Faith in an Unreal System

P1. Mediums of exchange have been used to manipulate wealth since the earliest civilizations. Mediums of Exchange have influenced survival, dictated lifestyle, and determined the worth of everything. Mediums of exchange used relies solely on the belief that the users agree that the prices are fair. If the users don’t believe in the system, then the money becomes useless. From ancient islands to modern day America, monetary systems have always been backed by the belief of the people. The monetary system is a system of belief, and once that belief is eradicated, the system is useless.

P2. In the Caroline Islands lies a German Colony known as the Island of Yap. Like most civilizations, the island of Yap uses a monetary system. However the Yaps do not use the paper money system that Americans have come to known. The Yaps use large stone wheels known as Fei to exchange goods The Yap’s use Fei like Americans use currency, exchanging them for certain goods. However, much different from American money, the Yap’s would never actually physically exchange the stones. The stones were kept on a distant island, [not true; the stones were quarried on a distant island and brought to Yap on rafts] so often the owners would never see their stone wheels. [Only once did huge fei sink into the sea and become “unseeable.”] The Yap’s just agreed that the wheels were someones property. [Problems with possessives. The plural of Yap is Yap. “The Yap used fei.” But “someone’s” needs an apostrophe.]

P3. Due to the stone’s [when a noun is both plural and possessive, first make the noun plural: stones; then make it possessive: stones’.] immobility, the stones would very seldom actually change owners. When the stone was changed possession, the villagers simply made a mark on the stone indicating the new owner. All the mark did was dictate the transaction, and the new owner. Many times the stone wouldn’t even move an inch. The Yap’s would exchange goods, and dictate lifestyle with stones that many would not even see.

P4. One family on the island became wealthy without even obtaining a stone. According to a legend, while being transported, the family’s stone wheels were lost. Due to the weight of the stone, the transporters had to throw the stone overboard. This resulted in the stone falling to the bottom of the ocean. Nobody except the transporters ever saw the stones, but everyone agreed to the legend. The family got to live a lavish lifestyle because they everyone believe in something that was non-existent. This type of believing has been present in many countries, even America.

P5. The United States Federal Bank have had exchanges similar to the Yaps. In 1933 the Great Depression was in full swing, so the value of the American dollar was in question. The United States owed a debt to France, and—concerned about the value of the dollar—the French demanded Gold. To the French request, the United States gave the rights of gold in the Federal Reserve. However the gold stayed in the basement of the United States Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve just marked a certain amount of gold in their bank, property of the French. Using the style of monetary exchange the Yaps used. [This is a fragment, not a sentence. Attach it either to the sentence it follows or to the one that follows it.] They exchanged the monetary value, but not the actual physical medium of exchange. Showcasing the flaw, if the trust in the system is eradicated, the gold (or stone) is worthless because the owners do not have their possessions. [Huh?]

P6. NPR did a broadcast about how made-up money saved the Brazilian economy in 1992. In the broadcast “How Fake Money saved Brazil”, [Periods and commas ALWAYS go inside the quotation marks.] they discussed how due to inflation rising up to 90% a month, the Brazilian economy was crashing. To help bring down the inflation rates, and save the economy, a group of economists created a fake currency known as the Unit of Value. URV’s [Don’t use apostrophes to make plurals.] were made up by a select group, with nothing to back it up. They relied on the people’s faith that the currency had the said value. That year, the URV’s greatly reduced inflation in the Brazilian economy, and solved many of the economic problems. However it wasn’t the URVs themself, [The plural URVs requires the plural themselves.] it was the people’s belief in the system. They believed the money had the said value, so they were able to exchange the URVs with minimal issues.

P7. In the past decade Japan has also manipulated their form of currency, the Yen. In the New York Times article, “Japan Tries to Ease Fears That Its Policies Will Lead to Currency Wars,” it is discussed how the Japanese Government, in order to reduce inflation, manipulated the dollar. The article discussed that many European countries were afraid of what was deemed currency wars caused by other national banks manipulating their dollar values. As shown by the Yap’s however it can be done. Money can be manipulated in many different ways, due to the fact that because it doesn’t physically exist. Money is just a belief of the people. In order for money to work, people just have to believe, it doesn’t matter how much the dollar is said to be worth.

P8. Bitcoin, an online currency, has gone through recent value swings. The value of the currency, which does not rely on any federal bank or financial institution, was wavering through incredible highs and lows from day to day. There were many blames to this, but a prime cause was due to the pressure from investors. In other words, the people stopped believing in the system, causing its value to flux. When the users stop believing in their monetary system, the money becomes useless.

P9. Currency is an idea made created by governments that relies on the faith of the users. Money is solely backed by the belief, and not by the government. Some money systems use currency that the users don’t actually see. So people are basing their lives and how they live [pick one] over something that isn’t actually real and in some case they don’t see. People kill, die, and base their entire lives on the belief of this system that doesn’t actually exist. Sadly since the beginning of time, people have been doing horrendous things for unreal things.

P10. Be it the island of Yap, or the United States, mediums of exchanges have dictated people’s lives for a long time. Even though technically their [You need to use the contraction for they are.] different systems, both countries [both economies? both currencies?] are actually based on the same idea. Both monetary systems are backed by nothing but belief decides the fate of the people. If the people stop believing in the value of the system, the system becomes useless and the wealth eradicated. The whole idea of a good economy or bad economy is dictated simply by belief. So all this killing due to money has been caused by money could have easily altered by people simply changing their belief. So this love of the almighty dollar is really a love of a belief. [The two red sentences go off the rails.]

Works Cited

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” The Island of Stone Money(1991): 3-7. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.

Reeves, Jeff. “Bitcoin Has No Place in Your – or Any – Portfolio.” MarketWatch. MarketWatch, 31 Jan. 2015. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.

Joffe-Walt, Chana. “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR. NPR, 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

“Japan Tries to Ease Fears That Its Policies Will Lead to Currency Wars.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2017.