Bad Money for You, Good Money for Me

I have long since given up on the idea that anything can be achieved through political dialog. It's a waste of time to try to convince people of the virtues or evils of various systems. Besides, the vast majority of people do not actually live according to their teachings. Politics is for most people little more than an exercise in convincing others that what is good for yourself is also good for everybody else, or it is merely a mindless repetition of what others have said, with no filter or independent thinking added.

This is especially true when the topic of central banking is on the table. People will defend this evil with all sorts of fallacies, most of them appealing to some greater good or common good. It is somehow Utopian or selfish to want a system independent of central meddling. However, if someone were to talk to such a defender of central banking and offer this person the choice between a fixed annual income in gold coins or in fiat money, that person would be completely irrational to choose fiat money. Everybody knows that fiat looses value over time, and that this hurts fixed income recipients such as pensioners and people on welfare.

All of a sudden, the vague uttering about a common good or the impossibility of being paid in gold vanishes. In this person's special case, gold coins are preferred. However, for everybody else, fiat is ideal.

This, together with the less than genuine concern that many have for the climate, illustrate perfectly that what is needed is not political dialog but direct action. If we prefer gold for ourselves, then we should buy gold instead of leaving our savings in a bank account. If we are concerned about the climate, we must get out of debt and save for the rainy (or dry) day that we believe to be imminent. Talking politics is simply a waste of time.

By Pieter Breughel the Younger - Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork, Public Domain, Link