Comments by "Moonstone-Redux" (@Moonstone-Redux) on "Internet Anarchist" channel.

  1. ​ @Nerobyrne It goes into a fundamental misunderstanding of why fiat currency works. It's not pure faith that makes a currency work, for even fiat has something backing it to prove its worth. Government currencies are issued by the appointed monetary authority, and (except for really exceptional circumstances) you are only allowed to pay government debt (taxes, government services, public school fees, etc) with the government issued currency. You can't for example just go and pay American customs fees with Euros, not without having to convert it, and it is this requirement that currencies derive their worth from: ie the trust in the government that they will honour the services as they are worth. And as long as the government that issued the currency is still perceived as stable and the services still desirable, its currency will therefore stay desirable and value. Precious metals are valuable, but now only as a commodity because you can't just walk up to a government office, plop a gold bar and say you want to pay your taxes with it unlike the old days where you quite literally could do that since currency had to be exchangeable with precious metal for a certain ratio (the pound sterling was supposed to be worth a literal pound of sterling silver).
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