Stone Money—childishharambe

Forms of currency come in all different shapes and sizes.  No matter what country it is from or where you got it one thing money has in common is that it is an illusion.  Money is used to buy, trade or even rent all types of different goods.  As I got older I started to question the actual value of money.  In my opinion American currency makes more sense than the bitcoin which is used by the Island of Yap.  Money is a man made fallacy but it is important because it allows us to obtain things others do not.  As malicious as this sounds it is true. You either have it or you don’t but I’ve never spent a dollar that I did not want back.  It gives worth to just about everything and anything.

When comparing the gigantic boulders to a dollar bill at first this assignment did not make much sense to me.  This enormous piece of limestone is actually worth something?  Not only that but how civilized are these people compared to us.  The more I read and researched I started to realize they are so different but they have the same primary function.  Yes, bitcoins can not be carried around in a wallet like a bill or in your pocket like change.  From my knowledge the people from the Island of Yap did not wheel barrow their boulders around and chip pieces off of it to negotiate for goods but that is what made sense to them.  Trading a house for the boulder made complete sense to them.  They gave these boulders value just as Brazil did with their form of made up money.

America replicated Brazil and made a new form of currency.  America did this using Brazil as it’s prime example.  A country that once was looked at as one of the most stable economies.  America fell victim to the idea and before you knew it Gold was a thing of the past.  Yes, Gold is still worth money but no one is walking into the grocery store with Gold bricks exchanging for their groceries.  The need to go mining for Gold or Limestone was a thing of the past.  People began to move away from Gold and started adding more focus towards the much more easily acquired dollar bills.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in a much more different time and culture but bitcoins do not make as much sense to me as the dollar bill.  Maybe to the people of Yap the idea of knowing you have money when you need it made sense to them but I would not be able to go out with my friends or on vacation knowing my money is sitting outside of my house and able to be stolen at any minute.  That to me is the same as leaving your wallet at home with your doors unlocked in a bad neighborhood.  Maybe the people of Yap had more respect for each other than we do as Americans but I can not go anywhere without knowing I have money on me.

Money is an illusion.  We gave money its value just as we made the dollar the new Gold.  It is in a better sense a figment of our imaginations.  Money made trading for goods easier.  Instead of having to barter an item you maybe did not want too for something you needed money gave you the opportunity to exchange without having to do that.  Money is important because people want they don’t have.  Some blame the bible but I just believe when people don’t have something or are told they can’t the greed and jealousy begins to eat away and people begin to find ways  to obtain it.  Money in any culture is the reason for violence and evil.

Works Cited

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” Diss. Hoover Institution, Stanford University , 1991.

Renaut, Anne . “The bubble bursts on e-currency Bitcoin.” Yahoo.com. 13 Apr. 2013. 30 Jan. 2015. <https://sg.news.yahoo.com/bubble-bursts-e-currency-bitcoin-064913387–finance.html&gt;.

“The Invention of Money.” 423: The Invention of Stone Money. This Is American Life,                     WBEZ. Chicago. 7 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

Novus, Stella. “The Megalithic Money of Yap.” Ancient Origins. Ancient Origins, 04 Jan.                   2013. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.