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RE: Steem Basic Income Giveaway (Assumed Knowledge)
For the first part," Tell me what is that you know that you thought everyone knew!" I would say that there is a distinct difference between "legal" and "lawful".
For the second part, "And what is it that everyone seems to know that you just can't do or wrap your head around?" I would say that seems to be there is no difference between "legal" and "lawful" in everyone' s minds.
Ummmmm... What is the difference between legal and lawful? I thought they were the same!
I will give you an example to explain. In the USA according to law the only "lawful" money is gold and silver coins, that is the law. However the USA no longer has "money" in circulation , all the gold money was confiscated by the government in 1933 and silver has also been phased out over time.
But in 1933 the people still needed a way to pay for goods and services and having no lawful money made it impossible to do so the government created what is known today as "Federal Reserve Notes" that are issued by the central bank to replace the money. It is a form of currency, which is a medium of exchange and again, it is not lawful money.
So the government then said the federal reserve notes are "legal tender" and that they are good for all debts public and private so they must be accepted as payment for all debts.
So lawful means exactly that, in accordance to the law. Legal on the other hand means what is generally accept as good or okay with the society but does not comply with written law.
Some people might consider that to be "splitting hairs" but the facts are the facts. There are plenty of things that are considered "legal" but do not meet the standard as set by the law. The more people accept these types of things the more lawless our society becomes, government is really good at circumventing the law and replacing things with "legal" in their place. It is how they end up in total control of the people because people don't pay enough attention to the meanings of words.
Personally, I would much rather have gold and silver in my pockets than pieces of paper that have nothing backing the value of them.
Huh, thanks for the explanation! I'm not sure I would prefer precious metals in my pocket, there is a certain convenience with cash... But I do appreciate the difference.
With the price of gold you wouldn't have to carry around but probably one coin since gold is over $1,000 an ounce and $20 gold coin back then was right at a ounce of gold I think, it might have weighed even more, but you surely would need many in your pocket for normal day to day living.
I get that, but how would you do fractions of the gold? I guess with less precious metals. Then my other question, which is how to deal with the limited supply of gold and the greater demand for it (as an increasing number of people will want to use it, just by normal population growth)? The price of gold will appreciate, leading to possibly uncontrollable inflation, or continuing subdivision of the 'gold coin unit'?
PS : apologies for the questions but it is a new idea for me!
Here in the USA four metals were used, gold , silver , nickel, and copper. The nickle and copper took care of the 5 cents and 1 cent transactions or in making change. The 10, 25, 50 cent coins were all made of silver and so were the $1 coins. Gold was the higher denomination $'s coins.
Paper "money" led to inflation and devaluation of the dollar, the US dollar has lost 97% of it's purchasing power since 1933 according to reports I have read from this year. So it would seem that without substance behind the "money" is a bigger problem than scarcity would be. You could still have electronic transactions or credit cards but settlement of the accounts would have to take place by the physical transfer of the coin money, so one trip to the bank a month would be required if you had any financial transactions.
There is a lot more that would be required in explaining the history and it would be very lengthy but I believe we would have far less financial problems in the world today had gold and silver been kept as the standard for the dollar. It was the banks that caused the initial problems when it came right down to it, and then they were ultimately the ones who ended up profiting the most from the problem they created.
It would be like a town that had only one auto body repair shop, and the owner of the shop would go out in a old beat up car at night crashing into parked cars and causing damage to them, he knows he will have plenty of business the next weeks to come.
The banks were and are no different than the body shop owner.
Thanks for the replies. I will go and read more about it. Although, it would appear (at first glance) difficult to attribute a root cause easily (due to so many complicating factors) to the adverse affects of inflation on purchasing power. Anyway, thanks for sparking my interest!
It is interesting and you are more than welcome on the replies and sparking your interest.
Hahahaa #pushingthebutton LOL
The winners of the SBI contest and the new questions (Idle Questions) are here:
https://steemit.com/newbiegames/@bengy/steembasicincomegiveawayidlequestions-j8wqivyb1f