post, I focused on the decision to pick up your dog shit today (because you now care more about the long term resale value of the neighborhood).
Of course, the opposite is also true. That is called having “high time preference”.
To learn more about the concept of how bitcoin affects your time preference, check out this presentation (~30 minutes) by Saif, the author of multiple best selling bitcoin books.
It’s a big idea with profound impacts!
Next time
Of course, the concept of time preference doesn’t just affect dog poop on the streets either.
I’ve now become aware how it also impacts the foods I eat (and avoid), the things I buy (and forgo), the content I consume (and ignore), as well as how I think differently about relationships, family, friends, etc.
Next time, I’ll tell you how I applied the idea of “lowering my time preference” in other parts of my own life. Sneak peek: I look better, feel better, and am a better parent because of it.