Complicated Currency
P1. Money truly is a crazy concept when it is broken down. In its most common form, it is simply just a piece of paper. Yet, these pieces of paper run the world and all of those who inhabit it. They can make or break the quality of a person’s life. All of the power around the world is derived from it. It is such a simple thing that serves a far more versatile and important purpose.
P2. In the past couple of days my viewpoint on this concept has been swayed. I never really looked into it or broke down the whole idea of money prior to last week. Now, I understand that a dollar is only worth what you can receive in exchange for it. It is a simple way of breaking down what seems to be such a complex thing, but it is true.
P3. Large stones quarried and shaped on a distant island were used as money on the island of Yap (Friedman 2). In relation to their giant stone currency, I found an interesting quote to be “You don’t need to have the stone, to own the stone” (NPR). It is funny to think about because it just seems like a more barbaric, yet identical, way of banking. My money can be loaned out to others from a bank, but if I ever had to withdraw everything, it would all be available to me. It is the same concept as not having to be in possession of the stone, for it to still be my property.
P4. Seeing as how Brazil’s inflation came to an end with fake money (Joffe-Walt), I do not see how the public can have faith in the value of currency. It also leads me to think the same thing about our government here in America. Money can be printed out to easily on a daily basis, so how much is a dollar really worth? Public faith in the value of money is so important for many different reasons. A main reason would be that order in society is ensured by the fact that the cost and value of money is understood by everyone. So if that understanding and trusting of the government is taken away then the value of money can be interpreted as anything. Order would be lost if a society could not maintain that faith.
P5. Now, a concept like Bitcoin shows how far we have truly come. It is a completely digital currency that certain places of business accept as a form of payment (Reeves). This virtual means of currency is not to be undermined, though. The physical portrayal of the word “bitcoin” may lead certain people to believe that they are of a lesser value, because they almost sound like credits in a video game. To settle any confusion, these coins spend the same as a five dollar bill or handful of quarter. It is overwhelming to imagine that we can be wealthy and have currency that we can spend but never touch. One million dollars in cash in a briefcase is equal to one million dollars in bitcoins. Being able to walk around with money without holding the money in your hand brings me back around to the idea of the stone, because just like stone currency, I don’t need to be in physical possession of these Bitcoins to own them. Yet another way of the same thing taking different form.
P6. Between cash, coins, credit cards, checks, or any other form of electronic currency, money comes in many different forms. Whether it is a hundred dollar bill or a penny, all of it has worth, regardless of how it is presented. And no matter how significant the worth, it should never be taken for granted, because I know that money makes the world go round.
Works Cited
Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money”. Hoover Institution. February 1991. Web.
Planet Money, By. “The Invention of Money.” This American Life. NPR., 7 Jan. 11.
Joffe-Walt, Chana. “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR, 10 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Reeves, Jeff. “Bitcoin Has No Place in Your – or Any – Portfolio.” MarketWatch. MarketWatch, 31 Jan. 2015. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.
Rowan Counterintuitive 
You write well, Darnell18. When your argument, rhetoric and scholarship match your style and mechanical ability, you’ll do well. Let’s take a look at those categories in turn.
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 J)
I’m going to distill your argument to its essence if I can, Darnell18.
—P1. It’s ironic that something as flimsy as a piece of paper is the symbol for the economic forces that drive all human actions.
—P2. I now understand that the only value of a dollar is what it can buy.
—P3. Yap Islanders used huge stones as currency, which could “change hands” without moving. Similarly, the money I “own” is mostly not physically possessed by me. My wealth is acknowledged by my bank, for example, without any particular dollars being allocated to me.
—P4. The stability of any currency issued by a government depends on its users’ faith in the stability of the government.
—P5. Bitcoin, the first important currency not issued by a national government, tests its users’ faith even further. A billion dollars worth of Bitcoin may be sold for a billion dollars today, but tomorrow, if the world loses faith that Bitcoin will be honored as a token of exchange, those purely digital “coins” will be worth nothing at all.
—P6. Money, not currency, drives all human actions.
Struck to its bones, your argument appears to be that money is symbolic, that it represents faith among its users that it will be honored, or that it has value based on some sort of backing. Which of these would you say is most accurate? Now that I have you wondering what your premises and conclusions are, can you produce the language that guides your readers through the steps of your argument more effectively?
Rhetoric (Grade K)
Among other things, rhetoric refers to choices of vocabulary and syntax that create a mood, inspire confidence, shape opinion, or compel a reader to action. Let’s examine two sentences for their rhetoric.
—This virtual means of currency [Bitcoin] is not to be undermined, though.
I sense that you mean “this virtual instrument for conducting financial transactions, to buy and sell things.” In other words, “this virtual currency.”
By “is not to be undermined, though,” I sense that you mean, “should not be taken lightly or thought to be insignificant just because it’s not a physical object printed by a government.”
I’m not suggesting you use more words to convey your ideas, only that you be careful to express them so they don’t confuse readers.
How about: “For users of Bitcoin who trust its value, though, it’s just as legitimate as any other currency.”
—The physical portrayal of the word “bitcoin” may lead certain people to believe that they are of a lesser value, because they almost sound like credits in a video game.
I sense that you mean “To merchants accustomed to trading in dollars, a ‘Bitcoin’ sounds like something a gamer might accumulate, certainly not a legitimate currency in the real world.”
Mechanics (Grade L)
You don’t make grammar errors, Darnell18, so this category is easy to improve. Find and eliminate your fragments, and eliminate the couple of places you’ve left in vestiges of the Banned Second Person. [The one inside the quoted material can stay; that’s somebody else’s error.]
Once you solve those, you’ll have a mechanically clean essay I can re-grade for this category. Let me know.
Scholarship (Grade L)
Technically, this one is easy to fix, too, Darnell18.
We’ll be using informal inline citation in this course. I’ve modeled it a couple of places, but we’ll be doing a citation exercise to reinforce that message. You can use class time to revise your troubles away in this post. After that, I’ll take another look to see if you’ve met the other obligations of good scholarship, but for now, lose the MLA-style parenthetical citations.
OVERALL
Take heart, Darnell18. Your current grade is a reflection of how this work would be graded if it were submitted as part of your Portfolio. Many of the fixes are easy. 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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