Bent Measuring Stick (If you remember when filling the tank felt automatic.) Gasoline (Per Gallon, 1995 → 2025) 1995 — Gasoline averaged around $1.10–$1.30 per gallon, roughly 8–10 minutes of median hourly wages. 2025 — Gas commonly ranges $3.50–$4.50 per gallon, closer to 12–18 minutes of median hourly wages, depending on region. That’s roughly a 3× increase in price, while median income has only about 2× over the same period. The shift isn’t always dramatic on a single fill-up. But multiplied across commuting, errands, and years, the difference quietly compounds. And when the measuring stick bends, even motion itself begins to cost more time than we remember. #soundmoney #bitcoin #inflation #purchasingpower #fiat

Madison did not see freedom as self-sustaining. Liberty endures only where understanding spreads widely enough to check concentrated power. Bitcoin reflects this same architecture: open code, public verification, and education as defense. It rewards those who learn, verify, and take responsibility. In a world of opaque finance, knowledge becomes not merely informative but emancipatory—turning literacy into leverage and sovereignty into something practiced rather than proclaimed. #bitcoin #Madison #Liberty #Knowledge

That’s the fascinating part. Emerson was writing about gold in the 1840s, yet the same logic now applies to code. Different century, same instinct: people want tools that expand agency, not systems that manage them. It’s one of the reasons I like doing these quotes — the technology changes, but the human desire for sovereignty doesn’t.

Bent Measuring Stick (If you remember when a grocery run didn’t require recalculation.) Ground Beef (Per Pound, 1995 → 2025) 1995 — A pound of ground beef commonly cost $1.50–$2.00. 2025 — The same pound now often costs $5.00–$7.00. That’s roughly a 3× increase, while median household income has only about 2× over the same period. The shift doesn’t feel dramatic one pound at a time. But across a cart, across a month, across years, the quiet compounding reshapes how households plan. And when the measuring stick bends, even ordinary staples begin to stretch further than they once did. #soundmoney #bitcoin #inflation #purchasingpower #fiat

Emerson recognized that money, at its best, is not an idol but an instrument—valuable only insofar as it secures independence and voluntary exchange. Bitcoin sharpens that insight. It strips money of political privilege and returns it to its essential function: a tool for self-direction. When value can be stored and transferred without permission, wealth becomes less about accumulation and more about autonomy—the quiet architecture of lived freedom. #bitcoin #Emerson #Freedom #Sovereignty

Bent Measuring Stick (If you remember when keeping the lights on felt routine.) Household Electricity Bill vs. Income (1995 → 2025) 1995 — Monthly electricity for a typical household commonly absorbed about 1–2% of median income, fluctuating seasonally but rarely driving budgeting decisions. 2025 — Comparable usage now often consumes 3–5% of median income, as rates, delivery charges, and fees rose faster than pay. What changed wasn’t the need for power, but the share it now claims every month. And when the measuring stick bends, even basic utilities begin to crowd out the margins that once made finances feel predictable. #soundmoney #bitcoin #inflation #purchasingpower #fiat

Spencer warned that once authority claims moral supremacy, dissent becomes vice and obedience becomes virtue. Bitcoin rejects this premise by removing moral judgment from money entirely—no approvals, no exemptions, no favored outcomes. By grounding monetary order in neutral rules rather than institutional intent, Bitcoin restores individual agency and strips power of its most dangerous disguise: the claim to know what is best for everyone else. #bitcoin #Spencer #Liberty #Sovereignty

Bent Measuring Stick (If you remember when a family vacation felt like a pause, not a project.) One Week Family Vacation (1995 → 2025) 1995 — A domestic round-trip flight typically cost 1–2% of median household income, and a week of mid-range lodging added another 2–3%, allowing a full trip to fit within a single-digit share of annual earnings. 2025 — Comparable airfare and lodging now commonly consume 5–8% of median household income, before meals or activities are even considered. What changed wasn’t the value of time away, but the share it now claims in advance. And when the measuring stick bends, even brief rest begins to compete directly with savings rather than complement it. #soundmoney #bitcoin #inflation #purchasingpower #fiat

Sidney understood that freedom collapses when power is unevenly applied. Liberty survives only where rules bind everyone equally and cannot be selectively enforced. Bitcoin carries this principle into the monetary realm, replacing discretionary control with transparent, universal rules. By making enforcement automatic and impartial, Bitcoin restores a form of equality before the law that modern money quietly abandoned—turning restraint into protection rather than submission. #bitcoin #Sidney #Liberty #Sovereignty

Bent Measuring Stick — Sunday Golden Calibration (Changing the ruler doesn’t give answers. It gives clarity.) Public University Tuition (4-Year Degree, 1995 → 2025) 1995 Price — A four-year, in-state public university degree typically cost $12,000–$15,000 in tuition. 2025 Price — The same degree now commonly costs $40,000–$45,000+, before housing, books, or fees. Measured in gold, the comparison looks different. Using long-term averages rather than today’s spot extremes, tuition was roughly 30–40 ounces of gold in the mid-1990s and is roughly 15–25 ounces today. That result doesn’t say education became “cheap,” nor does it erase the lived reality of debt and delayed milestones. It shows that when prices are viewed through a unit that changes more slowly over time, the divergence appears not only in the cost of education, but in the purchasing power of the unit most people earn and save in. #soundmoney #bitcoin #inflation #purchasingpower #gold