Fiat money gets more competition every day, for good reason

Fiat money gets more competition every day, for good reason

It's a shame that the most prolific and dangerous counterfeiters work for government. That places them beyond the reach of justice or restitution. In country after country, they ply their trade with the backing of the full coercive force of the government. Government refuses to back its paper certificates with anything of value; mints its coins of near-worthless metals... and few people even notice they have been duped.

There is a way to strike back though: don't use their money except when forced to. There are choices. The amusing thing is that governments always require you pay taxes and other illegitimate tributes with their own funny-money. The joke is on them.

Money almost seems to define a society. You can learn a lot about a society or a culture by closely examining its money. When friends or family travel the world, one thing that is frequently requested is "Would you bring me some foreign money?" In this case, the "value" of the money is in its novelty.

Money, in its most common, modern form, consists of little, portable works of art that are traded for things you want or need. The symbols upon it, and the materials it is made from, tell what is important to the people who choose to use it. Or to the government that tries to give you no choice. Real money is best made of something that has never been worth "zero", and is used by voluntary consent, not government edict. Government promises, those little IOUs called "dollars" (or more accurately "Federal Reserve Notes"), don't meet that requirement. By using privately issued voluntary money, you are not endorsing the system that attempts to violate your rights more each day. That is worth a lot, in itself. That is one reason I am designing my own silver coins. Value and values combined.

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For some alternative voluntary currencies: Check out the Liberty Dollar, the American Open Currency Standard, and the Silver Dubloon. These are not the only options out there, either. Expect more in the near future as confidence in fiat money declines.