Change In Which We Can Believe

First of all, I thought liberals were supposed to be grammatically correct, yet we have let them get away with ending their most highly touted campaign slogan of the past 4 years with a preposition.  I am not one to ride the grammatical high horse - it's not a safe place for me to be - but I am shocked that no one else has pointed this out.  

Turning to more serious matters...
In a previous post I provided a defense for capitalism, but I have not yet come to the issue of money in any direct sense.  Money (insert ominous tone) has been referred to as the root of all evil to the point of cliche.  It has recently come under attack by some 'Occupy' protesters in the various forms of, "The world would be so much better/simpler if we did not have money."  In protests supporting socialized medicine, well meaning people have fingered money as the cause for failure of our healthcare system.  Money, besides being a drag, breaks up families and comes between friends.  Even in my beloved Star Trek, Roddenberry's vision of the future was one in which we had solved the problem of poverty and eliminated the need for money.

First of all, eliminating poverty is like eliminating disappointment or ridding the world of bellyaches and broken hearts.  It is a futile and childish fantasy that, if taken too seriously, will lead to ruin.  But even more ridiculous, and thus more dangerous, is the idea of saving the world from money.  Money is our store of value.  It represents our hard work, our good ideas, our prudence and the services we have provided our fellows.  Money is our medium of exchange.  It gives us a means to share our gifts with the world and to benefit from the gifts of our neighbors.  Money is the root of man's peaceful existence on earth because it allows us to trade without violence and benefit from our neighbors without theft.  Throughout history it has taken many forms: gold, silver, salt, rocks, etc.  But, it has always abided by one law - that no one can easily and cheaply produce it.  Societies may weather fluctuations in the quantity and value of money, but its systemic debasement always amounts to theft and leads to pain.

Enter here our modern era Mandrakes who, by destroying the definition of money in textbooks, have destroyed it in reality.  We live in a time when the dollar, the reserve currency of the entire world, is printed with all the difficulty and expense of a free college newspaper.  It is backed by trust in our government's prudence and its willingness forcibly take our wealth if it is running a bit low.  The printing is limited only by the dreams and aspirations of the most lofty politicians.  Its quantity is deftly managed by our humble central planners who, from their ivory towers, long for the days without let-downs or tummy aches.  This exercise, my friends, is more useless and ill-conceived than tasking a well-armed, drunken group of teenagers with controlling the rhythm of the tides.  They don't need to do it, they can't do it, and they are very likely to be dangerous doing it.     

I don't care what form our money takes.  Let it be gold or let it be silver, so long as it is not trust in our masters to beat us.  Let's make it something in which we can believe!