Many people worry a lot about the underlying soundness of money. Some are in favor of “going back to the gold standard”. Other worriers prefer silver. Most people who think “Things would be better, if only people would listen to me.” are also very worried about interest rates, usury, the Federal Reserve, over-lending of bank deposits, and nearly every other identifiable aspect of any monetary system.
In fact, things are working pretty well, the way they are. The rich are getting richer and the poor are, too. It’s silly to want to go back to the gold standard. A few hundred years ago, American Indians wanted to leave the gold standard, and go back to the wampum standard. A few thousand years ago, Roman soldiers wanted to leave the silver standard, and go back to a salt-based military economy. The gold standard, wampum standard and salt standard are mostly gone. So, why all the complaining about changes in money through the ages?
Basically, some people just like to worry. Some worriers turn into complainers. Those who are good at worrying and complaining often become so good at it they’ll to public. Others, with the same tendencies, will take on new worries and complaints. They think it’s intelligent to do so. Many complainers believe that the more arcane the thing they worry about, the more intelligent they are.
The production and distribution of money can’t help but be very complicated. Very complex systems are involved in some of its movements. It’s not surprising that money has become a popular target of complainers’ complaints and worriers’ worry.
What money really is: Money is not a relationship of paper to gold, wampum, or salt. Money, in the overview, is a process. At any given time, money is a snapshot. It is a picture of the time, energy, and amount of value believed to have been added to the people, processes, and things around us.
American manufacturers, for instance, produce ten times more goods than before with the same number of production employees. That has changed the value of money and labor. And, it has changed the way money must be transferred. The 90% of people no longer needed to make things have to go on eating. So, jobs and monetary systems have to be developed to provide the money that keeps them off the streets. Paper money reflects such changes and paper money keeps them off the streets.
Even the production costs of gold, silver, wampum, and salt have dropped. It is paper money that measures what their changing prices need to be.
Gold and silver are hard to move around, easily stolen, and often confiscated by governments. Still, there is a lot of gold and silver. There is one ounce of gold for every person on earth and probably that much silver. 90% of the people in the world don’t have an ounce of either, but all are getting cheaper food, housing, clothing, transportation, and medicine. There is no need to worry about paper money. It keeps them off the streets.
Few understand why the lack of gold and silver behind money has become such a source of concern. There is, of course, an ongoing need for something that cranks and chronic complainers can gripe about. The fact that the change from gold and silver money keeps the chronically critical busily complaining and off the streets. That is as good a reason that there is for the efficacy of paper money.
In fact, neither gold nor silver adds value to anything execpt jewelry and electrical components. Focusing on gold and silver for their own sakes is actually harmful. People who focus on amassing gold and silver, or criticizing those who do so, would be better off doing something useful, like adding value to things around them, than wasting inordinate amounts of their lives. Money changes form to keep malcontents off the street.
“What did you do at the office, today?”
“Well, I worried about what’s going to happen if we don’t go back to the gold (silver, wampum, salt) standard. And, I worried a lot!”
“That’s nice, dear. Dinner’s ready. Wash your hands.”
