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Originally Posted by Levi Philos
Money is an extension of speech by means of symbols and contracts by which humans are enabled the exchange of real things by proxy.
Money is not a *thing*
Gold and silver coin are as much symbolic as any other money symbol - the extra imaginative value ascribed to precious metal coins is due to their anti-counterfeiting nature.
You need to look at the near 600 year usage of tally sticks as money in England and ask why such an otherwise useless item was accepted and used over such a long period of time. The answer is that the issuance and collection in taxes process was fairly clear and understandable - coupled to a very good anti-counterfeiting mechanism.
http://www.complementarycurrency.org/materials.php
http://www.altruists.org/downloads/by_subject/money/
http://www.reinventingmoney.com
http://tinyurl.com/5zror
search Narayana Kocherlokota and "Money is Memory" - I was reaching the exact same conclusion from my own study and reflection when I found his piece. That any particular money symbol - whether it is a coin, a piece of paper or an electronic digital entry - is a socially accepted mnemonic device.
Levi Philos |
That is all well and good, but, is any such system beneficial to mankind in general operational?
Sherman was opposed to "the Evils of a Fluctuating Medium of Exchange," and in his caveat illustrates those evils.
Tally Sticks, according to commentary by the producers of The Money Masters, are to be considered a decent system.
Should the value of money be allowed to fluctuate, and should the fluctuation be controlled by those who have a vested interest in and the means for controlling the particulars of an elastic currency, or a fluctuating medium of exchange, through flooding the economy with devalueing paper, or withdrawing it to suit the needs of gargantuan global commercial business conglomerates?
And ultimately, what does back and prop up the system?
Energy?
Human Capital?
Is this the nature of the beast or not?