Yes, but that's exactly the problem. With any currency, spending happens when you see something that is worth more to you in sum over the future than the value

Yes, but that's exactly the problem. With any currency, spending happens when you see something that is worth more to you in sum over the future than the value of the currency. So when the value of the currency gets lower, you are eager to jump on opportunities; conversely, when the value of the currency gets higher, you are reluctant to jump on opportunities. To a first approximation, you spend inflationary money as early as you can, but deflationary money as late as you can. And that's the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem you get with a deflationary ETH - an ecosystem where everybody spends as late as they can. Does that sound like it will lead to a vibrant offering of services to you, cause it doesn't to me. This is also why I never got into Bitcoin. Why would I ever spend a bitcoin? As a currency it's near worthless, ironically; people who spend it will in the long run always be outcompeted by people who buy and hold. (Before the bubble bursts, anyways.) The medium of transaction should not be an investment vehicle; those purposes are directly opposed.