Is Money Just an IOU?
I beleive money is a massive IOU. Money as a material is worthless. For example, you can give someone £200 to buy a computer. That £200 in paper form is just paper known as £200 worth just about nothing, whereas the £200 computer is worth £200. That IOU is traded for the computer that has a £200 value. That IOU can then be given to someone else for something else worth £200.
But the £200 paper is not worth £200
I'm not very good at explaining this but hopefully clever people will be :D
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To say that the item is worth a specific amount of money, but then to go on and say that the actually paper money isn't worth anything, does not make any sense. That would also mean that the item has no money value because the currency used for that item has no value. I see what you are saying though. The actual paper used to make money, is not worth 200, but those numbers on that money gives it more value. So at first the paper itself is worth very little in value, but as soon as you use it to make money, then that gives it the money value that is printed on it. o.0 Not any more. When many countries followed the Gold Standard, the system would be that you could use the note to redeem it's value in gold from your bank. While this rarely occurred, as it is easier to carry paper than it is gold, every could trade happily with the knowledge that the piece of paper they were exchanging goods for was valuable as it was backed up by gold. However, they've changed the system to FIAT money (I believe) which means that currency is as valuable as the government says it is and is backed up by the government. I support Axmeister's position. The paper is an IOU from the government who prints the currency. The citizens use the IOUs to barter for goods (bartering the IOU). The reason this works is that as pointed out it is easier to carry than gold, but it also fluctuates in line more with the economy of the issuing government. IOU it is! That paper promises to deliver the amount of gold that is written on it. in theory, it doesn't really apply any more. But on a £10, it will say something like "I promise to give the bearer the sum of '£10'." As money was calculated in gold. But you're right, it means nothing. Zombie apocalypse, paper money will mean nothing. Gold, will always be valuable. But I say fuck money! It causes nothing but misery, conflict, false promises and false hope. 1
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Well, yes because value is illusory, value it a construct of the human mind, a computer is objectively as valuable as the paper money that supposedly equals its worth. Money is a massive IOU, value doesn't objectively exist and as ling as that is their will never exist a truly objective currency. Gold and stuff like that is as closest as you can get, but gold being a currency depends on it being value which value is subjective 0
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