'... the Aztecs, trying to escape by buying gold ..' - ah Maurice, you have nightmares about the barbarian azteca, don't you ... we're really not that bad, hardly ever bloody the obsidian knives any more cutting out the hearts of maiden dot.bombs or assorted other wild schemes unsullied by profit, the world is more democratic now, they do it themselves, you see ... so nowadays we pretty much just sit around sipping pulque and adjusting the bullion to afford us the best possible defense in case that s.o.b. Cortés comes back .... ¿invention you want, innovation? - hey, just wait till you see how they line up for the solid gold Lego set .... there won't be enough for everyone of course, those late will just have to .... um, eat their hearts out
It cannot be an evil thing that there could exist one medium of exchange and storehouse of value that is not subject to the whims of politicians .... you speak of 'cargo cults' - well what sort of delusionary belief structure would set up as meaningfully permanent some bits of coloured paper that represent nothing more than other bits of coloured paper ... even funnier when you consider that the coloured paper currently bid up the highest is all of the same colour no matter the denomination - no red ones, no purple ones, no blue ... means you have to look at the numbers to see which is which - too boring .... and hey - slap one of these pieces of paper down on the bar of your local, and what do you hear? - nothing, you might as well try listening for an honest politician on one of those sea dee em eh wireless thingamajigs ..... now you take a sovereign and slap it down on that bar, you're going to get that satisfying solid whack and yes you are going to impress that big maori biker's date, you betcha
Gold's been money a long time, in no way does its excellent fulfillment of that role threaten innovation ... poor business plans do that, rotten luck does that, but not gold |
