Introduction

People on the right now discuss the problem that billionaires fail to support worthwhile right-wing cultural endeavors. Non-profit institutes and NGOs seem like the only solution. 

The main problem is that non-profit institutes are seen as “below the market.” And what is needed is a solution that is understood as “above the market.”

Straightforward market solutions do not work because true patronage requires the acknowledgment that certain civilization-oriented pursuits, like philosophy, politics, art, are supra-monetary. They are above money, profit, or the market itself, simply because they show the reasons why human life is worth living in the first place.

Many wealthy persons already recognize that supra-monetary worth exists. But they simply do not have a good vehicle for funding its discovery. 

Supra-Monetary Assets Complete the Bitcoin Thesis

The vehicle is Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions. An Ordinal inscription is data that is immutably inscribed onto the bitcoin ledger. Ordinals are similar to NFTs but on bitcoin. The inscriptions are created by philosophers and artists (and can be tied to real world assets) and are then funded by patrons, via the bitcoin network. 

In the same way that Bitcoin is understood as financial store-of-value, to bought and never sold, supra-monetary assets are understood as civilizational stores-of-value, that are bought and never sold.

They constitute a new category of financial patronage that is legally understood as neither a for-profit financial investment (as Bitcoin is or can be), nor a charitable donation. We call this patronage category, “supra-monetary assets.”

Neither Investment nor Donation

The reason that this funding vehicle is not a for-profit investment, is that the patronage is fundamentally premised on the asset being worth more than money itself. If  it is a true cultural store-of-value then one would buy but never sell.

The reason why is not a charitable donation, is that the Ordinal inscription are still privately owned, unique digital assets that can be bought and sold. If it is a true financial store-of-value then one would never want or need to sell.

The Analogy to Other Culturally Valuable Goods

The analogy between bitcoin and real estate is a familiar one, made by Michael Saylor. Owning Bitcoin is like owning a very valuable piece of real estate. Its value increases over time. It is a good analogy but it’s missing something: What gives a particularly valuable piece of real estate its high value? Its unique location and architectural design.

Think of Ordinal inscriptions like the unique location and architectural design of a valuable piece of real estate. There are some buildings that are above even the value of money because of their cultural and historical value. And these are often funded either publicly or by wealthy private donors.

Supra-monetary assets can also be understood in terms of the original manuscript of an extremely rare, historically important work. A document such as one of the copies of the Constitution, for example, might sometimes sell at auction, but any owner of it would acknowledge it is worth more than the money paid, because of its undeniable cultural and political value. Similarly, a Leonardo da Vinci painting changes hands for money sometimes, but not often, because its supra-monetary, civilizational worth is clear to any owner.

Alternative to the NGO & Non-profit Blob

This allows for a true right-wing alternative to “the blob” of non-profits and NGOs, which are perceived as sub-market. In the left-wing NGO, non-profit blob, every organization measures impact by its own personal metrics and KPIs or measures some kind of effective altruist utils.

And these causes are perceived as sub-market, nice thing, “good cause,” altruistic. They allow wealthy persons to contribute. But the mission of the org is only really necessary on a subjective level for the persons involved. Supra-monetary assets are understood as necessary on a civilizational level.

The Ordinals themselves form a superordinate pursuit of truth above flows of monetary currency, yet still supported by flows of monetary currency. Since they are based on the explicit acknowledgment that there is a truth independent of ourselves, there is a distributed ecology of philosophical and artistic pursuits that recognize the same independent truth from different angles, and a motive to discover and create works that are the most true, good, and beautiful.

Right & Left Approach to Patronage

What makes supra-monetary assets a right-wing political and economic solution is that it involves the explicit assertion and agreement that there is a truth that is independent of ourselves, that is knowable and can be communicated. And it is above worldly pursuits.

This solution is based on the clear expectation that certain great works of the human spirit have no explicit utility, except for their exemplary greatness. These inscriptions will be bought and never sold because of their historical, artistic, and philosophical worth is supra-monetary, supra-political, and supra-historical.

Supra-Monetary Assets & Existing Narratives

Supra-monetary assets complete the already popular narrative of Bitcoin as store-of-value, or world reserve currency, through a cultural store-of-value.

And they also offer a convenient solution to the security budget problem of bitcoin, as the mining rewards phase out over time. The funding of Ordinal inscriptions supports transaction fees on the network and rewards miners.

And finally, this solution supports a vision for the future of A.I.: it allows for a truly unbiased arena to see whether A.I. competes with human ingenuity in artistic and philosophical greatness. And provides a vehicle for humans to prove their uniquely human capacities. Through this vehicle, the tradition of theology, literature, poetry, philosophy, and education, can be given its due merit and support in an economically sustainable way.