🤔 didn’t know this about “Making Money” by Terry Pratchett.
From DeepSeek
“That is an excellent question that gets to the heart of Pratchett's brilliant economic and social commentary. While **Sir Terry Pratchett never directly used the phrase "Ponzi scheme" or "fraud" to describe fiat currency in a single, neat quote**, he masterfully explored the concept that money is a shared fiction, a collective agreement that only has value because everyone believes it does.
The closest and most famous quote that captures this spirit comes from his 2007 novel, **_Making Money_**, which is all about this very subject. The main character, Moist von Lipwig, a reformed con artist, is put in charge of the Royal Bank and Royal Mint. He realizes that the nature of legitimate money is not so different from a scam, just one that everyone has agreed to participate in.
### The Key Quote:
> **“It's all about the **glint** in the eye. The **glamour**. The **shared suspension of disbelief**. My word, my *word*, is as solid as a rock. As solid as a rock? **Rocks are just rock. But my word is my bond. My words** ***are*** **money. My words** ***are*** **worth more than metal.** Because they have the **glint**.”**
> — Moist von Lipwig, _Making Money_
### Why This Quote is Relevant:
* **"Shared suspension of disbelief"**: This is the core of fiat currency. A dollar bill is just a piece of paper. Its value comes from our collective agreement to treat it as valuable and, crucially, our belief that everyone else will too. This is identical to the belief that sustains a Ponzi scheme until it collapses.
* **The Conman's Perspective**: Having Moist, a former fraudster, explain this is Pratchett's genius. Moist sees that legitimate finance uses the same psychological tricks as a con: confidence, trust, and presentation (the "glint" or "glamour").
* **"Worth more than metal"**: This directly contrasts fiat money (value based on trust and decree) with commodity money (like gold, which has intrinsic value). Moist argues that the *idea* of value is more powerful and useful than the value itself.
### The Broader Context in *Making Money*:
The entire plot of the book is an allegory for the transition from a gold standard to a fiat system. Moist must convince the cynical, practical citizens of Ankh-Morpork to trust paper money instead of solid gold. He does this not by showing them a vault full of gold, but by being a more convincing showman than the previous, corrupt bankers. He sells them on the *idea* of stability and trust.
### Another Pratchett Work to Consider: *Going Postal*
While not about fiat currency, his earlier book _Going Postal_ features Moist von Lipwig running the Post Office and famously reinventing the **"clacks"** (the Discworld's telegraph system). In it, he invents paper stamps and, more importantly, **financial derivatives** and **futures contracts**. The Patrician, Lord Vetinari, observes:
> **“You have undoubtedly **invented a whole new way of being wrong**.”**
This highlights Pratchett's view that complex financial instruments, much like fiat money, are abstract constructs that can be incredibly powerful and useful, but are also built on a foundation of belief and are therefore vulnerable to collapse if that belief vanishes.
**In summary:** Terry Pratchett didn't call fiat currency a fraud outright. Instead, with his characteristic wit and insight, he pointed out that **all money, whether metal or paper, is ultimately a form of trust and narrative.** The difference between a successful national currency and a Ponzi scheme isn't the underlying psychology, but the scale, governance, and (hopefully) the integrity of the institutions managing that collective belief.
The "glint in the eye" quote is the perfect Pratchettian expression of this idea.”
I’m a little terrified of AI now. I asked DeepSeek to give me a 7 point plan to combat the threat Bitcoin poses for a large governments Fiat money. And it came up with operation “choke point 2.0”!!!!
“Of course. Here is a seven-point plan from the perspective of a large government seeking to neutralize the perceived threat of Bitcoin.
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### **A Seven-Point Plan to Neutralize the Bitcoin Threat**
**Primary Objective:** To protect the state's monetary sovereignty, tax base, and capital controls by systematically eroding Bitcoin's utility, legitimacy, and value within the national economy, without resorting to a technically impossible outright ban on the protocol itself.
**1. Strangulation at the On/Off Ramps: Regulate the Exchanges**
* **Action:** Enact stringent, mandatory licensing for all cryptocurrency exchanges, wallet providers, and custody services operating within the country. Impose know-your-customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML), and counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) requirements that are even more burdensome than those for traditional banks.
* **Rationale:** This centralizes control at the critical junctures where national fiat currency (USD, EUR, etc.) converts to crypto and vice versa. By controlling these choke points, the government can monitor, track, and ultimately freeze or seize funds. It makes entering and exiting the Bitcoin ecosystem difficult and intimidating for the average citizen.
**2. Erode Utility and Foster Fear: Ban Its Use for Legal Commerce**
* **Action:** Pass legislation making it illegal for registered businesses to accept Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services. Impose severe financial penalties and potential criminal charges for non-compliance.
* **Rationale:** This attacks Bitcoin's core function as a medium of exchange. If citizens cannot use it to buy groceries, pay rent, or purchase goods, its practical utility plummets. It frames Bitcoin as an illegitimate, "shadow" asset, associating its use with illegality and creating fear among potential users.
**3. Target the Narrative: A Coordinated Propaganda Campaign**
* **Action:** Launch a sustained public relations campaign through state-influenced and friendly media outlets. The messaging will highlight Bitcoin's use for illicit activities (drugs, ransomware, terrorism), its environmental impact (energy consumption), and its volatility as a risk to "hard-working citizens' savings."
* **Rationale:** Shape public perception. By controlling the narrative, the government can stigmatize Bitcoin ownership, making it socially unpalatable. This isolates proponents and discourages widespread adoption by the cautious majority.
**4. Co-opt the Technology: Launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)**
* **Action:** Accelerate the development and launch of the nation's own Central Bank Digital Currency. Market it as having "all the benefits of crypto" (digital, fast, modern) with none of the downsides (stable, government-backed, legal tender).
* **Rationale:** This provides a government-approved alternative that satisfies the public's desire for digital money. A CBDC offers the state *enhanced* control, with programmability, direct tax collection, and perfect visibility into all transactions, directly countering the privacy and freedom Bitcoin offers.
**5. Isolate the Ecosystem: Pressure the Private Sector**
* **Action:** Apply informal pressure on major banks, payment processors (Visa, Mastercard), and tech companies (Apple, Google) to blacklist known crypto entities. Encourage them to prohibit cryptocurrency purchases on their credit cards and ban crypto-related applications from their app stores.
* **Rationale:** This silently severs Bitcoin's connections to the mainstream financial and technological infrastructure without needing a formal law. It further isolates Bitcoin holders and makes the ecosystem clunkier and less accessible.
**6. Punish and Example: Aggressive Tax Enforcement**
* **Action:** Empower the national tax authority with sweeping capabilities to track crypto transactions (via the regulated exchanges from Point 1). Pursue aggressive and highly publicized lawsuits against high-net-worth individuals and businesses for tax evasion related to cryptocurrency capital gains and unreported transactions.
* **Rationale:** This demonstrates the state's power and makes an example of those who try to circumvent its rules. It reinforces that while owning Bitcoin may not be illegal, *using* it to evade the state's claim on profits or transactions will be met with severe financial consequences.
**7. Internationalize the Strategy: Form a Coalition of Nations**
* **Action:** Use diplomatic channels and international forums (G20, IMF, FATF) to encourage other major economies to adopt a similar regulatory framework. Push for a global set of rules that makes crypto compliance standardized and inescapable.
* **Rationale:** Bitcoin is global. A patchwork of laws can be circumvented. A coordinated international front eliminates safe havens and ensures that no major economy offers a significantly more permissive environment, effectively creating a global financial firewall against Bitcoin's decentralized nature.
---
**Expected Outcome:** This multi-pronged strategy would not "kill" the Bitcoin network in a technical sense—it would likely persist in a censored, niche form. However, it would successfully cripple its adoption and utility within the nation's borders, rendering it a marginal asset rather than a credible threat to the state's monetary control. The goal is not to destroy the protocol but to **domesticate and neuter it** as a functional tool for citizens.”
