Hedraios on Nostr: I'd say the money, which is a representation of human time and effort, is in theory ...

I'd say the money, which is a representation of human time and effort, is in theory owed to any creator or saver of value in the USD system, whose time and energy could have gone to either improving their lot (personal well-being, family wellbeing, community wellbeing) or providing security for an unknown future threat.

But Instead, their money was funneled into malinvestments, wars, and the hands of those who are closest to the printed money supply and produce little but through a sneaky, roundabout way, lay claim to the wealth of others. A mechanism that makes this possible is the inflation of the money supply via debt issuance (and pretending that that debt obligation is actually an asset) which diminishes the purchasing power / work of every USD earner or saver.

So the money is owed to the future wellbeing of those who earned it by creating value.

I wonder: What if all the destruction of wars, for example, had instead been positive cooperation and construction? How might the world we pass on to a next generation be better?

In my opinion that's an example of what has been taken away, and where the true debt lies.

But I'm still trying to figure it all out.