Paper Money and Paper Bullets
Nov. 2nd, 2004 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanjuPaper bullets. AKA ballots.
This is a comparison that first occurred to me many years ago, but it's never seemed quite so meaningful as it does this election. Paper money is of value only insofar as everyone believes that it is; it has no intrinsic value, unlike gold or silver or, hell, cigarettes (as seen in countless prison/POW camp movies). When you get right down to it, paper money is worthless unless other people are willing to accept it in trade for things you want. But paper money is easier to carry, easier to divide, and generally less troublesome than carrying around and using real money. Your neighbors may not accept those wheelbarrows full of deutschmarks which are almost visibly losing their value, but they'll happily trade for something more tangible.
Paper ballots are the equivalent of paper money, a stand-in for the real thing. In this case, a stand-in for bullets. Deciding who's in charge by voting is a hell of a lot safer, easier and less troublesome than fighting a civil war or rioting in the streets. But, like paper money, ballots are only valuable as long as pretty much everyone agrees that they are. Once the public loses faith in the paper ballots, they resort to other means of supporting their candidates, possibly including real bullets. I'd rather not see that happen.
This is a comparison that first occurred to me many years ago, but it's never seemed quite so meaningful as it does this election. Paper money is of value only insofar as everyone believes that it is; it has no intrinsic value, unlike gold or silver or, hell, cigarettes (as seen in countless prison/POW camp movies). When you get right down to it, paper money is worthless unless other people are willing to accept it in trade for things you want. But paper money is easier to carry, easier to divide, and generally less troublesome than carrying around and using real money. Your neighbors may not accept those wheelbarrows full of deutschmarks which are almost visibly losing their value, but they'll happily trade for something more tangible.
Paper ballots are the equivalent of paper money, a stand-in for the real thing. In this case, a stand-in for bullets. Deciding who's in charge by voting is a hell of a lot safer, easier and less troublesome than fighting a civil war or rioting in the streets. But, like paper money, ballots are only valuable as long as pretty much everyone agrees that they are. Once the public loses faith in the paper ballots, they resort to other means of supporting their candidates, possibly including real bullets. I'd rather not see that happen.
