reply to post by TravelerintheDark
Of course money has no real value, and the current monetary system in the US is not represented by anything.
Money has value based on the goods it can attain. If I can produce a Dollar and hand it to the lady at the drive threw, my Dollar is certainly worth
enough for the cheeseburger, is it not? So long as people accept that specific form of Money, then those Monies are in fact
worth something.
The Dollar is backed by security and faith -- the faith is that if you purchase the Dollars, or you accept them in trade, you are knowing that you can
then turn around and use those Monies to attain further goods and services. Gold, Silver, Sea Shells, shiney beads, pretty rocks.. ALL use the same
method. To peg a dollar to something is to give it a consistancy, that is to say, based on the supply of X = Y, adding or depleting the resource is
the fluctuation of the currency. This comes with plenty of benefits, and just as many limitations. To peg the Currency to the general production and
prosperity of the Nation frees it from the binds of consistency granted by pegging it to another object (that is in it's self also Volatile).
And so money as it stands does not represent wealth
To carry on with above, the idea of any form of Money, be it currency, rocks, sticks what ever, it
always, always always always comes down to
"if I trade you this for that can I use that to be this or that?" -- If you cannot use the tendered Monies to purchase something in turn, then that
has no value. If you CAN turn around and use to purchase or trade for something else, then it has some form of value. The value is strictly based on
what can you get for it? Just because the Dollar is not "backed" by something physical does not mean it's not worth anything. You can see
this in the volatility of Dollar Values, what you can get per 1 dollar is constantly changing based on supply -- the more there is, the more it takes
to get something, thus depleting value. This trend works in reverse as well.
Gold is also Volatile based on supply and demand. In regions where Gold is plentiful it is not considered rare or precious to the extent we view it,
where we have already depleted our resource.
Gold's actual backing has only to do with the guarantee someone will accept it. If there where no guarantee you could turn around sell the Gold or
trade it, no one would accept it. It wouldn't be worth anything.
There is no divine law dictating which resource on this planet is deemed to be of specific value. This is evident constantly throughout history..
from countries that used shells as currency, to Roman soldiers who where paid in Salt, because it was valued higher then Gold.
Which is why money becomes debt, and the indebted are slaves.
Debt is the negative holding of monies.. meaning you owe more monies then currently in possession. If I took my total indebtedness, subtracted my
total equity and reserves, I would come about with my total net value. If my debt is higher, then my total net worth is negative, and thus I am worth
nothing. If my total net worth is higher then my total debts, then I am worth the outcome of the equation. I do agree that debt is a form of
slavery, such as Mortgages taking 30-60 years to pay off .. it's quite honestly no different then indentured servitude.. but that is not the
currencies fault, that is the manipulation of markets.
but to eliminate money we would first need to eliminate borders,
Why, Governments don't impose the need for Money, people do. If you want something from me, give me something of equal or greater value -- this is
the theory of money. Governments regulate money, standardize it, but never has a government created the
need for money.