Why Its Pointless To Argue With Global Warming Believers 2070
Right, but some things that also fit in the category would be art, love, travel and just about anything that also goes...
I think there's a very real distinction between things which can actually be used for something (oil, food, a MacBook) and things that people only want because they believe they will be able to exchange them for other things (paper money, ones and zeros in a bank account).
Many of the gold advocates don't seem to understand that gold -- particularly as the basis for currency -- is much more similar to the items in the latter category than the former.
Yes, well. I personally don't consider "Ooooh Shiny!" to be a reasonable basis for a modern monetary system.
And gold-backed currency is used exactly the same way. Which is what I keep pointing out.
Demanding that currency be backed by gold or some other commodity is nothing but an extremely crude way to try to limit the government's ability to issue new currency. In all other respects, gold-backed currency functions identically to fiat money.
-- "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." -- George W. Bush in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005