Money is Made of Paper

Money is Made of Paper

When going to the ATM machine, we think of the cash we get as being real as in it has intrinsic value, that it’s valuable in and of itself. When we withdraw money from the ATM, it is real in the sense that it has value that the government as we as individuals who are part of a country agree with and assign value to the pieces of paper. Money is really just paper and metal, coins being metal that was turned into a circle and forged a bit. Cash is just paper with ink and other “security measures”. Money is worthless without human beings and the government they serve under assigning value to it. Coins and paper are worthless without us as members of a society giving value to it. Money is just paper and metal. It is by itself worthless.

Intrinsic value to me is anything that has worth in and of itself. For example, gold is intrinsically valuable not because gold is shiny, or lustrous, or any other reason we can think of. Gold is valuable simply because it’s gold. Gold is intrinsically valuable because it is worth something mathematically without humans giving it value. It is truly precious. The more gold you have, the better. Gold isn’t like paper money, which is just made of paper. Paper is practically worthless as it is easily made and has no value by itself. It just is worthless. That’s why if you really want the money you have in your bank account to be worth anything, turn it into gold since it is valuable intrinsically. Gold is valuable because it is gold, not because of a reason we give it. 

If I were a rich person, I would immediately turn my “fake” money which is paper and coins and turn it into “real” money which is a precious metal, such as silver or gold. The reason why I would do this is because gold is valuable by itself and doesn’t need humans giving it value. Gold is valuable to me because it is beautiful and has a beautiful color. Gold is very important in today’s world because it is extremely rare but has a wide variety of uses, such as in dentistry and electronics. I find gold to be very cool and an interesting metal to have because it is so valuable, one of the few things in the world that are intrinsically valuable. Unlike oxygen, food, water, or clothing, gold is precious by itself. Although oxygen, food, water, and clothing are necessary for people to exist in a functioning society, they are not valuable in and of themselves. 

Oxygen is just an element that is found quite abundantly on Earth and has no real value as it is just air. It isn’t rare, it isn’t visible, and it has no usage other than us needing it to breathe. It is intrinsically worthless. Food is valuable only because we give it value. Food, such as potato chips and french fries, are worthless because they only have value if we give it value. Food is extremely important to our survival but is in reality completely worthless. Water is like food in that we need it to survive, but is completely worthless intrinsically as it is found in abundance and is worth something only when human beings give it value. 

I hope in this essay that I elaborated why certain things are intrinsically valuable while other things are intrinsically worthless. Gold is valuable simply because it is gold and not for any other reason we humans give it. Most other things in the world are worthless by themselves as they are worthless until we human beings give it value.