In previous posts I suggested the adoption of a tangible item to begin replacing fiat in day to day activities. you can find those here.To get there let’s take a look at fiat currency to understand what it is, and what makes it the common item between so many people.
The dictionary defines fiat money as:
money (such as paper currency) not convertible into coin or specie of equivalent value
The best indication of its origins that I could find have it starting out in China in a time long ago somewhere around 1000AD. Before this, it was local coinage, and shells (some bronzed). It also looks like bronze and bronzed items came first, followed by copper, and later silver.
one common theme I’m noticing as I look into this is that the fiat currency comes in whenever a government needs to “consolidate” their power. They offer a common conveyance, in return for complete control of the conveyance. It doesn’t take a lot of thought to understand that if you control the method of peoples economic interaction, you essentially control the people.
As to what, a fiat currency is. The item that represents the idea? it can and has been anything. usually it is a coin or slip of paper.
so now armed with a slightly better understanding. Knowing that Fiat money has no intrinsic value, and its generally used by governments to consolidate power, and further their own ends, what can be done on the very small homestead level?
These have been used since time eternal. They never lose value, are easily held, and are generally recognized for what they are. They are also pretty hard to fake, and not everyone can produce them.
Some of the downfalls with these is that they are only generally recognized. Precious metals work well for peer to peer transactions, as long as both parties can agree on the equivalence of the value being traded; and you trust the party you are trading with. Because they are only generally recognized try buying a loaf of bread with them? doesn’t work out so well. This is because the vast majority of merchants are trapped in the fiat system for every business need. you may be able to doo this with a local vendor, on a micro basis ; but it’s not likely.
Another draw back to this method is the ingrained conditioning that a piece of (favorite metal) is recognized as being worth X number of (insert your favorite fiat here). It would take a collapse of (favorite fiat currency) to break this conditioned response, and revert to X(favorite fiat currency) is worth a piece of (Favorite metal).
The previous draw back, is also a great plus for precious metals. Not as a day to day vessel for trade, but a vessel for storage of value. It is an asset for the next generation. You purchase these metals to ensure that the investment is held into the lives of your kids, and their kids. Think of it in the same way as you do planting trees.
I will be the first to admit I know very little about this new frontier of money, but I am learning. While I’m far from an expert, I can see the value In using this as a central basis for trade. What worries me about this method is what happens if/when an irritated governing body decides they will not allow it anymore? This has been done in the past with precious metals, and I wold think confiscation of a digital currency would be even easier, since there is no physical object to grab it becomes a game of simply seek and destroy.
This one is a bit of a tin foil hat area, but what happens if tech stops working? with no physical presence I would suspect all that crypto would simply vanish, along with the fiat it took to get it.
this is not to say it should not be something that is held in your tool bag. Just remember the eggs in the basket.
These are only a couple of the options available to shift toward a macro solution. but this raises a bigger question. would a macro solution even work, in the face of overwhelming power of governing bodies? history is full of stories about large scale attempts to change something all at once being crushed by the status quo. perhaps the solution is somewhere else, or a combination somewhere between macro and micro..
Keep thinking guys and gals.
Until next time…