Money, money, money. The extremely complex and arguably fictional foundation of our economy. I always wondered growing up how did a piece of paper with some inscriptions and fancy images become the social fabric of our world? When you put a U.S dollar bill side by side to monopoly money you understand that one is worth something and the other isn’t. Although, monopoly money like “real” money is simply paper from our trees. Therefore, we must question, why is money valuable? Pre Colonial era we traded among each other valuables in which each person needed. We valued precious and rare metals or jewels such as diamond, gold and silver. We valued goods as currency and only cared about items which every colony needed. If a man had a pig but needed a cow he would search for that person that needed a pig and had a cow. This exchange of goods made perfect sense and never involved a paper bill and a complex system of valuing that bill. Money in its self has no real value to it, it isn’t rare and its not pretty. We the people make money valuable, we make the value “real”, but should we?
When i came across the article by Milton Friedman named The Island of Stone Money I was intrigued. The island of Yap is extremely underdeveloped with barely any valuable items. When they discovered what seemed to them a precious rock called Limestone on a neighboring island they began using it as their form of “currency.” Although, they went about system in a very odd way. According to Friedman these men and women could trade these large pieces of stone for other valuables they needed or important services such as the retrieval of a fallen soldier. Here was the catch; technically you never had to physically have the rock or even have it in your possession. You didn’t have to even see it, it was all based on the idea of the rock and a trust system that everyone knew who the real owner of it was. This was relevant when Friedman mentioned that the wealthiest man on the island never even had his Limestone he just saw it and was vouged for by his crew. (Friedman, pg 2) Reading this made a light bulb shine bright inside my head. I soon realized that this ridiculous form of “currency” is a lot like other more civilized countries. The point is not the physical aspect of money that gives it value, its simply the idea of money and what it represents that makes it valuable. And that raised the question, is this the right way to run an economy?
Friedman also discussed an instance where the french technically owned some portion of gold. However, they never physically retrieved the gold, instead a deal was made with the U.S and was stored in a drawer on our homeland.(Friedman) This is another perfect example of how nothing but an idea satisfied a whole nation and was understood by others. Although, when you put it in perspective was that valuable metal doing any good for people just sitting around? The answer is no. The best two examples I can present you with is that of the Bitcoin and URV. Online banking is a complete joke and makes no sense. When we use bitcoin we are essentially transferring images and codes over to our bank. In no way, shape or form is this real money. But, we except it as real money wit real value! How is something intangible in an exchange of goods essentially, valuable? We aren’t physically handing anything over to the bank but they still accept it. My favorite example however is that of URV, which I read bout in the article How Fake Money Saved Brazil. As proposed by the title URV is exactly what it says, it is fake money. Brazil was in a state of high inflation rate which in turn practically made the price of items go up either everyday or week.(Chana Joffe-Walt) The country was in turmoil so a couple of guys came up with the idea of replacing cruzeiro with a virtual “fake” currency and they called it URV. The worst part is this idea was accepted, used and succeeded. It had no real value therefore it was literally fake. These two examples prove my point that money just seems to be an idea. It seems crazy to me that much of peoples happiness and status in this world is based off of solely an idea with no true value.
Recessions or economic depressions effect everyone. The way the economy is set up values this idea of money over true goods and resources. After reading these articles my perception on money has changed tremendously. It raised the question, is this the right way to go about it? Was the old way of trading goods and food and resources more useful? This isn’t just for me to decide. Although, it is sad to see people lose their happiness and parts of their lives struggling over the obtainment of technically a pure intangible idea.
Works Cited
Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” Diss. Hoover Institution, Stanford University , 1991.
Joffe-Walt, Chana . “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR.org. 4 Oct. 2010. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/04/130329523/how-fake-money-saved-brazil>.
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>.
“The Invention of Stone Money.” 423: The Invention of Stone Money. This Is American Life, WBEZ. Chicago . 7 Jan. 2011.
Rowan Counterintuitive 
I feel in the first paragraph i could have used more specific ideas relating to todays world. The paragraph makes sense but lacks connection to everyone. I feel with draft may be a bit longer but more useful as well.
Money, money, money. The extremely complex and arguably fictional foundation of our economy. I always wondered growing up how did a piece of paper with some inscriptions and fancy images become the social fabric of our world? When you put a U.S dollar bill side by side to monopoly money you understand that one is worth something and the other isn’t. Although, monopoly money like “real” money is simply paper from our trees. Therefore, we must question, why is money valuable? Pre Colonial era we traded among each other valuables in which each person needed. We valued precious and rare metals or jewels such as diamond, gold and silver. We valued goods as currency and only cared about items which every colony needed. If a man had a pig but needed a cow he would search for that person that needed a pig and had a cow. This exchange of goods made perfect sense and never involved a paper bill and a complex system of valuing that bill. Money in its self has no real value to it, it isn’t rare and its not pretty. We the people make money valuable, we make the value “real”, but should we?
I think i made many more useful connections that may help readers understand the argument better.
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I agree this revision is considerably better than your first draft, YankeesKid, so I’ve substituted it in your post. (The original is always available to view because WordPress saves all revisions.)
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This Reply of yours completes the E02 Cows and Chips Exercise.
Coded Grade: P
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You’ll have to work very hard, YankeesKid, to bring your writing level up this semester. We will concentrate more on your argument style and the content of your essay in later feedback sessions and in professor conferences if you’re willing. But for now, I need to emphasize that you must write coherent sentences.
As you know, you’ll receive quick grades in four grading criteria: Argument, Rhetoric, Mechanics, Scholarship (ARMS). Grades can always be improved by revision. To understand your grades, you need to know your Grade Code, which I shared with you in class MON SEP 19. I’ve numbered your paragraphs for easy identification. Additional feedback is always available upon request.
Argument (Grade Q)
See the Mechanics section for a demonstration of how to guide readers through your argument, YankeesKid. Your P1 in its current form contains mostly details (a good thing) but without the clear claims they should be illustrating. Even good readers will draw the wrong conclusions from your examples unless you specify the terms of your argument.
Rhetoric (Grade Q)
You have a convincing authorial tone, YankeesKid, but you’re not using it to full effectiveness. Take for example the story of the Yaps’ limestone currency. You permit readers to draw their own conclusions all the way through the tale, then try to talk them into your position, by which time, you may be too late to change their minds. Suppose instead you told them first what to look for. You would save yourself many many words and prove your point more efficiently.
The Yap islanders use a form of currency that has uncanny resemblances to our own despite its apparent ridiculousness. For cash, they carve huge limestone disks they have to import from 400 miles away. A single disk might pay for a house or the retrieval of a fallen soldier from a distant village. For similar transactions in modern society, a homebuyer would have her bank “wire some funds” to the seller’s bank. The big stone on Yap never had to move from its location; ownership was simply understood to have changed hands. With a little perspective, their silly way of transferring wealth looks a lot like ours. Nothing physical changes hands when banks wire funds, but society acknowledges that the seller has been enriched and the buyer “owns” a house.
Notice that in the above example, only the relevant details of the Yap story are required to prove your point, and since you guide your readers to the appropriate conclusions, you don’t need to “point back” to the story to indicate what they should have concluded on their own.
Mechanics (Grade Q)
The differences between your uncorrected paragraph may not be obvious at first, but they are essential to avoid failing grades for Fragments; Runons, and incorrect Punctuation or Syntax.
UNCORRECTED: Money, money, money. The extremely complex and arguably fictional foundation of our economy. I always wondered growing up how did a piece of paper with some inscriptions and fancy images become the social fabric of our world? When you put a U.S dollar bill side by side to monopoly money you understand that one is worth something and the other isn’t. Although, monopoly money like “real” money is simply paper from our trees. Therefore, we must question, why is money valuable? Pre Colonial era we traded among each other valuables in which each person needed. We valued precious and rare metals or jewels such as diamond, gold and silver. We valued goods as currency and only cared about items which every colony needed. If a man had a pig but needed a cow he would search for that person that needed a pig and had a cow. This exchange of goods made perfect sense and never involved a paper bill and a complex system of valuing that bill. Money in its self has no real value to it, it isn’t rare and its not pretty. We the people make money valuable, we make the value “real”, but should we?
CORRECTED: Money, money, money: it’s the extremely complex and arguably fictional foundation of our economy. I always wondered growing up how a piece of paper with some inscriptions and fancy images became the social fabric of our world. Even a child who puts a U.S dollar bill side by side to monopoly money can understand that one is worth something and the other isn’t even though monopoly money—-like “real” money—is simply paper from our trees. Therefore, we must question, “Why is money valuable?” In pre-colonial times, we traded among each other valuables which every person needed. We valued precious and rare metals or jewels such as diamonds, gold, and silver. We valued goods as currency and only cared about items which every colonist needed. If a man had a pig but needed a cow, he would search for the person who needed a pig and had a cow. This exchange of goods made perfect sense and never involved a paper bill or a complex system of valuing that bill. Money in itself has no real value to it; it isn’t rare, and it’s not pretty. We the people make money valuable. We make the value “real”; but should we?
REVISED FOR EFFECTIVENESS: Money, money, money: it’s the extremely complex and arguably fictional foundation of our economy. I always wondered growing up how a piece of paper with some inscriptions and fancy images became the social fabric of our world. Putting a U.S dollar bill side by side to monopoly money, I understood that the dollar was worth something at the corner store while the other was worth nothing, except in Monopoly. Although they’re both just paper, we value one and not the other for what they represent.
In our early history, we traded valuable things directly. If a man had a pig but needed a cow, he would search for the person who had a cow and needed a pig. This exchange of goods made perfect sense but was clumsy and sometimes impossible to manage. Substituting precious and rare metals or jewels for cows and pigs, we were able to trade with everyone, whether they had cows or not. Money in itself has no real value to it, but we agree to make it valuable for convenience.
UNCORRECTED: When i came across the article by Milton Friedman named The Island of Stone Money I was intrigued.
CORRECTED: When I [ALWAYS UPPERCASE] came across the article by Milton Friedman titled “The Island of Stone Money,” [Articles identified with quotation marks; Publications identified with italics] I was intrigued.
Scholarship (Grade P)
Use inline citation INSTEAD of the MLA parenthetical method, YankeesKid
NOT: Friedman also discussed an instance where the french technically owned some portion of gold. However, they never physically retrieved the gold, instead a deal was made with the U.S and was stored in a drawer on our homeland.(Friedman)
BUT: Friedman further demonstrated the abstract nature of ownership with an anecdote in which the French took possession of some US gold not by physically retrieving it but by agreeing to leave the gold in the US in a drawer labeled “France.”
OVERALL
Take heart, YankeesKid. Your current grade is a reflection of how this work would be graded if it were submitted as part of your Portfolio. The semester is young and help is available. Every post can be endlessly revised. I will meet with you any MON or WED, in personal conferences, and provide continuous feedback in and out of class.
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