What Has Government Done to Our Money‪?‬ Murray N. Rothbard

This book really turned me on to understanding the fundementals of freedom. This and the book, For a New Liberty, will really give you the kind of mind changing perspectives that, when shared with others, will forever leave you standing alone at parties. Oh well.

Money should be free. It should emerge from the interactions between free people, and not be a governemnt fiat declaration. But not all monies have the same attributes that make them better or worse. An infinitely inflatable fiat money has many bad attributes which make it a bad money, for example. The inherently better monetary attributes of precious metals usually satisfy people who need that sort of intellectual satisfaction/safety about their money, and for the plebes, it won't matter if they use gold, silver, or FRNs, as long as they get their daily bread. To them, a money is money, and it deosn't really matter, but this book explains what it is that makes one money better and what makes one bad, and why it relates to freedom. And while no money is perfect, there is one that is better than all the others.

The concept of money is something that too many people know nothing about. How many people know that money began as a free market invention, evolving out of barter to identify items that had double value, as a utility in and of itself, and as a preferred medium of exchange? And how gold and silver developed between the voluntary cooperation of individuals to be the money of choice for free people everywhere? And how ever since governments have existed, one trait they all shared was the goal to control & monopolize the money supply, and by manipulating it through debasement and revaluation for their own benefit at the expense of the people, destroyed the economies they were supposed to protect. How many people know that in the United States of America we used gold and silver coins for our economy for 150+ years until the government decided to debase the coinage into what has become a pure fiat (baseless) money which we use today? And how at one time, we the people controlled the government because we controlled the money, and how today, the government controls us through a de facto control of our money. The knowledge contained in this audio book would change the world if enough people would recognize what government has done to our money. Too bad most people don't care enough about this kind of thing. When is American Idol on?

I had known the concepts before listening. But to hear it put out like that really opened my eyes more. Great stuff. So thankful it's free!