Stone Money—thebeard

“Money is fiction” is one of the weirdest quotes I have heard from the NPR Broadcast and just one of the oddest quotes I have heard in general. I could have never thought of the money that I have not actually meaning something. The money that I have in my wallet or bank account is the money that I have to spend and I need that money to buy something. The little piece of paper that I receive from the ATM that tells me how much money I actually have in my account is as close to holding all my wealth in my hands. When I heard the story of Stone Money I did not think this could actually be real.

When I was reading Friedman’s essay I was just thinking about how the Yap money system is so similar to ours. The money that the Yap use are big round stones, called fei. The fei have a hole in the middle so when they are created they can easily bring them onto the island and leave them in one spot for eternity. The Yap have their money just sitting in the streets but they know who owns which stone. They don’t need to see their money to make a purchase to someone, just like I don’t need to see my money to use a debit card. That money just goes from my account into someone else’s account. The German government put red X marks on the Yap’s stones saying that they were the governments money now. The Germans did not move the money back to Germany but just simply left it in the same spots, but now with a red X on it. What the Germans did with the fei is almost similar to the the French did with the US gold. They just put a label on it saying that it was now theirs and couldn’t be used. Its odd that just labeling some gold in a basement could cause the Great Depression. The US could have just given France the gold and taken the money from them and maybe the Great Depression wouldn’t have happened.  It is crazy to think that a label could do something like that.

While listening to the NPR Broadcast it really made me think what that would be like to just have a new currency. Its weird to think that Brazil can just create a new currency but they did and it made their economy better. I feel like it would be hard for Brazilians to trust the new currency at first because it is something brand new to them. If I was a Brazilian during the whole crisis I would have defiantly loved the new currency. From what it seems I would be paying so much less for things that I need and want. I feel that it would have been easy for the Brazilians to trust the new currency, it helps them out. They would be able to save their money and not spend it right when they received it. They would not be over paying for some necessities.

While listening to the guys at the NPR Broadcast I find out that even thought the Federal Reserve includes the word “federal,” it is not actually part of the government. They are tasked with something simple but very large: Creating money from nothing. It is really cool how they make new money and suddenly it is in people pockets. Well not instant but almost. The Federal Reserve buys bonds from banks and the banks then give the money received from those bond purchases out as loans to people. See pretty easy, for the person trying to get the loan it sometimes turns out in their favor because interest will go down so the bank can get this money into circulation. It is crazy to think that my money is just transferred to someone else’s account when I buy something. Even if I use cash it will soon be in someones bank account and eventually in someone else’s after that. From listening to this podcast and and reading the articles its really made me think what my money is actually worth to me. These flimsy slips of linen covered with silly green symbols seem so worthless; do I really work hard at my job to earn a handful of these? Then just to spend them on worthless items.

I decided to read two articles about Bitcoin. It has always been something that interested me but I have never really looked into anything about it. In the article “Bitcoin has no place in any portfolio,” it says that the value of bitcoin has ranged from $13 in January of 2013 to roughly $1150 at the end of November 2013. The value of bitcoin changes almost every day just like the stock market. Most investors do not like to use bitcoin simply because they do not understand it. You can also simply go from millions of dollars worth of bitcoins to zero the next day if someone hacks into your computer and takes them. The cool thing with bitcoin is that you can exchange ownership of products very quickly. I read a story that some people buy expensive gaming graphic cards and sell them on bitcoin for more and that is one reason that makes those certain products hard to find in stores like Best Buy. There is no guarantee that bitcoin will be around for a while but for now it is a good way to make money and buy or trade products, that is if you know what you are doing.

So after reading and listening all of those articles about different types of money, it is still hard to tell what money actually is. Could it be a big round stone sitting next to my house that may or may not even be mine or is it a virtual coin that I may have received from trading a product I bought online. Maybe money is fictional and its just the trust in our government and each other that its is actually in our bank accounts or wallets and that we can use it to purchase our needs or wants. I have never really thought that my money that I use to purchase things with could really just be a number going from my account to someone else’s account. Just thinking back the Yap must think we are crazy when we want to buy something and hand the cashier a plastic card or paper. But then again we think they are crazy for trust that someone has a stone in the bottom of the ocean that gives their family wealth. It is also crazy to think that just a couple of guys can create a whole new currency for the people of Brazil and have it actually work out in the countries favor. Those guys basically saved that country when they were in a crisis. We live in one crazy world. But I am still going to go to the store tomorrow morning before work and buy a cup of coffee with my money that may or may not be fictional.

 

Works Cited

“Bitcoin has no place in your – or any – portfolio.” Marketwatch.com. 31 Jan. 2015

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

“The Invention of Money.” 423: The Invention of Money. This Is American Life, WBEZ. Chicago . 7 Jan. 2011.

AO4 Stone Money Rewrite—collegegirl

Concept of Money

P1. Although money may be a small, rectangular, green piece of paper, a magnetic strip on a card, or a coin, people around the world see it as a prized possession, something extremely valuable to their lives. Quick keystrokes on a mobile device are also forms of money, like the Venmo app, which allows people to transfer money to each others account with the touch of a button. Money can also been seen as a way of having power over others. Despite the fact that there are many forms of money in the world we live in today, money, as a whole, can have an impact on our wellbeing.

P2. Money can also be seen as an enormous sized disk like object. At first glance, it seemed bizarre to hear the story of the Yap an how they consider, gigantic, limestone disk to be as valuable as a home would be to us. In the Yap village, the villagers lived to believe that these gigantic stones ranging to 10 feet high with large holes cut out in the middle of each stone, was their form of currency which they called fei. Strange. We, see currency to be something that is paper like and easily transferred from hand to hand. Because of the large size of the stones, in most cases, the stones did not move locations when given to the next person for their services. The villagers would walk past stones and know who they belonged to and would go along with their day. While reading Milton Friedman’s article regarding the Yap villagers, I discovered that, years ago, a voyager was returning to the village after finding a massive stone, when all of a sudden came a storm that sank the stone to the bottom of the sea. When the voyager returned to the village, he explained to his family of the incident that happened regarding the fei. Shockingly, after years later, it was believed by the entire village that the stone at the bottom of the sea, that no one has ever seen, was still valuable to the owner as if it was in their physical possession. Although the stone remained at the bottom of the sea, it certainly had an impact on the family’s well being. The Yap in the village always acknowledged the families wealth and was never questioned.

P3. Unlike what the villagers believed in about the stones not being moved when possessions changed, people around the world believe that if we do not have physical possession of something, then it is not considered to be ours. Having physical possession of money is a necessity for us unlike there Yap.  For instance, there’s a ten dollar bill lying in the middle of the street on a sunny day, someone picks it up, puts it in their pocket and now it’s theirs. They can spend it wherever and however they’d like and no one will ask them or bother them as to where they got the money. Our concept of currency compared to the Yap’s concept of currency have differences for obvious reasons. Around the world, we need to have possession of our currency for obvious reasons. When money is in our possession, it allows us to buy things that are essential to our lives such as water and food. Meeting these needs are essential to our wellbeing because without them we will suffer from not being able to provide ourselves with things that we need to survive.

P4. Most surprisingly in the NPR Broadcast was the statement: “Money is fiction.” How can it be that a rectangular thin green piece of paper with small symbols be something other than real? Money being as powerful as we’re making it seem to be, it’s just buying power. Online, it’s just a number jumping back and forth from screen to screen and account to account. Money can be the root of all evil. It controls almost everyone in the world besides those who are wealthy enough to not desire it as much. Money is just a means of exchange for us to get something that we want or need.  Before coins and dollar, people used fish, tools or wood for example as a means of exchange for good and services. If the world revolted back to exchanging things like these instead of money, then money would lose its value. If money loses its value, and people used things such as services in exchange for things, less people would rely on money. But, this can affect our wellbeing being that people will actually have to provide services for other people in order to get something that they need. Compared to now, when people have money they can easily spend it on the things that are essential to life and essential to them. When governments don’t exist anymore, there will be no need for money itself because it will lose its value. Then, we’ll return to a more direct exchange of good and services for other goods and services.

P5. Also shocking, CBN made a statement claiming that money is not the root of all evil, in fact its the love for money that is the root of all things evil. A wealthy man may begin to feel superior to those who have to earn a living. Because the concept of money being as powerful as it s, we can spend millions of dollars on flashy watches and fancy cars which are thing we don’t particularly need but want. Imagine what the world would look like if people spent those millions of dollars, or even less than that, giving back to communities or other parts of the world that are in poverty such as victims who lose everything due to natural disasters. If we as humans rely on money for our wellbeing, why not try to help others well beings who are unfortunate instead of buying things that mean nothing or have no value to anyone but your own self. All in all, money has certainly made a huge impact in the world we live today. Whether for the good or for the bad.

 

Works Cited

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

“The Invention of Money.” 423: The Invention of Money. This Is American Life, WBEZ. Chicago . 7 Jan. 2011.

CBN. “Is Money the Root Of All Evil.”  2017. Web.

Saturday Morning Check-in

Good morning, FA17 class!

Some of you have texted me for help getting access to the blog, finding the assignment, finding the sources, or asking me about rewrites, but most of you have not checked in at all, so I’m wondering how you’re progressing on your first assignment.

Just in Case

  1. Assignments are located in the Assignments menu at the top of the blog, just below the header photo of the dog who’s watching you in his sleep.
  2. Your first essay, A01: Stone Money, is due before midnight tomorrow, SUN SEP 10.
  3. You’ll submit your essay by posting it to the blog.
  4. The sources you’ll need to research your essay are located in the sidebar (the narrow band of links along the right-hand side of the blog). Find them beneath the heading A01 Sources.
  5. You’ll be graded twice on this essay. A01 is Stone Money, a graded first draft. A04 will be your Stone Money Rewrite, a chance to improve both your essay and your grade.
  6. You can receive early feedback on your first draft by posting early. (It’s getting late to post early.)
  7. If you can’t log in to the blog, you probably haven’t accepted your invitation. Find the second email WordPress sent you during our first class. It contains a link you need to follow to accept the invitation.
  8. I love to help students who show commitment and take initiative. If you need anything at all, or something you’re reading here doesn’t make sense, email help@davidhodges.com or text me (856) 979-6653 before noon on Sunday.

Not Enough Authors

CHECK THE LIST FOR YOUR USERNAME

We did our best to sign every up for the blog in our first class, WED SEP 06, but were only partly successful. At the moment, the following authors have usernames. I stripped out the numbers you needed to use to make them unique.

  • alaska
  • collegegirl
  • chandlerbing
  • flyerfan
  • jadden
  • killroy
  • lifeissublime
  • nathandetroit
  • neweditionlover
  • pdqlover
  • phillygirl
  • rainbow
  • splash
  • theadmiral
  • thebeard
  • theintern
  • unknowntrendsetter
  • yoshi

If your name is not on the list, mostly likely you haven’t yet responded to your invitation. You received a SECOND email from WordPress during class saying you had been invited to join the RowanCounterintuitive blog and asking you to confirm.

Don’t wait until Sunday night to discover you’re not an Author of the class blog, please. Reply to your email, or let me know you’re having a problem. I’m happy to help, but I need some time to do things right.

DAVID HODGES
hodges@rowan.edu
anything@davidhodges.com (where anything means anything)
856 979-6653 for voice and text

 

Rebuttal Argument – anonymous

Every patient diagnosed with Alzheimer’s has died or has been pronounced terminally ill, their life span post diagnosis is estimated between 8 to 10 years. Imagine knowing that eventually everything including family members, friends, and even a significant other will all be forgotten. Lost in the abyss that is the human mind, you lose all sense of self and to the outside world you are near equivalent to a zombie. Unable to communicate with anyone it is unknown if anything is still left of the person that once dwelled with-in the physical body that is still alive. While Alzheimer’s has no current cure that does not justify its victims to be abandoned and left for dead, there are many options to be explored in helping them from digressing further.

Reflective Statement- Amazonite345

I. Understand that writing is a practice which involves a multi-stage, recursive and social process.

I believe I had accomplished this goal albeit a lot later than I would’ve liked. Generally I am rather independent so learning how to cooperate proved to be difficult but necessary. Without a thorough discussion of ideas and a number of drafts, my thesis would have been not only impossibly difficult, but almost inherently unworkable as well.

II. Understand that close and critical reading/analysis allows writers to understand how and why texts create meaning.

Early on I was set back by trying to find a singular definition for “The American Dream.” Quite frankly this singular definition does not exist. This led to significant difficulties in the forming of my thesis as well as starting my paper. Only through comparisons of various definitions of the “American Dream,” presented by various authors, and polls and cross referencing them to each other was I able to define what the “American Dream” meant to me and what it meant in terms of my paper.

III. Understand that writing is shaped by audience, purpose, and context.

By having an idea of what I wanted this paper to be, as well as having a general idea of what I was going to find, I knew that the purpose of the paper would be to ultimately address the shortcomings of the United States in terms of fulfilling the American Dream. I knew I would end up talking about the income inequality and it shows, as the main points in my paper focus around the economy and social mobility.

IV. Understand the role of information literacy in the practice of writing.

During my research paper I found a lot of often times conflicting facts. There’s a lot of statistics that can be thrown around and it was important for me to learn how to understand it properly. Had I not achieved this goal, my paper could have been very different, especially when announcing numbers given by polls. It’s important for me to learn how to use the data in the way that benefits me, and in a way that accurately represents what my research conveyed.

V. Understand the ethical dimensions of writing

My paper was very factual and at times could be very wordy. I had to learn how to take the information given to me and represent it accurately without trying to twist their meanings. I also learned that I could not just take someone’s data and just put it in my paper without proper citations. Although it would be easier for me to just put all the stats and data in my paper and talk about them after, I knew that I had to properly mention each source as I brought it up.

 

Bibliography—amazonite

Chetty, Raj, and Nathaniel Hendren. “The Equality of Opportunity Project.” The Equality of Opportunity Project. The Equality of Opportunity Project, 1 Aug. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/&gt;.

Background- The Equality of Opportunity Project is headed by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren, professors at Stanford and Harvard respectively. They have many papers, all of which they publish on their website. Their main focus is on opportunity and they even tackle the idea of the American Dream, albeit they only talk about the idea through pure economic terms. Their data is limited to the US and does not mention other countries.
How I used it- I used their research to determine social mobility in the United States. Using their data, I was able to compare it to data from other sources which had the economic mobility of other countries. This website gave me a lot of insight on why the US has a low relative social mobility, which they believe is caused by income inequality.

Corak, Miles. “Social Mobility and Social Institutions in Comparison Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States.” Economics for Public Policy. Cato Institute, 21 May 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <https://milescorak.com/&gt;.
Background- Miles Corak is a professor at the University of Ottowa who studies social mobility in some of the richest countries in the world. He posts lectures that he gives on his website for anyone to see. He does a great deal of research on the immigration, the economy and a lot of other social/economic issues.
How I used it- Miles Corak had some of the most extensive comparisons of social mobility between countries that I could find. He updates his findings fairly often. This allowed me to compare the US in terms of social mobility to other countries with data dating back to 2011, which is not as recent as I’d like but, it’s still the most recent study out there.

Gass, Bick. “Poll: Half of Millennials Say the American Dream Is Dead.” POLITICO. POLITICO, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2016. <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/poll-millennials-american-dream-216632&gt;.
Background- This article was written to convey the points made in a recent Harvard Institute of Politics poll.
How I used it- While I was able to get limited information from this article alone, it did springboard me to different sources, including the actuall polling data the author writes about.

Hargreaves, Sean. “America’s Economic Mobility Myth.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 Dec. 2016. <http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/09/news/economy/america-economic-mobility/?iid=EL&gt;.
Background- This article talks about the social mobility of the US and focuses on the reasons why we don’t have as great a mobility as other rich countries.
How I used it- I used it to find other sources, but more importantly, I used this article to find reasons why the US is lagging in social mobility and spent a good portion of my paper talking about those reasons and what America can do to change the way things work now.

Isaacs, Julia B. “INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF ECONOMIC MOBILITY.” The Brookings Institute. The Brookings Institute, 28 July 2016. Web. 08 Dec. 2016. <https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02_economic_mobility_sawhill_ch3.pdf&gt;.
Background- The Brookings Institute is a think tank formed in 1916. They release papers and studies on various topics, in this case, social mobility.
How I used it- There was a lot of data on here that corresponded to or was exactly the same data that Miles Corak used. However, they had the added benefit of breaking down the population by fifths, and looking at how many people in each fifth moved to a different fifth, either up or down. This breakdown was critical in proving my main argument and helped paint a picture of just how bad Americas social mobility is.

Luhby, Tami. “The American Dream Is out of Reach.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 4 June 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/04/news/economy/american-dream/&gt;.
Background- This article contained polling data concerning the American Dream. It focuses on millennials and their disbelief in the dream and how the latest generations are much more pessimistic about it.
How I used it- This poll allowed me to make the critical argument that the American Dream is already very close to dying. If no one believes in it, how can it be achievable? The article also gives me an insight on why so many young people are saying it’s just too good to be true, which allows me address some of their concerns in my paper.

Perez, Esten. “The Institute of Politics at Harvard University.” Harvard IOP Fall 2015 Poll | The Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Harvard Institute of Politics, 10 Nov. 2015. Web. 08 Dec. 2016. <http://iop.harvard.edu/survey/details/harvard-iop-fall-2015-poll&gt;.
Background- The Harvard IOP poll shows the belief the average US citizen has of the American Dream. It broke down it’s data by race and party lines (the latter of which I did not use.)
How I used it- I used it to make help support an argument that I made which claimed that if the American Dream was not dead it was certainly on the decline. I showed how people along all races were losing faith at roughly the same rate.

Seelye, Katharine Q. “What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession?” The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 May 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/us/08dreampoll.html?_r=0&gt;.
Background- This was a poll done by the New York Times that asked people about their version of the American Dream and whether or not it could be achieved.
How I used it- This poll gave me the three set definitions of the American Dream that I talk about in my paper. By taking the three most common answers, I was able to determine what factors I should take into account when determining whther or not the Amrican Dream was dead.

Vasquez, Ian, and Tanja Porcnik. “The Human Freedom Index.” Cato Institute. Cato Institute, 4 Feb. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-11-29/these-are-the-freest-countries-in-the-world&gt;.
Background- The Human Freedom Index is a study done every year that rates countries based on the various freedoms it might have. These include social freedom, economic freedoms etc.
How I used it- I used this index to determine that the US is not the best place in the world for freedom. This piece was essential in proving that one of the most popular answers to the question of the American Dream is also on the decline even though some people may not think about it.

Venator, Joanna, and Richard V. Reeves. “Mobility: What Are You Talking About?” Brookings. The Brookings Institute, 28 July 2016. Web. 9 Dec. 2016. <https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2014/06/05/mobility-what-are-you-talking-about/&gt;.
Background- This article is published by the Brookings Institute which is mentioned above. In it, the author talks about the very basics of social mobility and breaks it down into two categories which are relative, and absolute mobility.
How I used it- This article gave me the idea to determine the economic opportunities through social mobility as well as a general knowledge of the subject in a way that was simple for me to understand.

Winship, Scott. “Does the U.S. Have Lower Economic Mobility than Other Countries?” National Review. National Review, 06 July 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. <http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/420794/economic-mobility-united-states-compared-europe-scandinavia&gt;.
Background- This article talks about debunking the various criticisms about the belief that the American Dream is dying.
How I used it- I used it to gather data from other sources which allowed me to find data necesarry to my argument.

Causal—amazonite

One of the biggest reasons the US is falling behind in social mobility is the ever-increasing income inequality. The Equality of Opportunity Project ran a study that showed that 90 percent of Americans in 1940 were able to earn more than their parents, dropping to around 50 percent by 1980, and they cite income inequality as the main reason for the drop. By breaking up the US into sections, we see that it is the poorer, rural areas that provide less chance for more earnings. In the worst sections, particularly in the southern states between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi, the chance of earning more than the previous generation is 4.8 percent or lower. The best chance of moving up in terms of income distribution is to move out of those rural areas. This is not always a feasible option however. Many families are stuck in low-income areas. Inside those low-income areas are poorer and therefore more ineffective schools, which leads to a lower average education level. The lower the average education level, the less potential there is for new earnings. Thus the cycle continues, and the poor remain in the same spot, if not becoming poorer.

Rebuttal Rewrite- brobeanfarms

Wishing Upon a Miracle

Discovering a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease has been a wish made for the past century and those who wish are still awaiting a miracle. Researcher’s have spent countless hours dating back to 1906 conducting research in hope of discovering what Alzheimer’s really is. Like any other disease or illness, researchers are set out to discover a cure; unfortunately for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, a cure has yet to come. Extensive research can be costly, but a world without Alzheimer’s Disease would pay great dividends to society. A vast majority of patients in assisting living facilities and nursing homes suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Stated by MacGill, “Nearly 15 million Americans provide unpaid care to a person living with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia (Alzheimer’s Association 2011 Facts & Figures).” Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist is credited with identifying the first published case of “presenile dementia” in 1907, a condition that is now called Alzheimer’s disease. Far too often, the family of a loved one are told by a doctor that their loved one is unfortunately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease is a condition that causes unusual changes in the cerebrum, the main part of the brain, which chiefly influences memory and other mental capacities which is not a typical piece of aging. Typically, memory loss is the first side effect that surfaces. In the late stages of Alzheimer’s, the assistance needed is usually provided by close family members and/or medical professionals. As the disease advances, the loss of thinking capacity, dialect, basic leadership capacity, judgment and other basic aptitudes make everyday living incomprehensible without assistance from others. Beside the patient, the connections in the family are incredibly influenced by the infection. In the family, everyone is affected by Alzheimer’s differently. Grandchildren tend to be traumatized when their loving grandparent can longer identify who any one is. As Alzheimer’s progresses, the grandchild is torn as he/she watches as his/her grandparent’s brain becomes succumbed by Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s Disease is most widely known for as a family illness. The chronic stress of watching a loved one slowly decline affects everyone. An effective treatment will address the needs of the entire family, leading to an all round healthy environment. Any individual who provides care and support for the individual diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are put through an immense amount of stress. As a result, each individual providing care must also focus on their own health. Advice from “Breakthrough Drug for Patients” assists by adding, “Emotional and practical support, counseling, resource information and educational programs about Alzheimer’s disease all help a caregiver provide the best possible care for a loved one.” Though families do their absolute best in caring, the stress causes tension between the entire family which in turn is even more stressful to the patient than the disease itself. By creating a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, families can live in peace knowing that they will never need to experience such a tragic event.

Works Cited

“Breakthrough Drug for Patients.” The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

“Definition of Alzheimer’s Disease.” Alzheimer’s Foundation of America – Definition of Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzhiemer’s Foundation of America, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

MacGill, Markus. “Alzheimer’s Disease.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.