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The evolution of money

MyFin24 is a user-generated section of Fin24.com. The stories here come from users.

Fin24 user Ike Jakson writes:

THIS is the first article in a three-part series.

Yes, all money evolved and not as long ago as people may think.

We all know by now that, according to Darwin, all life on Earth evolved over millions, some say trillions, of years since a fruit fly, or something like that, mated with a whale, or something like that.

Millions of light years later we find ourselves where we are today (that is if you believe in Darwin's theory of evolution,  which I don’t) and all our time is occupied with discussions on money.

The control of money is a problem; the creation of money and fair distribution thereof is a greater problem; money-laundering is a constant source of concern; hoarding money and how to hang onto it takes up almost all our time.

But money is a new commodity in Darwin’s definition and understanding of time.  I placed a blog on the foundation of money a little while ago.

It did not draw a lot of attention in Fin24 and surprisingly enough, only small though interesting attention in my American blog and I want to return to the topic one day.

However, one glance through the Fin24 website clearly shows the enormous interest and hundreds of opinions on money and I think it will be good to examine the origin of money (call it evolution if you wish) to provide a better insight of what to do with it today and in the foreseeable future. 

The very serious point that I want to state right here and now is that money will be a lot different in the next 50 or 100 years; yes indeed, I venture to say much different from what it was 50 or 100 years in the past.

Now you have to read my American WordPress Post.

A curious thing happened in or around 1990; it started with the advent of the internet and by today, barely 20 years later, money has evolved into entries on a computer chip.

What lies ahead?  Before money was first evolved the world got by on barter trade; basically it meant that we swapped corn for chickens, etc; whatever you had too much of you swapped for what the other guy had too much of but you didn’t have, but everyone, or most anyway, got by.

I want to conclude with a few references to the current high volume of articles and discussions on money and investment all over the media, in particular the references ad nauseam to the need for approved financial services specialists and the (in?) famous FSB (the SA Financial Services Board).

The latter is a misnomer if there ever was one and in my view is not part of the solution; indeed I do not only think that they are part of the problem, THEY ARE THE PROBLEM. 

I was there when the ugly monster first ”evolved” and promptly took control; many will question my statements on the point and I am fully aware that I will not be the most popular person in their books when this article is published, but if you guys want to barter for your R5m pension that someone asked about in a recent article, it’s your life.

Governments al over the world now have the printing presses running 24 hours a day to print more paper money; the real hard assets to provide for your R5m pension has gone “poof” on the internet and the FSB is doing nothing, but nothing, about it.

In conclusion, I offer Fin24 users and readers a recent blog post in America.

 - Fin24

Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Fin24.

Fin24 reserves the right to obtain service providers' comments before publishing any articles or letters. Fin24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all user comments received.

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