Whenever I hear the right wing talking about the federal budget, comparing it to family budgets, I know they don't understand how the economy works.
Whenever I hear about politicians, clergy, CEO's caught stealing money, I realize that money is more important to them than humanity or even their own souls.
In fact, I don't think most people understand money at all.
When I was very young, a cereal company had a brilliant idea. Each box of cereal contained a dollar bill, which was almost as much as the box of cereal. The catch? It was a Confederate dollar bill, which was about as valuable as the paper it had been printed on about a hundred years before. Boxes of the bills had been found stored somewhere.
My brother Carl was about to go to Vietnam, when our Uncle George arrived to give him his lucky talisman, the Roman coin he had carried with him through his days as a pilot in World War II. Carl was supposed to take it to Vietnam with him. Carl, however, was terrified that he would lose George's coin. Instead, he rented a safe deposit box and left it there. When he came back he was able to return the coin to George.
Later, he found out that one could buy those coins for a few cents. The Romans minted millions of the coins; they are still being unearthed all over Europe.
Again, when I was young, dollar bills were often stamped with "silver certificate" which meant they could theoretically be turned in for silver. They were gradually replaced by the bills we still see today, though those, too, are being replaced with some that are counterfeit-proof.
Then, of course, there were checks, which are now replaced with credit and debit cards. Those precious dollars are a blip on our computer screens. And even more, there are now bit coins used in on line trading.
So what is a dollar worth? A dollar is exactly what people around the globe thinks it is worth.
When the government no longer can pay its debts, the world will no longer think our dollar is worth much.
In the simplest terms, when the world considers our dollar worthless, it won't be worth much in the USA either. That is why the government must be funded and the debt ceiling approved by Congress so our bills are paid.
Otherwise, some other nation will be putting our dollar bills in cereal boxes.
Whenever I hear about politicians, clergy, CEO's caught stealing money, I realize that money is more important to them than humanity or even their own souls.
In fact, I don't think most people understand money at all.
When I was very young, a cereal company had a brilliant idea. Each box of cereal contained a dollar bill, which was almost as much as the box of cereal. The catch? It was a Confederate dollar bill, which was about as valuable as the paper it had been printed on about a hundred years before. Boxes of the bills had been found stored somewhere.
My brother Carl was about to go to Vietnam, when our Uncle George arrived to give him his lucky talisman, the Roman coin he had carried with him through his days as a pilot in World War II. Carl was supposed to take it to Vietnam with him. Carl, however, was terrified that he would lose George's coin. Instead, he rented a safe deposit box and left it there. When he came back he was able to return the coin to George.
Later, he found out that one could buy those coins for a few cents. The Romans minted millions of the coins; they are still being unearthed all over Europe.
Again, when I was young, dollar bills were often stamped with "silver certificate" which meant they could theoretically be turned in for silver. They were gradually replaced by the bills we still see today, though those, too, are being replaced with some that are counterfeit-proof.
Then, of course, there were checks, which are now replaced with credit and debit cards. Those precious dollars are a blip on our computer screens. And even more, there are now bit coins used in on line trading.
So what is a dollar worth? A dollar is exactly what people around the globe thinks it is worth.
When the government no longer can pay its debts, the world will no longer think our dollar is worth much.
In the simplest terms, when the world considers our dollar worthless, it won't be worth much in the USA either. That is why the government must be funded and the debt ceiling approved by Congress so our bills are paid.
Otherwise, some other nation will be putting our dollar bills in cereal boxes.
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