REMINDER: I have two big problems, 1] I take things for granted as being easy knowledge (like how did people NOT know Donald Duck was in the Navy? I MEAN REALLY REALLLLLLY I thought everyone knew that!) 2] Or I over-explain because I can't tell how much people don't know and I only understand things when contextualized through literally everything else.
-> Double Reminder: Do NOT be like my Dad (please) and play Devil's Advocate of "well sure I understood, but someone else might not!!!" because we can play that into infinity and it won't help me. Just you don't be afraid to not understand something because that is onMe Not You so PLEASE DO SPEAK UP. Just don't feel the need to pretend to not
understand something if you do in fact think you get it. Asking for clarification ie "I think you mean this, but is that so?" is also awesome Thanks guys
Part 1: What is Money? What is the value of any currency? Of circulation? What good can it do, or is it just a means for corruption, and 1.5: why hoarding is a thing that must be dealt with.
-- Plurk note: I don't have the health to just write up the full chapters yet, which is why I'm doing this freestyle conversational, in the hopes that I can well narrow the fuck down the good, the bad and the ugly on all this. Keeping in mind, I basically tell Sharon I feel like I'm a black hole compressing and eating stars and trying to burp out gamma rays
Money is at its most basic root, a shorthand means to measure exchange. Goods, products, services. In ancient Africa, salt was exchangeable to the weight of gold because salt was so important for nearly all aspects of life.
It's a pain in the ass to determine how many eggs a single chicken is worth, and it gets even more stupidly complicated when you want to figure out how many apples a day of working in the sun is worth. A house? Your life?
The value inherently differs person to person, just as the value of your individual life will have different meaning to different people. Those closest to you are likely to rank it very highly, where your enemies might have an entirely different perspective.
This is why bartering exists, because attempting to find out how much something is worth is difficult. In the altruistic ideal of a "free market" everything is worth "whatever someone is willing to pay" or sacrifice for it.
Money is inherently governmental. If a society is small enough, it can do without such broad institutions, but the larger a society gets, the more must be exchanged and accounted for, much more than anyone person can account for.
Comparing the bartering system market places of pre Greco-Roman eras to the 2016 New York Stock Exchange is even more difficult than comparing the price of someone's head to apples. Who's head? Why? Where are the apples going? Can they make the trip or will they need to produced into cider or an easier storage system first?
In a small village, a chief could help settle disputes; acting in a way as a form of money himself, as well as government. However, by the time kingdoms and countries arose; money became a necessary institution for all parts of government affairs. More than just the chief helping settle disputes, money and wealth became signs of authority, and the hoarded
wealth and inherent power within was passed down via generations. Borders, resources, and lives were all tied to just a simple form of measurement. But this is because, more than what the money actually tangibly was; was what it represented and enabled.
From a guard getting paid to help a merchant move goods from farms to towns to city-states, to different countries; to the very bandits who would waylay such travelers; money is but a means to an ends.
The value of money could be arbitrarily chaotic. And in such situations, where no one really knows what anything is worth, chaos is just opportunity for corruption. But because government is so inherently tied to money, there is actually a chance there to remove the chaos and corruption -- though this is rarely, if ever done, because usually those who
There's a scene in "Quick Changes" a 1980s US movie about a homeless black man and a Philadelphia high class stock broker who wind up switching places due to a theoretical game played by their bosses; wherein they frame the stock broker for theft by marking a wad of bills with Red X's and then having everyone turn out the pockets of the person(s) standing
Actually, both are already in place. Unfortunately, they're simply not being used by the people for the people, but instead by systems for individual's benefit, rather than by everyone as a whole -- whether that's ethical or not. Credit Cards' primary job is to collect interest, being a loaning based on credit institution; but no credit company can succeed
Meanwhile in the crackdown on drugs/illegal substances, and terrorism, US law has already reached the point where cops can confiscate money they even suspect will be used in pursuit of criminal activities.
Governments' existence depends on the lifeblood and activity of its people. Should they will for something to change and happen; throughout history if government has not ceded the way to help the people, then the government as an institution will fall.
The first step to getting anything changed (and even if your life is perfect, you probably do seek an improvement somewhere in some way) is to understand what you as an individual value most, and what you want others in your society to value, and how to help your government protect that.
As it stands now; where chaos exists, the corrupt will find a way to get their own benefits from it, to the detriment of other individuals, and very often; society as a whole. But it doesn't have to be that way. Just as guards can help protect merchants, imagine a time where bandits could be better employed to do better and get more money even more easily-
What is an inch or a mile worth, when no one uses those terms anymore? What does a millimeter amount to, to a space alien who's never heard of the definition and doesn't have the means to translate it?
Money is called currency because it must be kept current. Like an electrical current, if it stops flowing; it dies. Money as a measurement for financial success and wealth can quickly become utterly meaningless so long as no one uses it. By this nature; it would die even quicker than a government whose entire people turned on it.
The reason people "buy gold" in economic depressions, is in case the government by which their current form of currency is tied; does something so irrational and detrimental to the entire financial construct that it all comes tumbling down. In ancient Africa where salt and gold were equally worth one another pound for pound, gold tends to last as a form
of wealth due to its sheen and ability to outlast the original buyer. Thus it has perceived longevity. See also: diamonds. And diamonds have even more valuable properties than just visible forms of wealth, but as the hardest substance known to man, they not only last "forever" but are very useful in weapons.
All of which was far more relevant and significant in an era where you suspected the French Revolution was going to start beheading royalty and not even God could tell you what corrupt forces were going to take advantage of the ensuing chaos.
Money no more needs to be tied to a physical entity, than inches and miles do. And they both frequently are still thus tied, for the exact same reasons. It does provide a psychological benefit -- in the case of physical money, it is easier to take with you if things happen (natural disasters: hurricanes, earthquakes, floods), and people universally do
best when able to relate intangible ideas to more physical ones. Human spirituality, for example, is again, universally tied to many physical rites and rituals to ease the concepts. By no means, is this a bad thing or something to look down upon. -> HOWEVER:
Currently (2017), most international countries actually calculate their own economies and financial situations by using the US dollar to compare to. The Chinese actually tie their currency directly to the US Dollar for a variety of benefits (** Chinese Currency Manipulation | Economics Help but money is just how GDP = Gross Domestic Product is measured in.
Inflation is usually seen as a bad thing because it means the price of goods going up, but no inflation at all, or worse, deflation, can actually destroy a modern economy!
Population growth is often seen as a sign of the end of the world. In fact, there are numerous ancient civilizations that thoroughly believed they'd out-populate the planet (or at minimum: region) and self-destruct on account of it. This is quite possibly the oldest fear in mankind since the discovery and general understanding of mortality.
There are already dozens, maybe even hundreds and thousands of books explaining why we are not currently doing that, and how to make it happen, and what roadblocks are in the way (infrastructure to reach all people expediently; profit, willpower of people enough to pressure their governments to "force" the changes that need be)
But let's go back to inflation and currency. Without inflation, people have even less reason to keep money circulating. It becomes like gold and diamonds, only wherein if you do not have a big goal one is saving up for; it just becomes bling: a showy sign of wealth you can try to lord over others.
Hoarding is a multi-faceted aspect of human nature. It can be an inability or unwillingness to dispose of things (my family is Native American and my Mother is incapable of throwing things out. Even the most pointless rubbish, she naturally wants to recycle and holds an ethical value to the idea of never ever wasting anything.) 2] the idea that you might
"need it later" -- such as in times of famine or drought, having food set aside specifically for the event of such occasions was something that managed to perpetuate our species for so long! -> Although it MUST be noted, that it's believed if the plagues of the bible did actually happen, then the eldest son dying was probably because they eldest son was more
likely to be given extra grain at meals, and given the bad year of locusts and the Nile covered in red algae; the grain was almost certainly granary stored and partially diseased leading to a slow build-up.
3] As petty as it is to hold wealth as power over others, -> 3.5] it's often justified as being not for an individual's sake, but rather their children, grandchildren, and future. ALL societies seek to protect their young, and thus very few can truly find fault with such an ideal, except when it comes directly to the cost of their own young; which can
Hoarding was once a skill that helped humanity survive the ice age, plagues, floods, locusts, and whatever else Earth threw at us, and nearly vice versa.
Native American tribes wasted nothing, believing as part of their spirituality and religion, that waste; taking from the physical world and others and being detrimental to it, rather than in protective symbiosis with it; was the gravest of sinful behaviors. ( ** Don't word for word quote me on that, I'm trying to translate it through fifteen cultural
Yet, because they were primarily nomadic and could often travel hundreds of milesbetween where they'd settle from one time to the next; each member of the tribe had to isolate what was most important, what was mostvaluable* to them, and what was worth carrying possibly hundreds and hundreds of miles
Indeed; because of the wolf pack nature and fighting amongst the tribes, they often had to be light enough to ensure being ready to battle at a moment's notice.
This curbed most hoarding tendencies before it could even begin. Clothes, tents, shoes, bags, weapons, tools, everything was streamlined for maximum efficiency. There was still jewelery, and among the Powhatan (Pocahontas' tribe) and Iroquois where there was a lot more stability and security along the coasts; they could afford to be even more showy (one of
John Smith's presumably acquired via trade artifacts is the Powhatan mantle on display in Oxford at the Ashmolean Museum, which is comprised of 2 buck deerskin worked over in Roanoke seashells, either a treasure of the village, or something that would have been brought West to trade with the chief's brother, or even just to show off to him)
Indeed, among Native American Indian tribes; the greatest sign of wealth for any tribe was the ability to have a large population and still ensure no one would go hungry. The idea of measuring wealth so differently is part of why money was also measured so incomparably to Europeans, but back to hoarding, circulation, currency, and inflation.
One of the most significant Chinese virtues is that of frugality. This predates even Confucius and Buddha, though certainly their teachings enhanced and perpetuated it. A general Chinese proverb is to set aside 1/3rd of one's incomes and earnings for the future, be it in case of emergencies, or for descendants.
In this way, pragmatic hoarding can be seen very nearly as virtue! Just as people can rarely, if ever, object to the idea of saving up for the sake of one's children, being cautious for the sake of an unexpected emergency is considered a virtue, something for society to applaud and admire.
However, not all hoarding is altruistic. Sometimes it's just hoarding. And it can quickly become detrimental when it comes at the cost of others. -> THIS is where inflation becomes Necessary.
Yeah it's a black hole. Ambition, greed, lust, it'll consume you from the inside out. And whether the need for more is because of fear or any of the others; it cannot be filled
-- gold and paper money do not quite have those restrictions. Indeed, intangible money where it is just a measurement tool, has even less need not to hoard, and when you earn interest and are rewarded for hoarding more; this creates an endless cycle.
bornofwolves: It's not logic. That's why. It's not even animal logic. It's just part of the chaos factor. Wherein you leave room for corruption, they will take advantage of it, period.
-- Well I'd like to focus less on "oh if we could just get the rich to give up their money uwu;;" and more on "Stop enabling their destructive behaviors and enable the broader good for everyone"
-- However, in keeping money out of circulation, it does nothing but stagnate. Worse: it actually is detrimental to the greater society using that currency because it becomes less useful! This is where deflation is one of the most dangerous things that can happen financially to a society, and yet highly profitable for anyone who already hoards a great deal
of money (ie: banks, credit cards, and financial institutions. There was one point during the Barack Obama administration where he was convinced to lower the interest rate and thanks to his appointment of Timothy Geithner financial analysts were concerned more than ever about the risks of deflation
Taxes provide a wide variety of uses to the government (and in a government founded of, by, and for the people: the people ought to be in charge and reap the most benefits, or else their government is failing them)
oh gosh I already have a page of notes and I just got to the "Quick Change" part. Do you want them in a separate plurk or here? I hate to derail when there's so much already here... >.>
not just to provide military might and security; but even just tying the financial currency to the government is an important deal. For instance, while gift cards are generally accepted, they're directly tied to a government's money and the company is taxed accordingly. BitCoin eventually had to start acceding to government authority too for the same
Keynesian economics is an entire branch of economic study, theory, and techniques devoted to using taxes to assage inflation/deflation, and general productivity of a country (ie: raising taxes on sugar to try to combat diabetes, or lowering taxes on whole grains to try to promote them)
- But any artificial or government created restrictions impacting the flow of Supply and Demand (Chapter 2) are seen as impositions on an unfettered "free market," as they inherently obstruct the "normal" means of assessing the value (whatever someone will pay) for products. ->
Instead of trying to pay equal weight in salt for gold, or trying to determine the value of our hoarded frozen concentrated orange juice (worth more when fresh is going to be unavailable!!) what if we could employ those who purposely seek to hoard and get the most out of any situation to ascertain the values for us? They already do this to a degree --
The stock market is the most rapidly changing by the millisecond gambling addict's paradise or ruin weighing and conversion of goods center; but instead of working to help everyone get the most out of their money, those who profit the most are currently modern day royalty. It's time for our economics to evolve; because we've outstripped the system to a
Blah blah blah, if I do this right, it should explain by the end how something something <- replacing old system with new better one, which I am not even going to say, because it should be obvious what I propose is awesomesauce and why and that's the whole point of explaining it
It has had to be updated constantly Not just to compensate for ever-changing values (apples being worth more when they're rarer because of trade routes or what have you, crops, droughts, etc.)
The Romans FREQUENTLY had moments where they just said "sod it" and completely disposed of old currency with only a year or so before replacing for new
Again; not just for hoarding and values, but tying back to government control & authority. This is one of the biggest things about the post Revolutionary War, and even the confederate vs. Union Civil War.
-- Currency can quickly become outdated when the people stop using it, just as with the government. If everyone refused to use the Dollar, then this is where gold would be dramatically more valuable again. Yet, assuming that kind of doomsday scenario assumes one *where the entire US government falls apart, not just financially but as an institution
including the military* -- so it's unlikely to ever happen, to say the least. Am I saying "Don't buy gold"? Yeah. Because if the Zombie Apocalypse happens, the most useful investment is going to be a farm, a lot of shotguns, and a lot of Zombie-resistant friends who've got your back. Just saying.
I just want to show "Hey guys, here's a crazy thought, let's like NOT do so badly next time that we enable all the shit we already hate? HOW DOES THAT SOUND? SOUND GOOD TO YOU? AWESOME. HERE'S SOME WAYS TO DO BETTER. WORK IT."
the GOP has been dealing with playing the "You're a crazy rabid monster and I might have to put a bullet in your brain, but you're MY crazy rabid out of control monster that will probably skin and eat me later tonight" for awhile
The Republicans were like "We're not obstructionist for the sake of it! SEE WE CAN DO SHIT" and it was just discussing adding state parks and territories to the national quarters
and it was like the epitome of every sitcom has that one guy in a tinfoil hat who yells at the city council for hours because they haven't solved the problem of aliens surveilling his house
"I mean if you like it, otherwise it falls the fuck apart, but I'm pretty sure you will if I can ever fucking explain my condensation of 10000 years of financial & governmental development and the next step yes"
I want to make sure -- YOU ARE MY BABY BIRDS. I HAVE FETCHED AND DIGESTED THE FOOD. I WANT TO SPIT IT ALL BACK TO YOU NOW :| I NEED TO KNOW YOU ARE NOT GAGGING ON IT :V
gambling addict's paradise or ruinweighing and conversion of goods center; but instead of working to help everyone get the most out of their money, those who profit the most are currently modern day royalty. It's time for our economics to evolve; because we've outstripped the system to aWhat does hoarding lead to?
Why is it important to keep money circulating?