It used to be that paper currency was backed by gold and silver for its value. A 10$ paper note would be redeemable for 10$ worth of gold or silver following the gold or silver standard. Currently our bills are fiat money which means they are not backed by any tangible item. They’re just based on the strength of the economy. The economy can fluctuate so it makes the actual value of a bill unstable. These Mcdonalds coins, however, would be a currency that are redeemable for a Big Mac. This would make them a technically more stable currency as they are always have the value of a Big Mac they can be redeemed for.
In all seriousness this is what I’m talking about whenever I go off on how the rich can’t even spend their fucking money. Do you honestly think these fuckers are getting that much enjoyment out of these goddamn gummy bears compared to regular store-bought one? No, they get enjoyment out of the CONCEPT of them, out of the thrill of conspicuous consumption in the face of people who actually have to work for a living, or who, god forbid, don’t even have the opportunity.
So they’ll buy seven houses when you would be hard-pressed to justify them owning two, and they’ll buy huge-ass limousines and designer clothes just to look a tiny bit cooler (as if any real fan of a celebrity gives a fuck about the label they’re wearing rather than the content they put out, or the persona they have, or even the way the outfit actually LOOKS), and they’ll pay out the ass for ludicrously expensive ingredients placed in such ludicrously tiny portions that they can barely fucking taste them.
I don’t understand it even slightly. I can barely imagine what I’d do with $150,000 a year, much less millions. And I’m not even like a “simple pleasures” fanatic – sure, I get the appeal of a second house! I get the appeal of regular vacations! I get the appeal of eating steak five nights a week, drinking expensive champagne! But wealth disparity has become so fucking absurd in this country and on this planet that those quasi-reasonable luxuries aren’t enough, so they have to make up bullshit that can’t possibly even be enjoyable in its own right just so they can feel good about having money.
The wonderful gothic art deco American Radiator Building, New York
The fact that this building is as magnificent as it is and yet I have never heard of it before now tells me both that it is occupied by some sort of mind-controlling and possibly time-traveling covert organization and that their power is weakening.
