Money is Speech (Reply to Deborah Hellman)
Today's Reuters "Great Debate" again addressed "money as speech" in a not-very-fair three-way debate. This is my reply to Prof. Deborah Hellman who argued strongly that money is not speech. (The argument for fewer limits on political campaign contributions was nice, but only pragmatic, not principled.)
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"Professor, if you look at a dollar bill, you will find over 20 statements, signs, symbols, and semata. The most important of those are ideological, religious, or philosophical.
"Money is Speech" on my blog (http://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/...) juxtaposes Karl Marx on the 100-mark note of East Germany with Adam Smith on 50-pound note of the privately-owned Clydesdale Bank of Scotland.
"Money as Press and Speech" on my blog (http://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/...) opens with this:
"... The notes of the American colonies in revolt announced “American Congress / We are One” and “Mind Your Business” and “When it is over, then we will rest” (Cessante Vento Conquiescemus) and “Issued in Defence of American Liberty”. The North Carolina $40 note of 1778 honored “Freedom of Speech and Liberty of the Press.”
Oddly enough Ludwig von Mises agreed with Karl Marx that money evolved from barter; so, gold and silver became the most common commodity moneys. But money did not evolve from barter; and trade did not come from economic calculation. See "Money as Speech and Peacemaking" on my blog here: http://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2011/... See, also, the seminal research by leftwing historian David Graeber, _Debt: The First 5,000 Years_. I do not agree with his conclusions, but I am grateful for his facts.
Best wishes,
Michael E. Marotta, BS, MA.
http://intentionalprivacy.com
(My wife's blog; I often write for her.)"
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"Professor, if you look at a dollar bill, you will find over 20 statements, signs, symbols, and semata. The most important of those are ideological, religious, or philosophical.
"Money is Speech" on my blog (http://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/...) juxtaposes Karl Marx on the 100-mark note of East Germany with Adam Smith on 50-pound note of the privately-owned Clydesdale Bank of Scotland.
"Money as Press and Speech" on my blog (http://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/...) opens with this:
"... The notes of the American colonies in revolt announced “American Congress / We are One” and “Mind Your Business” and “When it is over, then we will rest” (Cessante Vento Conquiescemus) and “Issued in Defence of American Liberty”. The North Carolina $40 note of 1778 honored “Freedom of Speech and Liberty of the Press.”
Oddly enough Ludwig von Mises agreed with Karl Marx that money evolved from barter; so, gold and silver became the most common commodity moneys. But money did not evolve from barter; and trade did not come from economic calculation. See "Money as Speech and Peacemaking" on my blog here: http://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2011/... See, also, the seminal research by leftwing historian David Graeber, _Debt: The First 5,000 Years_. I do not agree with his conclusions, but I am grateful for his facts.
Best wishes,
Michael E. Marotta, BS, MA.
http://intentionalprivacy.com
(My wife's blog; I often write for her.)"
