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<br><div><div>On May 18, 2009, at 5:57 PM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Georgia" size="5" style="font: 16.0px Georgia">Some of us call it "playing by the rules of the game." Money as such</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Georgia" size="5" style="font: 16.0px Georgia">(that is a standardized and common currency) is a creation of a</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Georgia" size="5" style="font: 16.0px Georgia">government and as such subject to rules set by that government.</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Georgia" size="5" style="font: 16.0px Georgia">Attempts to pretend otherwise are the economic equivalent of</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Georgia" size="5" style="font: 16.0px Georgia">solipsism.</font></p> </blockquote><br></div><div>I try to stay out of these debates and just listen because I learn a lot about Wolfean literature here. Really. But the idea that money is a governmental creation is a serious misapprehension. Money is a store of value. A symbolic representation, yes, but one fashioned by human intercourse, not by fiat. The <i>de</i>valuation of a currency is a gov't function and has been repeatedly witnessed as such through history but it's an illusion that money is subject to rules set by gov'ts. If it were then devaluations would never occur because a gov't could simply outlaw the problem.</div><br><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div>Steve-- I read DinaF a long time ago and recall that it was marketed as a juvenile read - true or no? </div></span> </div><br></body></html>