This is all very bizarre. It's stranger than fiction.

Either way, it's all paid for by the poor old taxpayer.

And that's the rub, isn't it. I've been thinking more about that angle recently, how we're literally paying and hence enabling those in power to commit offenses that harm us.

Let's get back to our individual energy. We work. We struggle. And what do we have to show for it? Maybe property, but more likely money. Money is the socially agreed upon, acceptable, transformable unit of energy. That's what it is. If I grow an ear of corn, my energy, along with that of the sun, etc., is transferred into that corn. I sell that corn and get a unit of currency. That currency represents energy.

But here's where it gets tricky. First, governments can simply print the currency. Are they creating energy? Of course not. By printing currency, they are stealing your energy. Energy is limited, that's why it has value. Currency only has value to the extent that it reflects the limited energy it symbolizes. When governments print currency without the backup of energy, they're stealing by devaluing the representational value of that currency.

That all makes intuitive (& normal) sense. I enjoy getting to the fundamental nature of things & energy is very much in that category.

Before there was money, there was usefulness. You produce your corn (useful for sustenance) by expending energy, then barter it for something else that is useful, let's say a chair, that another person has expended energy to produce.

At some stage, money came to represent the usefulness-value of expended energy. But as you point out, that system has been corrupted. I often wonder, for example, what use to me are all these Secret Security Orgs? They suck up my energy-money, but how do they actually benefit me? They didn't pick up the bleeding obvious that was the origin of Covid - well they almost certainly did but chose to spread disinfo instead - so as an end user of their product, that i am forced to accept via lockdowns, mandates, disinfo - I am the poorer for it. I am not receiving a fair exchange for my energy.

Security Orgs (& many other mega-orgs) have developed into a false-economy - that none-the-less have a big impact on my life.

Same with money printing - there's no useful-energy behind it as you point out - it's a corruption of the fundamental principle. The other thing about the money-printing is that it all, quite quickly, found its way into the pockets of mega-Orgs. I assume it's the same for most countries, but in Australia, all big-corporation recorded world-record profits during Covid. A large part of the inflation we're seeing now appears to be these same orgs putting up their prices to maintain this level of record profit-taking.

Love is a form of energy, and IMO is the basis for all human energy. One could argue that fear is the real basis, but I would say it's love. Fear, and all other negative energies, are the product of love.

That's a big statement - which has been kicking round in my head since i read it. You're onto something fundamental here. It gives the phrase Labor of Love added meaning. If you love doing something you have way more energy than you do for stuff you don't like doing - we all know that feeling.

So is our product the result of energy/love expended to produce it?

Seems like it.

Teaching is a good example - you do put positive (love) energy into it - to engaging with your students. It motivates you as well as increases the quality of the product. Then the beauty of it is that that energy loops back from the engaged students to keep you going for next time (if you're doing it right) - it sets a standard.

Craft markets are another good example - the crafter has put love-energy into their crafting - you can see it as a physical product on display.

Cooking - they say the secret ingredient is love.

Computer programming - everything - if the maker has gotta love for their work, it's gonna be a better product. Never saw a gardening show where the presenter was morose about gardening - they love it - that comes across - it's the whole point.

So if humans can work that out - then that's another reason for positivity re the blockage in logical discussion. It's not that it can't be done, it's a natural inclination even, but that simple energy-love equation has been hijacked, corrupted.

Plato had this idea of Unforgetting - that might be the magic key to understanding in this case as well.

Love is the original base of energy, but that simple truth became forgotten . It was always there though - still is - can still be tapped into ...