Ramblings on economy

On a side note - I realize maybe I shouldn't have let so much time lapse between the last post and this one, especially given what I said in the last post. I didn't kill myself, nor do I want to, moving on...

As I read the entire literary canon of both Spain and Latin America for my master's exam I am constantly struck with questions and ideas...none of which, unfortunately, have anything to do with my actual exam. One such question came to me recently as I've been reading through many of the chronicles of the "discovery" and conquest of the Americas. (I say "discovery" for lack of a better word. Yeah, I'm one of those hippy post colonial studies people who think this word is problematic.) Many explorers writing about their adventures in the Americas mention that many indigenous populations did not value gold or silver. The Spanish explorers were shocked by this, and of course very excited to find an incredible source of virtually untapped wealth. But reading this, I kind of see things by the indigenous perspective -- what's so great about gold?

And then it really hit me -- really, what is so great about gold? Why is it the basis for our entire nation's currency? I'm no economy major (in fact, I took it in high school and hated it) but like any good grad student I'll just pretend that my uninformed opinion will suffice for now. I just don't understand why gold is so valued still. I know, it's rare. It's pretty. People like it. But what purpose does it serve? Can gold, by itself feed you? Clothe you? Build a house? (Ok maybe but you know that's stretching it) Can it protect you? Can it power a vehicle? I understand that it's necessary to put some sort of monetary value on things, and that we have to also place a value on trades. There has to be an intangible value to services such as those offered by educators, doctors, police officers, fire fighters, etc. etc. etc.

But when you really think about it, it's so ridiculous. There are people in our country who are starving to death, or suffering homelessness, living in the most abject conditions, and why? Because they don't own a sufficient quantity of green paper. And what's the value of this green paper? A bunch of shiny, useless metal sitting under lock and key at Ft. Knox. It's just sitting there, it's not even doing anything, and yet every day millions of people live and die by it? And if the entire world's economy were to collapse tomorrow and the world were plunged into chaos, what use would any of that be? What use is any of it now? I'm not necessarily promoting communism here (at least I don't think I am), but it just really weirds me out when I start to think about those shiny, useless little stones, and how much the world has lived and died for them - of how many civilizations have had to die to provide this strange, meaningless wealth to the West (the same can be said about diamonds in Africa, etc.)...I suppose it just puts a lot of things into perspective.