With the exception of painting tips, and the
watercolors of Bill Hoernel, most of the written
work offered here is philosophical (and relates
more to how we think, than to what we think).
These efforts in establishing a sense of
comprehension challenge the usual assumptions from
which our thinking departs . . . as well as our
modern focus upon gaining a sense of meaning and
knowledge (through a method of thinking the
understanding). I am an historian, and what I seek
to share in these works is a more general and
genuine comprehension, that may more fully embrace
such central questions -- the big questions --
that we may attempt to ignore . . . but that never
go away.
I recommend choosing the PDF
version of this composition (below), as it is fully
edited, formatted, and may be cited.
Me, A Name
An
Introduction to Self http://www.manofcolours.com/Me,%20a%20Name.html
ART: The Parent Thesis
A
Message of Hope and Despair
Written New Years Day,
2000
Mythical Money:
The
Name
and Law of the House
IS GOLD
MONEY?
"Although there is no longer a
standard against which currencies are measured, the US
dollar has been the world's reserve currency since the
Brenton Woods Convention: it, effectively, became the
standard against which fiat currencies were gauged (or
fixed). The reserve status of the US dollar required that
all transactions in world commerce were made in the reserve
currency; as a result, in order to get a dollar's worth of
goods or services in any country apart from the USA a
dollar's worth of goods (or of services) had to be produced.
In the United States of America, however, in order to 'make'
a dollar the Treasury needed but to print one. It is for
this reason that the role of the USA in the world economy
ceased to be that of a producer nation (and shifted to
become a consumer nation). There were benefits and
difficulties associated with having the reserve currency,
however so long as the dollar was NOT a fiat currency (and
the dollar was convertible into gold or silver) the world's
monetary system made sense (so long as gold and silver
reserves were safely stored). When the United States dollar
ceased to be backed by, or exchangeable with) specie, the
world monetary system was stable; it was also, however,
limited with regard to growth . . . limited by the mass or
magnitude of gold stored or available for storage. Demands
for 'Third World' development, as well as for expansive
growth in general, contributed to the decision make the
dollar fiat (whilst allowing it to remain the 'reserve'
currency . . . even if there was no longer a 'reserve' with
which to support it). Until the 1960 producers in the United
States still had to produce a dollar's worth of goods (as
every dollar, even if a silver certificate, was equated with
a weight of specie); it was after the dollar ceased to be
backed that reserve status was questionable, and the role of
the nation shifted toward consumption of imported goods.
Parenthetically, it was also what permitted the vast
expansion of the nation's indebtedness."
