Money and its value

This hundred rupee note that I hold in my hand,

Wonder what would be its value anyway?

This may well have been the fruit of my industry,

And the reward of labour, sweat and relentless toil,

It is sacred to me but it’s just an airy bubble of paper currency.

It is just fiat money; it has value only because the government says it does,

Having no real value in itself it depends for support upon those in the central bank who prop it,

As Adam Smith once said, the problem with any fiat currency is that it rewards the minority (read powerful bankers and businessmen) that can handle the money, but fools the generation that has worked and saved the money.

While I still struggle with money as the means of procuring the necessities and alleviating the afflictions of life,

I know of a friend who has replaced the currency in his wallet with snapshots of his kids.