Money is only ever backed by the integrity of the prevailing government, which in turn is backed by the integrity of the prevailing society...
Once upon a time, the United States was on a gold standard. Each dollar in circulation could be legally exchanged for 1.5 grams of gold upon request.
Then, during the deepest depths of the greatest Depression in U.S. history (1933), with unemployment at 25%, the government decided they could no longer keep that promise. The economists at the time, likely fearing violent revolution, believed that in order to resurrect the economy they needed to expand the money supply and the only way to do that was to expand the base of gold. So they confiscated all of the gold in private circulation and revoked the convertibility of dollars for gold, except for foreign governments:
Suffice to say, leading up to that exact moment, private citizens in the U.S. had believed that their money was backed by gold. However, with one stroke of a pen and with the backing of the Supreme Court, that vaunted "gold standard" was instantaneously revoked. One moment dollars were backed by gold, the next moment they were backed by nothing.
The only true gold standard consists of a government, constitution and supreme court that can't be "subverted". If you can't trust your government not to unduly inflate a fiat-based money supply, then how the hell can you trust it not to abrogate a gold standard?
Moreover, given that none of us alive has been through a Great Depression to date, it would be naive to judge the actions of people back then for whom "restoring the standard was considered a low priority" at the time. Coincidentally (?) 1933 was the bottom of the 1930s U.S. depression with respect to GDP.
If a government needs to take dire actions in the depth of a depression to alleviate extreme poverty, then it should have the wherewithal to do that. It was all of the actions taken AFTER that event that corrupted the dollar.
Such as printing money to:
Such as printing money to:
- Fund gaping fiscal deficits
- Paper over gaping trade deficits
- Fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy
- Fund military adventures
- Buy stock market rallies
Moreover, true "money" does not consist of paper or even gold, it consists of a productive economy, productive skillsets, a stable middle class, availability of resources, and most importantly an honest competent government, not riddled with buffoons. Without all of those, all money is totally fucking worthless.
How do you get a competent and honest government? Clearly, it starts with having a competent and honest citizenry. Without that, any country will be Third World in no time.
The New Unenlightenment
Speaking of a competent and honest citizenry, mega-corporations have systematically created the exact opposite, by dumbing down the general population into total submission. The commodification of human beings during this extended Globalization-funded vacation from reality has led to an ever-lower common denominator with respect to popular culture. Whereas Europe had an enlightenment in the 17th century consisting of a general intellectual renaissance:
"The Age of Enlightenment was a cultural movement of intellectuals beginning in late 17th-century Europe emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. Its purpose was to reform society using reason, to challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and to advance knowledge through the scientific method. It promoted scientific thought, skepticism, and intellectual interchange."
By contrast, this society is having the exact opposite, an "unenlightenment" consisting of: South Park, Honey Boo Boo, Faux News, the Kardashians and 2,000 more cable channels full of unadulterated toxic waste.
It's all just corporatized garbage intended to dumb down the populace into being a stable of compliant sheeple who never complain and never resist the continual degradation of their state of human welfare.
This is ground zero for the collapse. Corporatized junk culture.
The New Unenlightenment
Speaking of a competent and honest citizenry, mega-corporations have systematically created the exact opposite, by dumbing down the general population into total submission. The commodification of human beings during this extended Globalization-funded vacation from reality has led to an ever-lower common denominator with respect to popular culture. Whereas Europe had an enlightenment in the 17th century consisting of a general intellectual renaissance:
"The Age of Enlightenment was a cultural movement of intellectuals beginning in late 17th-century Europe emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. Its purpose was to reform society using reason, to challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and to advance knowledge through the scientific method. It promoted scientific thought, skepticism, and intellectual interchange."
By contrast, this society is having the exact opposite, an "unenlightenment" consisting of: South Park, Honey Boo Boo, Faux News, the Kardashians and 2,000 more cable channels full of unadulterated toxic waste.
It's all just corporatized garbage intended to dumb down the populace into being a stable of compliant sheeple who never complain and never resist the continual degradation of their state of human welfare.
This is ground zero for the collapse. Corporatized junk culture.
