Q: If I could produce infinite gold, would it be valuable? If I could sh*t out gold into my toilet, as much as I wanted, would that render it worthless as a store of value?
Scarcity does not mean valuable. But something that’s valuable always has scarcity
A: If you could do it, and others cannot, and you don't tell anyone you're producing it, then yes, it would still be valuable.
But value is still only a consensus deal. Dogs and elephants don't think gold is valuable. They do appreciate water though, and a man dying of thirst in the desert is likely to give up a lot of gold for a bit of water.
There is nothing inherently valuable about gold. There is even nothing inherently valuable about scarcity. Scarcity only matters if you need the thing that is scarce: supply & demand.
The irony is, Gold isn't needed for anything. So it should have no value, at least until there's a problem. But we use this artificial consensus that scarcity equals intrinsic value when really it's just a social construct because we decided that this thing has value because it's supposedly rare.
Diamonds are an even better example. They are not rare at all; just scarce because one company hoards them all and controls supply. But they "have" high value as long as everyone agrees they do. And what is the supposed equity that makes these diamonds "worth" the asking price? The affection and satisfaction of a person you want to make happy. Like WTFFFF? Could it be more socially manipulated? 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
