This week’s thought provoking quote was inspired by my dad. A few days ago we were talking about politics and current events – as we often do. When the dollar and what it is “backed by”, came up. We had an interesting conversation about what it used to be backed by, what it is now backed by, and even what we think it should be backed by.
When we say “backed by” we are referencing what the dollar is equivalent to. Many believe that the dollar is equal to a certain percentage of gold. They believe that if you have X amount of dollars than it is the same as having X amount of gold. However, this is not the case. In fact, it has not been the case for eons (exaggeration). The gold standard and the dollar are no tied together. Nixon took us off of the gold standard many moons ago. It is also said that President Kennedy was trying back the dollar by silver.
If this is true and Kennedy would have succeeded then the USD or dollar would be equal to a percentage of silver. Whether his attempts were for the greater good, or whether his attempts were merely a rumor is a discussion for another time. But this conversation with my dad brought a quote from one of our favorite movies to the forefront of my mind.
The movie Wall Street makes reference to our exact conversation. It was released in 1987 – the year I was born – and starts both Michael Douglas and a young Charlie Sheen. Oliver Stone did an amazing job with this film and it’s not only entertaining, it is informative. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094291/
I encourage you to watch the film, and perhaps I’ll speak more about this topic next week. Do you know what the dollar is backed by currently? Do you know what a dollar is worth? I’d love to hear your thoughts and see what perspective and knowledge y’all have on this.
