Not so fast. Gold and other elements have REAL value. All resources have value because the amount is finite. Now, elements have actual value, even compared to resources, because all resources can be broken down even further...into elements, but an atom of an element cannot be reduced any further because it would not retain its identity. Paper money is worth well, the paper it's printed on. Gold has real value because it has actual uses. You can't create a circuit with a piece of paper, but gold is very very useful in many things.
So are you talking about it's 'functional value'? Like, how how dirt can be used to hold a piece of paper down, therefore dirt has value? Yeah...I don't think we're talking about that. We're talking about it's 'representative' value.
I think it's the same thing. What is representative value? At one time a dollar "represented" a dollar's worth of gold, because gold has value. Paper money is not worth anything in actuality. The only thing that gives it value is that the government tells everyone that it is worth something. What happens if the whole system collapses and everyone has to fend for themselves. How much good will paper money do you?
You're right, paper doesn't really have any 'functional' value, by that I mean that you can't really use it for anything useful. That's what I mean by representative value. We give money it's value by collectively agreeing that a dollar can buy you a burger, $5000 can buy you a car, etc. ...If it ever got to that point then you're right money wouldn't be worth anything. We would resort to trading good for good...
You're correct, but only if we were on the gold standard. The thing is the dollar doesn't represent anything. If you trade a burger for a dollar then you traded a burger for a piece of paper. You can't actually do anything with that piece of paper like you could eat the hamburger. Yes, gold is a good, so we could trade gold for other goods or vice versa. What I'm getting at is paper money is actually worth nothing if it's not backed by gold or some other resource.
Gold has value.....in the form of currency.... People wouldn't give a shit about a shiny rock if there was no currency/government/society. The things that would matter are far more practical, food, shelter, weapons, etc. I wish we used a barter and trade system.