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[Unknown?]

What happened 54 years ago on August 15th? United States President Richard Nixon cut the final ties between gold and the dollar. This was a default on the nations debt. This didn't just screw Americans because after WW2, in Bretton Woods, the world leaders devised a system where all the world's currencies were pegged to the dollar and in turn would make them backed by gold as well. After this system collapsed in 1971 all currencies lost their foundation and started to float amongst each other.

Nixon claimed your dollar would be worth the same tomorrow as it was yesterday and would stabilize the dollar. Well, it has dropped 99% in value since then.

Since that day we have used fake money, 100% trash fiat currency. This is why a can of Campbell's soup is no longer 10 cents, a car no longer $1,995, and a house no longer $10k(costing about a year's worth of wages). The average income in 1971 was 10.5k a year which could sustain a family of four on its own. Today the average is 62-63k which requires a second income to sustain a family.


For some charts showing how bad this destroyed the dollar, look no further:

WTF Happened In 1971?

https://inflationdata.com/articles/2022/08/10/u-s-cumulative-inflation-since-1913/ "I don't believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government, that is, we can't take it violently out of the hands of government, all we can do is by some sly...

wtfhappenedin1971.com

As bad as all of this was, it doesn't compare to the monetary atrocities caused by FDR and Woodrow Wilson but those are stories for another day.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

And in these times they will be the same or worse.

 

[Nydius]

Fiat currencies.
Government's "Source: Trust me bro" monetary policy.

"What makes this five dollar bill worth five dollars?"
"Because we say so. Trust me bro."

 

[jason10mm]

Alas, the first time some asteroid miner drops 5000kg of pure gold into the ocean even the gold standard would be fucked.

I think the fiat dollar could have worked, if only there were proper fiscal responsibility in congress. Alas, "live today, pay tomorrow" is the law of the land so there you go.