IN OUR LAST EPISODE eccentric economics professor gay walked into his bank, closed out his account, then immediately reopened it. (scroll down to previous article)... why? because he wanted to participate in a tangible demonstration of the reality of his money. hew wantede to see that his money really existed, that it really meant something.
and, apparently, he did.
suppose you walk into your bank to do the same thing. you know you have roughly ten grand in your account, and you want to see it. you want to hold it in your hand, to demonstrate to yourself and to your bank that this tidy sum exists, and that it is yours. so, like professor gay, you close out your account, and accept a check for ten grand.
but unlike him, you're sane, you don't feel you must have one dollar bills, a check is good enough. that's your money, in your hand, a rectangular piece of paper with the number ten thousand written and typed on it.
is this good enough for you, this small rectangular piece of paper? are you satisfied that indeed your ten thousand dollars exists, and that you are holding it in your hand?
suppose you tear it into shreds. you have already closed out your account, you did the paper work, you turned it in, and you got your check - then, you tore it up. are you out of luck? or can the bank simply hand you another piece of paper, with the same stuff written on it, or can they tell you "sorry, you just lost your money".
our currency sytem is symbolic, electronic blips, not gold nuggets or coins. it works as a tool for all of us only when we accept its purely symbolic nature, and use it accordingly. it aint real, folks. maybe it never was.
so why do we act like it is...
Bb
please scroll down for the previous article(s). thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment