LOSING FAITH IN THE YELLOW LINE (2013)

“Money is like the double yellow line in the middle of the road. It’s fake, or rather, it is just an extremely widely accepted illusion. The yellow line is there, yes, but it’s presence doesn’t physically stop you from driving over, across–or even on it. (Like I have clearly done so in the picture with my bike. 5 miles of rule-breaking, thank you very much :)). 

We have this unspoken yet easily breakable rule of such large value, because it keeps us safe. We don’t wreck our cars head-on into each other, when we obey the rules of the yellow line. It’s quite simple, in that way, really. It’s only when we veer from said rules, in whatever way that may be, that we can potentially get ourselves into trouble. (Not to worry though, here I am riding on the endless highways of a very agriculturally rich, yet person desolate peninsula. Rush hour there consists of two cars, at the most). 

This idea operates in the exact same way, regarding money. Money is just a green-tinted piece of paper, and nothing more. It’s not really worth anything, in all actuality. We make it worth something. We make money our means of representing all economic transactions. And just like the yellow line, we can lose faith in money and it can become meaningless as well. (Overvaluing and inflation, resulting in undervaluing, recession and ultimately depression… You get it…) 

A $100 bill can easily become something to blow your nose on, if we stop believing in it for long enough. Just as the yellow line can morph into a seemingly infinite piece of road-art, if we lose faith in it. 

But that’s not the scary part. The truly scary part is when these fears perpetuate themselves, causing large amounts of people to lose faith for large amounts of time. It is then that we are in real trouble. Trouble that no amount of green paper is going to get us out of…

So…

Keep the faith. 

By investing your faith in something you deem ‘important enough,’ (such as the yellow line or our monetary system) you are defining reality." 

**This was a (paraphrased) lecture was that given in my AP US history class by one of my favorite teachers in my junior year of high school. It was originally about the Great Depression. But it has really stuck with me, because of how relevant it remains in today’s economy and in areas completely outside of economics. If something seems real, it arguably is. And guess who has the power to look and decide what’s what? You. Both incredible and terrifying, I know :P.