OKAY this one is starting to get into the theoreticals. 1 - 3 is 100% provable via reality. I was not stating theories/opinions (except when I would get derailed I do that easily, runs in my family :V) just facts. HERE I will start extrapolating into unproven/untested territory.
Currently (kek) there are a few micro-currencies being used; which is to say currency not issued by governments, but still accepted and acknowledged by people. (see Chapter 1 for more) Examples include: casino chips, credit cards, bitcoin, microtransactions in video games for gems and yes, rare Pepe memes.
In FDR's time, he was happy to tick off and make the "money-changers" hate him because he felt they were more or less leeches on the economy who literally; just changed money back and forth.
Without getting too obviously political, such a loophole (as you will) is an inherent flaw in capitalism, just as authoritarianism dictatorship and dearth of food is an inherent communist flaw (reality, accept it). While many people will say "Good, let them get theirs" as we go back into chapter 1 & 2, this does actually hurt others using such currencies.
Casino chips and microtransactions in games are deliberately employed for the same reason credit cards are! They create an inherent disassociation from the immediate cash someone is spending!
Before I started really formalizing this, I went into a long explanation with selhai on the importance of cash. THIS is its importance. While credit itself creates lending, usury, investment (reverse!), and sometimes security problems (here's looking at you Equifax! ) normally cash is optimal merely for its simplicity.
People do better when they can directly tie their money to something immediately tangible, and thus know very directly how much they are spending and how fast it is dwindling.
For all that anecdotally you will almost certainly have met people whose cash, to use the phrase, "burns a hole in their pocket," and they have immediate need (it would seem!! at least possession/drive!!) to spend spend spend if they have any cash in their pocket; (my sister is one such example) by and large, coins actually prevent crashes!!
Okay so dating back "forever" (don't make me cite dates they're not important, just trivia) gold has been a pretty standard trade in most societies in the world -- in fact it's easier to list the shorter examples of those who didn't value it (North Americans, and certain Africans -> North Americans for religious reasons, Africans because salt is life!)
Japan was known to the Mongolian empire & Kublai Khan as the land of gold because they'd given golden Buddhas to China previously, and he was so dead set on invading it that he tried twice and the sudden squalls that defeated his ships BOTH TIMES (freak hurricanes) were seen as such a miracle of God & proof of the Emperor's divinity.
Marco Polo even believed in the land of gold at the far East of the world, and Christopher Columbus went looking for the fastest route there. We say "East Indies" but he was looking for Japan without knowing that the Aztecs had way more gold than Japan did.
In Africa, many parts valued salt most, because it was literally life. It made your body able to hold the water, it seasoned food, and it was harder to come by than gold for a lot of them tbfh -- BUT if gold had been their currency, more gold than salt would have been sought!! Which is part of WHY they valued salt; to make it something that would
in North America, the tribes valued turquoise more (god's tears) and religiously believed that gold should be left in the ground, that mining was damaging to the earth. (Obviously not a sentiment held by Aztecs and Incans) while loose gold was fine, the metal was primarily useless, and silver had more spiritual connotations.
Literally, for what I'm going to call "The bling effect" after Moosey who explained to me perfectly what bling is. Useless shiny junk/jewelry/treasure that no one really needs or understands.
Rare earth gems were also held as "valuable" and used (again: bling) but gold could be refashioned, melted down, liquidated into pure assets -> if the government went bottom up.
Governments started minting coins to formalize trade basically right from their founding. Taxes could be collected in many/any/ALL forms and for instance -- Mexican government still has it on the books that artists can pay their taxes in artwork (A+++ I approve) which usually WAS food (think REALLY early government and basically "town mayor/chief")
1) Republicans would hold the economy hostage and threaten to default on loans which would cause a global economic collapse and loss of all faith in the value of the U.S. dollar 2) ^ If you think the U.S. government is going to go solvent 3) ^ You realize crazy people listening to idk Alex Jones and others might be prepping doomsday bunkers and hoarding gold
Pro-tip: the crazy doomsday bunker dudes aren't hoarding gold, they're selling it to fund their bunkers. And the people buying it, are either in 3 or 1, 2, OR 4. Which is that millionaire with the mansion hoarding gold
As I tried to explain in 1 & 2; hoarding falsely increases the value. 4chan attempted to invert this with Pepe memes. By flooding the internet with MORE Pepe, via meme theory he actually becomes more valuable the more recognizable he is (see also: branding/advertising which is going to be part of this chapter, I should probably split it up but eh)
Until Nixon, the US gov. was tying all its economy to the amount of gold it hoarded. That way anyone who thought the US would go solvent (say: another Civil War was coming -- NO I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS COMING DO NOT GO BUY GOLD FFS) could go exchange a paper dollar for that exact amount of gold
Fringe lunatics I'm truly trying to find a nice way to say this Certain fucking whackjobs A few delusional tea partiers (sorry that's as nice as I can get, they're NOT just misinformed, they're genuinely harmful and need to stop) oversimplify the US economy to such a state that they think every single problem in the US would be solved if we
this is really. REALLY. REALLY dumb. And the very very VERY cynical part of me GENUINELY views this thought with extreme cynicism that they're trying to be Afghani warlords and hoping to revert the US to a very wild "everyone out for themselves" time period thinking they would somehow benefit.
BUUUUUUUUUUUT Giving the most optimistic spin I CAN to it; this goes back into the idea that having DIRECT CASH IN YOUR POCKET helps prevent disassociation which gets you spending.
The US gov. does spend.... a lot because it is still more than 3 times larger than the next country's GDP and trying to put that into simple "you know what's in your pocket" terms is at BEST at ABSOLUTE 100% BEST, naive and foolish, and mildly harmful. At worst ^ It's purposely misleading and trying to go to anarchy but let's ASSUME FOR NOW
IN FACT, if they run out -> not only can they print more, but they spend a large portion just lying their butts off to siphon and leech and blargh blargh oligarchs point is
If we were to put the dollar on the gold standard, it would just be irrationally impractical, and instead of limiting the amount of dollars and inflation (it wouldn't even cause deflation) it would just cause an absurd point where the dust of gold from your dollar cost more to produce than would be worth and for literally no point
Bitcoin tried and got "far" (I mean as far as anything COULD doing what it did) in making a currency that was used and accepted in MANY places without being government regulated :T but that was literally never going to stay that way and anyone who thinks/thought otherwise is delusional, seriously just ping me and I'll explain/fight you on this.
In attempting to flip the laws of value of supply vs demand, 4channers had a bit of an economic "experiment" in which they would spread the meme, because the more a meme is spread and used, the more it actually becomes "worth something" even if just in the eyes/minds/hearts of the viewers.
I genuinely have no idea and do not care if the creator Matt Furie is aware that he is 100% emblematic right now of the oligarch & government system ie: "No you cannot have an entire free market/religion/CURRENCY/propaganda using my [X]"
Currency was created to short-hand trade. The courts, governments, and so forth sprang up to regulate it there is NO separation of government and currency. Currency IS the power of the government.
You can argue "military might tho" and yes, that is very important; but how do you accrue that might yes. With currency. Why does the US outspend our 10 closest allies on army AND THAT IS OUR ALLIES?! other than we're fucking psychotic and in the death throes of a dying system I MEAN because economy.
disassociation of "cash" vs. spending is a big deal. DO NOT GET ME WRONG. While it is Macroeconomics, and microeconomics literally cannot just be slapped on to apply; it DOES STILL EXIST AND PUSH MARKET FACTORS ON THE MACRO STAGE AND CAUSE EFFECTS AND RIPPLES TO WHICH IT REACTS.
I mean right off the bat, the Supreme Court Ruling of $ = free speech (aka: you can put whatever you want to donate to candidates/parties and that is A-Okay) creates ohhhh most of the problems in my USPol plurks, BUT -> this brings me to the last point (PHEW MOUTHFULS)
Branding is one of the most significant parts of macroeconomics. Bar none. IN FACT, the reason the U.S. dollar is so stable, and doesn't need to be tied to a gold standard isn't to keep the spending low (which again, it wouldn't do anyway)
US treasury bonds are still one of the MOST highly sought investments, because it's 100% a "guaranteed return." (with interest!) and to which: the only way it wouldn't get paid is if the government just decided "Yeah fuck it, we're not paying our bills, we're going solvent" (which literally would cause not just an economic global collapse, but the gov itself
oooooooooooor no. I don't even think nuclear holocaust would stop it. I think I'm hesitating to say not because I think I'm wrong but because it's dark it would still pay that off (possibly easier)
Branding works as that name-"brand" guarantee. Let's say there's 400 toothpastes on the market, and 250 might taste disgusting, 50 might cause illnesses, and another 50 have MYSTERY ingredients
He outdid his competition by putting his name on it. That way if his exploded you could hunt his ass down and take him to court ala Hammurabi's code as I mentioned in the first one (even if I called it Hannibal's code I swear I'm not as dumb as my mouth)
SUFFICE TO SAY, And this is is by no means encompassing; There are 2 kinds of advertising. And again, I hate boiling it down like this so bare with me!!!
Good advertising: is something you need/want and didn't know about whatsoever. This is giving recognition/WORD to something that will benefit your life and make the quality better you just didn't know it existed.
ARGUABLY: ALL ADVERTISING is "bad" but that's simply not true. YOU shill. Usually for free; just word of mouth enjoyment. "This movie was great!!" or "LOOK AT MY KID BEING CUTE!" or "Trump trump trump trump trump trump /deep breath etc."
Electoral college, and election fraud aside, (because as pointed out he would have orchestrated his campaign differently w/o ec) that seems to be correct
"vote with you dollar" is a common saying. WHILE the REAL damage of boycotts comes NOT from direct loss of revenue but because of macroeconomics -- in damage to the brand (as it should!!! Again: branding is specifically to HELP customers/buyers!!! If they/you are dissatisfied, hurting that brand is an absolute MUST)
The message of what you buy and from whom having a powerful voice is actually a relatively new concept! Historically speaking, it's SUCH a luxury that the past literally wouldn't be able to fathom it too well. Yeah, sure, you could buy wheat from the farmer who doesn't beat his wife, and you'd only go to the merchant who didn't rip you off
but it's not only a product of branding and HAVING that choice available (see also: gay couple wants a wedding cake, baker doesn't want to bake for gay couple. bigotry, but wouldn't the gay couple rather be told in advance "I don't serve your kind because of my bigotry beliefs prejudice REASONS" than get an inferior cake? This has no perfect answer)
The idea of such choice as to tie minutia nearly UNRELATED to the product/service to the purchase is TRULY a privileged luxury the past could NEVER have considered.
Even BEFORE THAT during the great depression, sugar was still SUCH a great luxury that we could NEVER have imagined it would be well frankly, overused in everything ever and become a bigger addiction problem than opioids \:|/
shark fin soup was formerly only eaten by the Emperor of China, and as such it's become a highly valued commodity even though were it not for the artificial cultural influence, it would be like pig-ears soup. Not a luxury.
In communism, all money is from the government, and the people have no power. In democracy, the people ARE the government, and CAN control the power with just money.
But CC: Doesn't that mean that the oligarchs have all the power? Yes, yes it does. BUT let's not forget, where does that money come from and who empowers it?
I don't want to sound too Rush Limbaugh or Alex Jones with like charts and crazy shit, but money has no value unless the people using it declare and use it as such. Now, this is not to say "okay overthrow the government! CONFEDERATE STATES WERE RIGHT WITH THEIR USELESS ECONOMY HUZZAAH" settle down, sugar.
They won't. But more of antifa is anarchist than communist. LEASTWAYS I've only seen the communist dumbasses online and I don't for a single second believe they're actually antifa I think they'd pee themselves if they saw a real fascist IRL not punch them
Anarchists don't want communism, they just hate the current system, consider it fascist, esp. the police state in US and will happily ("happily") punch cops because
They don't think it will bring about communist utopia because they think that can only be done by an entire revolt of ALL proles who are still being conned esp. in midwest by religion and decadent luxuries convincing them that they're bourgeois not proletariat
Which is like 'he's your guy when stocks are high but beware when they start to descend. Cuz that's when those louses go back to their spouses. Diamonds are a girl's best friend'
Which sounds highly materialistic and it probably is but at the same time back when it was harder for women to do legit banking stuff I wonder if diamonds acted as a sort of insurance. Not just pretty bling but ... idk
Yes and no re: diamonds. They are the hardest substance and can do things nothing else can (gold not so much) so for instance they are used in jackhammers and can be used for lasers, but Yes they are artificially culture jacked to push the price high and indeed, you don't even gotta mine them the formula to make them IRL is pretty easy
okay so there is a theory in which the more separation of disassociation from "muh money" = the more it can be used frivolously. For example casino chips -> but it gets worse with government because again, it's not their money, but this goes for stock brokers too! One of the most illegal and shady things a stock broker can do is rapid transactions for the
one of the dangers in macroeconomics is purely that disassociation, people who do not even have the capacity to truly understand the micro level of value of an individual dollar etc.
I want to tie cash to food (more to explain in the future, but certainly suggested in 1-3 and value) but in order to take back power of the dollar and not be crushed under the current system as it is
but there is disconnect for macro vs. micro both in people not understanding you can't instantly apply all microeconomics macro and vice versa. For instance I don't think ANYONE would believe Donald J. Trump would be genuinely capable of living on a normal person's monthly budget etc.
The reason the US war machine is out of control I mean genuinely out of control with spending is because of that disconnect. There is need to understand value, instead the risk and reward is almost moot. They are rewarded for simply continually going and it gluts it, just as Eisenhower warned
That's not true for all movies obviously and I was just discussing with a friend the horror industry and the dime budget productions' success because of it
The reason gold was used was because of the form it took, and the ease of that. Obviously we no longer need to worry about the same concerns; and as I went through pointing out, the US gov. is not realistically in danger of default or collapse
China is able to stabilize their own economics by basing their currency rate on the dollar (which is such a quagmire there are books individually written about that sole thing so I don't want to get too into it)
In order for the currency to retain value, it must be in circulation -> when there is too much (ie: Germany pre WW2) and the gov. overprints, inflation makes the money worth less and less (I went into the dangers of DEFLATION however ^ hence some of my screaming inside about article I just linked above)
but for instance, there is no inherent "every person only can have this much money in circulation or inflation happens" and in a correctly functioning system, whatever money is printed, will be spent.
Currently we have that encourages hoarding instead -> and this has been a problem is forever so it's just something that hasn't been addressed. Indeed one of the major things that would stop the hoarding was literally just governments collapse
We've spent the last 4000+ years turning ourselves into pieces of this machine, and people are looking for a way out of it, but rather than giving up on the machinery entirely, we can and certainly should make it work for you instead.
Money is a means to an end, currency is energy, -> YOU VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLAR. Taking back power of your vote first step comes in understanding you are part of it, and you know what? That's fantastic. Figure out what you value, what you want your "vote" to say; and others will move with you. It is not as "you vs. the universe" as people would have you
believe. So long as you don't lose track of what even one dollar can do, you have more power and strength than you give yourself credit for. This isn't to say "SO SAVE UP AND DON'T SPEND." or as Bush implied post 9/11 "SO GO GO SHOPPING TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE"
^ re: gold & shit, basically, currencies formerly had to be totaled/dissolved/rebooted for the inverse reason gold is "universally" trusted. Because people lost faith in the government/money and/or it became so duplicitous it literally became worthless.
Until probably like right now almost, the ability to start defining the value and the option to have so much choice re: spending was not an opportunity people could have ever dreamed of.
they also become more politically enfranchised, because vendors/manufacturers tend to talk to people who can spend money on their things, and since vendors+manufacturers determine the target demographics of advertisers, who provide revenue to the media... >_>
If I came back with questions about earlier parts, would you prefer me to keep those questions in their respective plurks so as not to muddy things? :|c
I wouldn't expect anyone else to explain it because I mean It took me 30 years to get this far, and over 2 libraries and basically every economic and history and political and education book I could get my hands on
and you can't really apply 1-4 to "here and now" yet because all I'm doing is covering "This is how it is." and even 5-> is "This is how we can try for better" and I am not even going to explain WHY because again
[CCalico] [Econ] 1.02: Supply vs. D... -> 1.02 Supply vs Demand
[CCalico] [Econ] 1.03 Risk vs. Rewa... & 1.03: Risk vs. Reward
(google fuck you and your propagandist oligarch bs no)I would link an article but I don't have it on me from that time and google is being unhelpful2) ^ If you think the U.S. government is going to go solvent
3) ^ You realize crazy people listening to idk Alex Jones and others might be prepping doomsday bunkers and hoarding gold
Fringe lunaticsI'm truly trying to find a nice way to say thisCertain fucking whackjobsA few delusional tea partiers (sorry that's as nice as I can get, they're NOT just misinformed, they're genuinely harmful and need to stop) oversimplify the US economy to such a state that they think every single problem in the US would be solved if we
other than we're fucking psychotic and in the death throes of a dying system I MEANbecause economy.Mostly because we do some of the shadiest shit holy fuck I can'tI'm hesitating to say not because I think I'm wrong but because it's darkit would still pay that off (possibly easier)bigotry beliefs prejudiceREASONS" than get an inferior cake? This has no perfect answer)Yes, yes it does.
BUT let's not forget, where does that money come from and who empowers it?
torturedindoctrinated by my Dad to fix the world :VThey're also fucking retarded but let's not get into that