(06-19-2017, 10:19 AM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [quote pid='1002962' dateline='1497878253']
The funny thing is that our whole economy is built on rocks that only have value because we say they do. Paper, gold, silver, diamonds, coins, land, stocks, bonds, whatever...it's all a house of cards.

This shows you don't really understand the difference between fiat value and inherent value.  The ounce of gold has true value.  Someone invested many gallons of fuel and many hours of labor to bring it out of the ground.  It can be used to make valuable things like beautiful jewelry, high-tech circuitry, or Donald Trump's toilet seat. 

The $100 Federal Reserve Note has no inherent value.  If you think it does, then explain how it has 100x more inherent value than a $1 Federal Reserve Note.  I won't hold my breath.  Its real value comes as something to burn for heat, to wipe yourself with or to stuff into a coat lining to keep yourself warm. 

Of course its fiat value (value assigned by government decree) is $100 FRNs and whatever real goods you can trade it for before it becomes as completely worthless as every other fiat currency in history.
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Again, the rock has value because you say it does. How much value because someone somewhere set a price. In the end it's still just a rock.

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And I know and understand those concepts perfectly, you're just using the size and type of a rock as the indicator of value vs the numbers printed a a piece of paper. It's existential value in either case.

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