Posted on 08/14/2008 3:01:41 PM PDT by djsherin
Money is a crucial command post of any economy, and therefore of any society. Society rests upon a network of voluntary exchanges, also known as the "free-market economy"; these exchanges imply a division of labor in society, in which producers of eggs, nails, horses, lumber, and immaterial services such as teaching, medical care, and concerts, exchange their goods for the goods of others. At each step of the way, every participant in exchange benefits immeasurably, for if everyone were forced to be self-sufficient, those few who managed to survive would be reduced to a pitiful standard of living.
Direct exchange of goods and services, also known as "barter," is hopelessly unproductive beyond the most primitive level, and indeed every "primitive" tribe soon found its way to the discovery of the tremendous benefits of arriving, on the market, at one particularly marketable commodity, one in general demand, to use as a "medium" of "indirect exchange." If a particular commodity is in widespread use as a medium in a society, then that general medium of exchange is called "money."
The money-commodity becomes one term in every single one of the innumerable exchanges in the market economy. I sell my services as a teacher for money; I use that money to buy groceries, typewriters, or travel accommodations; and these producers in turn use the money to pay their workers, to buy equipment and inventory, and pay rent for their buildings. Hence the ever-present temptation for one or more groups to seize control of the vital money-supply function.
(Excerpt) Read more at mises.org ...
Going beck to the gold standard overnight would have a profound effect.
But the cause of our economy going in the tank would be the Federal Reserve printing all that paper money.
I believe that our economy is so precariously perched right now that if (WHEN) the people find out what our money is actually worth, all h-e-double-toothpicks will break loose.
Yup. Which is why we had to take down Saddam Hussein.
George (W. Bush) knew!
“the cause of our economy going in the tank would be the Federal Reserve printing all that paper money.”
CFR manipulating the economy again and cutting Joe Blows’ throat once more.
Thank You, Tricky Dick for being so cooperative.
Tricky Dick was just one of them. Before him FDR stole a huge percentage of the privately-owned wealth. I don't remember exactly, but something like 1/3 of all the American people's net worth.
Overnight.
By Presidential directive.
Nobody objected.
What I would like to know is; when the heck are the American people going to start getting mad?
I got mad when I started studying Ron Paul’s message and realized how our government ignores the Constitution and devalues the dollar. Then I see stuff like the confiscation of weapons in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and the housing bailout.
When people become educated (and I’m not talking about government run public education) people will start to get mad... hopefully.
“when the heck are the American people going to start getting mad?”
I don’t think folks remeber how. We’ve become comfortably numb.
I'm afraid you're right.
Combine the natural tendancy for people to avoid any of the "heavy lifting", with decades of mis-education in the public schools, and you've got the recipe for complacency.
Somehow I managed to make it through the monstrosity that is the public school system MORE critical of government and its abhorrent policies and practices than when I went in. Thank God.
Yep, that's me, too!
Only after seeking out alternative sources was I able to "round out" my education.
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