“Since the federal constitution has removed all danger of our having a paper tender, our trade is advanced fifty percent. Our monied people can trust their cash abroad, and have brought their coin into circulation.”

Poor Ben Franklin, he knew that paper was the way to prosperity with faith in the country it's only asset of "tender"...but it worked before the Revolution as colonial scrip, which the British declared invalid and illegal, replacing it with gold backed pounds sterling...which had to be "loaned" to the country to start it's new bank (sound familiar Hamilton?... the Brits still own the bank of NY today ! ) and after with the Continental, which only fell out of favor due to the British counterfeiting it out of favor. A fiat loosely based on the GNP is what I would favor, as not only would loans be more easily made by the government, with NO national debt as they would "own" the fiat and put it into circulation...under strict rules, also involving the states with rights of nullification to keep Washington in line to guard against people like helicopter Ben, etc., but also to keep the valuation of the basket of goods upon which such a fiat dollar was based in proper relation to all the areas of the country and their contributions to the GNP basket. Gold is simply a good personal hedge for expatriating...not really an American move, unless you maintain a home here as well ! With a GNP dollar, as the country does better, with proper laws, regulations, and incentives (not as now), the value of it's dollar goes up and up as production drives it's value so... like in China, where engineers run the economy, not lawyers !

Paper money may not be the root of all evil, but it's right near the top.

There are natural fiscal laws. The statist theocracy infesting this land, along with certain corporate subsidiaries thereof, violate fiscal law with their Keynesian and otherwise canons and policies (inclusive of seemingly unlimited borrowing of a soundless based fiat from foreign banking gods that have converted the masses to think they can create endless wealth out of nothing).

Today's fiat currency can be inflated and devalued at the drop of a hat. And this is exactly what is happening with "stimulus and bail-outs". It is a system of control and theft that is run by private concerns who are neither concerned nor loyal to any sovereign nation's economy or well being. It is a criminal system.

Paper tender is a form of contract. Contracts are only as good as the word of those making the promises to honor the contract. When all parties voluntarily agree to and fulfil the terms of the agreement, business and trade benefit. Paper currency can be an integral part of a strategy to trade on one's own terms, and its use has been proven beneficial to the early colonists who endeavored to trade honestly among themselves for their mutual benefit. However, the debasement of currency whether hard or soft is a heinous crime as it robs from all the holders of the currency. Strict rules for its issuance are required -- there can be no power to simply print up more money without some form of backing. Non-perishable commodities like precious metals, water, and labor are all sufficient backing for currency -- consumables are not. But when fiat currency (IOUs) cannot be refused in lieu of cash (real money) then we are being forced into a contract involuntarily with no recourse or redress for mismanagement of the currency. Gold and silver were to prevent such theft. However, if the government were to issue its own notes, like they do treasury bonds, for its own use, and issue those notes interest-free, AND uphold the right of the people to use gold and silver for trade and to have a choice to accept the paper currency or not, then we would have a fairer playing field in which inflationary credit and stable cash can both be used in the marketplace. No income taxes would be required, as the government could print up its own money to pay for public services and the currency's value would float freely against gold and silver dollars (or a currency backed by a breadbasket of non-perishable commodities). The government would have to manage their credit more efficiently to make sure its value stays strong. By making gold and silver illegal for trade (which is essentially the case today) and forcing us all to accept fiat currency backed by interest-bearing treasury bonds (IOUs), the fate of the economy lies with a few men who become masters of all those to whom the rest of us are indebted without choice, without recourse, without any power to demand the promises be kept. This is servitude, and through this process, the labors of the people are stolen to pay an unpayable debt to the very guys that issue money, creating it out of nothing, to lend to us at interest -- and since today all money is created this way, there is never enough to cover the interest as well as the principle, so we must borrow more. Banks confiscate the property of those that cannot pay, and the banks acquire massive wealth through a trick as they have not risked anything but merely wrote out a check for money that did not exist until the check was written.

Archer, excellent, extremely well said !

Archer, can I use that? very well said.

Feel free to distribute widely, Carlton!

Thanks Archer, I don't always seem to have the gift of being able to express myself that well and everything I can do to repel the communists is a help :)