Then some smart ass computer scientist decided to make money virtual. You don't need to keep livestock nor agriculture produce - that's anticipated anyway. You don't need to keep gold or silver or any damn metal elements. You don't need to keep those papers we call notes either. This smart ass decided to transform the idea of money into electricity that can be transacted via computer circuits across network of circuits we call internet. Wallah.... behold the age of internet banking
There weren't many smart asses to begin with, initially. So it was simple and easy. Wealth was in the beginning measured in terms of livestock or agriculture produce. Basically you'd need to barter what you have to get what others have at a willing buyer and willing seller quantities of the different items. The issue with this is that, those items are perishable. Hence whatever value you put into them has a useful physical and economic useful lives of those item itself.
Then some smart ass miner discovered that value can be placed onto precious metal because of its scarcity. People began to equate what they have, whether livestock of agriculture produce, in terms of an agreed amount of such metal. Soon instead of exchanging items, they exchange those metal pieces with goods. Many types of metal were used but the most valuable, presumably because of its high ranking of scarcity, or because of its purity sustainability against nature's oxidisation, gold became the ultimate metal currency. Next was sterling silver and bronze. So, as greed radiated across mankind pervasively, everybody wanted to accumulate metal rather than the stuff that you actually need to eat and stay alive. Perhaps they thought that their tummies have evolved alongside their economic understanding where metal can be digested biologically?
Then some smart ass lawyer decided to equate all this fuss into black and white legal terms written on paper. Basically this document carries with it the legal tender to transact whatever purchase equivalent to a predetermined value of gold or any metal coins used by mandkind. The document would say something like this, "The bearer or this promissory note is entitled to whatever pounds of sterling silver claimable from the Bank of England" or some shit mumbo jumbo like that. This becamr the currency notes that we use daily. Funny that some cheap material like paper can now be valued higher than precious metals like gold and silver just because some banker with Royal Charter signs on it. Again, no matter how valueble these papers are, you still cannot eat them like you'd do with livestock and agriculture produce.
Then some smart ass computer scientist decided to make money virtual. You don't need to keep livestock nor agriculture produce - that's anticipated anyway. You don't need to keep gold or silver or any damn metal elements. You don't need to keep those papers we call notes either. This smart ass decided to transform the idea of money into electricity that can be transacted via computer circuits across network of circuits we call internet. Wallah.... behold the age of internet banking. But even so, the value of those electronically recorded data is still based on the underlying value of the papers we call notes, which by right, should have been based on the value of gold reserves a country has (and I don't this is still the case); and of course, those gold reserves should have been based by the value of produce a country can export or some shit theory like that. In short, we can still find some link from our e-bank account balance to the damn goat on the field.
Then some smart ass, big mama ass, shit head, decided to exclude the damn goat, the damn gold, the damn papers and the damn electronic representation of material wealth and replace it with the idea of mining some unique virtual universe blockchains of codes, or whatever hell it is called.... the bitcoin, I think. This is when we all started banging our heads on the wall. The idea of value has transcended our comprehension. Despite our conscious incomprehension (if there is such a word) of the damn saga, we place our utmost trust with the mama smart ass of all time and of all of humanity that our wealth is secured in this new age of demonic intangibility madinsanity economic evolutionised concept.
Meanwhile, some smart ass is quietly accumulating the livestocks or agriculture produce or the precious metals or any commodity for that matter; and at the same time, securing the sources, or the ability to procure, or the ability to produce, or the ability to control, or the ability to price those livestocks, agriculture produce or metals or any commodity. In the end we who evolve may lose everything and they who stayed purist gains. One day, a big mama ass magnetic field surge is gonna wrap the planet Earth as the yellow Sun releases its occasional bursts and in just split seconds, all those wealth we have accumulated in electronic form will be erased (unless we have proof written in legitimate ink on paper).
* kopihangtuah
| mcmlxxv:viii:xxix |
