Making the World, One Coin at a Time
The thing that I most enjoyed about the talk of the trillion-dollar platinum coin is that it brought to the forefront the idea that money isn’t a real thing. It’s something we make up, and it works because we all agree that it works. It doesn’t have to follow the laws of physics or anything else – as long as we collectively will it to be so, it is. (I do think this is a drawback of the coin idea – even though according to the rules, it probably would have technically worked, I think it would have been too hard for too many people to maintain their suspension of disbelief, and then the whole structure comes tumbling down.) It’s nice to have a reminder that we are active constructors of our world, and maybe to think about what we should do with that responsibility.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.