Lets talk about money today. Not just those FRN’s, and for the uninitiated, that means “Federal Reserve Notes”, which are FIAT money, IE, Money based on nothing but faith.
Or as one of my past readers put it “Fucked In Ass Thoroughly” money.
Well, the FRN’s have been with us for over 100 years,,, I don’t recall, though it wouldn’t take much to check (lazy right now) when the notes went from stating ‘backed by gold’ to what they say now: “This note is legal tender for all debts public and private” Tender or Tinder,,, doesn’t seem like much of a difference some days, does it? Almost as if the choice in term were intentional misdirection.
We went off the Gold Standard in the early 70’s, right towards the end of the Vietnam War. Prior to that we debased the currency from Constitutionally Prescibed formulations (a set ratio of silver and other metals and by weights.) in 1965.
61 years and our currency is essentially plug nickles and toilet paper, that people take on faith.
And even further, 90+% of transactions these days don’t even use that! 9 outta 10 are ‘put it on the card’ transactions. Paychecks are literal electronic transfers between banks nowdays with a stub being your receipt of that transfer. No actual exchange of anything but imaginary numbers, or Ones and Zeros between computers.
Try to exchange silver coins at market value. Best bet is to find a bullion dealer and hope they give you spot, or near spot. Take the same to a pawn shop or some place that ‘we buy gold and silver’ shop and you will get 50% of spot OR LESS. One place near me give 30% at best (least to say, I do NOT encourage anyone to use that place for anything… They sell at 20% over spot, and they are still doors open tells me there are some seriously math lacking peeps in the area.)
But think about this: The kids today, the ones that were born AFTER 9-11, They have zero clue what real money is. Even I, having been born after the debasing, was clueless to what ‘Real’ Money was until the early Aughts and only because I was having an awakening of the lies and obfuscations slowly dismantling the world as I knew it.
Do you think those kids would understand that the actual value of the silver dollar was MUCH MORE than its face value? (or even understand that the reason for that discrepency is called INFLATION: that the value of that coin is ACTUAL value and the paper simularcum is worth-less?)
How does a society revert to a real money after decades of Three Card Monte by unknown and un-elected bankers?
Obviously there has to be some education factor involved, and anyone that has attended any sort of schooling since 1975 can tell you that such is NOT in the curriculum. I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if there weren’t any teachers capable of that line of study. Maybe some History teacher types, but they would be more interested in the parallels between now and what happened in 2nd Century Roman Empire.
It only got worse after Carter created the EA and essentially federalized all funding to public education.
(another forgotten promise from the current admin,,, Hear occasional blurbs about dismantling the EA, but have they? Not that I have heard.)
Nothing is as it appears, or being told. Maps say things the media is not. Actions speak much louder than words. And the words we are being told don’t add up well.
Are we going down as a country? Dunno. I do beleive our currency is in for serious turmoil and that means us, here on the streets are gonna feel it FIRST. Much like that inflation thing. The lenders always feel it last as they are the ones that drive it. I’m hearing rumors of defaulting on National Debt (as if there were any other option,,, We passed the point of no return many many years back, IMO) But look at that Map thingy above and ask yourself one quesiton: Who Benefits?
the world in flux, Super Powers on the ropes. New actors fixing themselves up in new ways. NOTHING will be the same in 10 years, and No one can predict what that will look like.
“prepare accordingly” comes to mind, but what the hell does that even mean anymore?
Well, in my little world, it means regression. Take things back to simpler means. Manual labor sort of stuff. I have not set up my garden this year and that might bite me in the ass later in the year, but I do have means that do not require AI or Internet to function. I have systems in place that, while not replacing the Grid at large, support my meager needs quite well. And I have knowledge: not just ‘book learning’ but real practical hands on stuff.
And the greatest weapon that the PTwB fear: An independent learned brain.
Live
LEARN
Laugh
LOVE
LOAD!!!

Barter gonna make a big comeback. It already is in some areas. I do it. As much as I can. I get my meager VA bennies and stretch it as far as I can. But it doesn’t go far enough. Gotta hustle on the side. The bum knees make it difficult to do the physical work so I gotta find jobs that require brain work.
It would be advisable to get some kind of food stacked up. Food takes a while to make it from seed to plate or fawn to steak. What’s happening in the Persian Gulf is affecting the fall crops as we speak. Fertilizer and diesel fuel are having a negative affect on the planting schedule. As for me, I use the chicken litter we take out of the chicken coop. Its a longer lead time than granulated fertilizer but it seems to work better.
If the fuel situation gets real bad I’ll set up a wood gasifier for my truck and it tractor. I’ve only read about it but if another man did it I can do it. I hope. I already heat with wood and I’ve got a chipper for the brush.
But as far as value and portability, gold and silver coinage will come back in vogue soon. They’ve historically worked well for portable wealth. I don’t think it’ll change but a lot of people gonna learn the hard way. Especially when they gotta barter 10 hours of back breaking labor for two meals. Those games and electronics and sneakers and cultural status symbols are gonna lose their value suddenly…
Solomon was right. Nothing new under the sun. It’ll all work out. One way or another, it’ll work out.
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I hit publish a bit to quickly: I had intended on pointing out that the loss of standards (gold and silver backing) and the education loss are Prospiracy towards a dependent class. The kids (broadbrush) these days have no clue there are other options that aren’t tech driven (blockchain currencies.)
But, as you said, things will make a comeback and people WILL adapt (or die)
I’m already feeling the ‘pull things tight’ in local economy. People aren’t as dumb as ‘they’ think. We’re riding on that edge and people feel the insecurity of the times.
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This economy is weird. Really weird. The normal markers and indicators don’t work like they used to. I think the wealth gap may be showing up. There’s still financial activity and stuff being built but it seems like all the beneficial activity is at the top end of the middle class. The upper middle class is fleeing the cities for the country because the suburbs cost too much. The bargain shoppers demographic has exploded in size. The market for used stuff is brisk. And people are selling stuff that they normally wouldn’t. And a block away there’s a new subdivision. McMansions are being built all over the place. It seems like the working middle class has disappeared…
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Seems like it. Strangely ’nuff, my bosses are comsidered UMC, not Rich by National Standards, but around here, they are LUC.
Agreed, all the normal markers of 10-15 year ago seem like they arent functional anymore. At least PMs are still a decent indicator of “Faith in credit” which is on the skids across the board
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