You just didn’t notice, because the candy tasted sweet.
When you were five, someone handed you a smelly little coin (money). You walked into a shop, gave it to the man behind the counter, and got a piece of candy in return. Boom. Your first transaction. An implanted illusion burned into your brain:
“This coin is worth something.”
That’s how it starts.
Innocent. Sweet. Deadly.
Because that wasn’t a coin, it was a spell. A magic trick.
A piece of metal with no real value, handed to you as sacred treasure.
Welcome to the con.
The Lie We Grew Up With
From birth, we’re taught to trust money. To chase it. Save it. Worship it.
But we never really ask:
What gives this money its value?
Is it gold? Nope.
Is it oil? Wrong again.
Is it backed by anything real? Not even close.
The truth is uglier.
Once Upon a Time, Money Was Gold
There was a time, pre-1971, when paper money could be exchanged for real gold. That was called the Gold Standard. If your country had $1 million in circulation, it needed to have $1 million worth of gold sitting in a vault somewhere.
Then Richard Nixon (the 37th US President) said:
“Screw it. Let’s print without backing.”
And the U.S. officially detached the dollar from gold.
Since the U.S. dollar was the world’s reserve currency, that meant every other currency also lost its gold tether.
Now money was backed by… nothing. Just “confidence.” Just “the economy.” Just vibes.
What Does “Backed by the Economy” Even Mean?
They’ll tell you:
“Don’t worry. Our currency is backed by the strength of our economy.”
Okay. Great.
Now tell me, what does that even mean?
Even top economists can’t agree on how to measure an economy. GDP? A number that rises when people get cancer and need treatment, or when we cut down forests to sell more burgers. Productivity? Inflation-adjusted to what? Debt to GDP ratios? Smoke and mirrors.
If you can’t measure it, you can’t back anything with it. That’s not backing. That’s bullsh*t.
How the U.S. Hijacked the World’s Wealth
After WWII, the U.S. said:
“Hey world, let’s all peg our currencies to the dollar. Don’t worry, we’ve got the gold.”
It was called the Bretton Woods Agreement.
The U.S. held most of the world’s gold. Countries trusted them. They pegged their currencies to the dollar, and the dollar to gold.
Until the U.S. printed too many dollars and couldn’t cover the gold.
When France asked for its gold back? The U.S. said no. Then they closed the gold window.
Translation:
“You can’t have your gold. Enjoy your toilet paper.”
They robbed the world blind with a smile.
Africa’s Gold for American Paper
Let’s talk about Africa. Rich in gold, diamonds, oil, yet forever broke.
Why?
Because their resources were (and still are) extracted in exchange for worthless printed money. Fiat currency. IOUs backed by nothing.
Whole governments traded tons of real gold for foreign aid “loans” in USD and Euros. And when they couldn’t pay back those loans (with interest)?
Boom. Economic collapse. Currency devaluation. IMF puppetry.
Gold gone. Sovereignty gone. All for pieces of paper.
This Isn’t Just Theory … It’s Happening
Zimbabwe. Lebanon. Venezuela. Argentina.
One day your money buys groceries. The next, you need a wheelbarrow of it to buy bread.
People blame “poor economic management.”
No.
It’s because their currencies weren’t backed by anything real.
If you print too much of something backed by nothing, it eventually becomes just that: nothing.
But What About Gold Today?
Here’s little known truth: even gold is being manipulated.
The futures market, where traders buy and sell contracts for gold they don’t even own, trades 10 to 100 times more paper gold than there is physical gold.
They don’t need to suppress gold by taking your bars.
They do it with paper promises of gold.
That keeps the price low. Artificial. Controlled.
So even the one asset that should be a safe haven, has been gamed.
So What’s Real Then?
Real value doesn’t come from central bank fantasies.
It comes from scarcity. From real assets.
- Gold you can hold.
- Land you can stand on.
- Food you can eat.
- Skills you can trade.
Anything else is just faith-based, “trust me bro”, finance.
And faith… breaks.
Wrap Up: Wake Up
Your money isn’t yours.
It isn’t backed by anything.
It’s a tool to control you. To keep you working, chasing, obeying.
When money is backed by gold, the value is tied to reality.
When money is backed by “economic theory,” it’s just a thought experiment.
And right now?
The experiment is falling apart.
Money will be worth something again,
When it’s backed by things that actually are.
Until then, don’t just save.
Stack.
Stack gold. Stack land. Stack skills.
Because when the paper burns, the real stuff will survive.