Chapter Content
Okay, so, like, let's dive into this whole, uh, financial amusement park idea, right? So, there's this guy, Jakob Fugger, back in the day, and he's, like, twenty-six, right? And he gets this chance to make a deal with this Archduke Sigmund, who's, you know, kind of a big spender. And, well, everyone else is, like, not really wanting to lend him money, but Fugger sees an opportunity.
He, like, loans him some cash in exchange for silver, sells the silver for a profit, and, boom, he's in with this powerful family, right? It's a smart move. Then, the archduke needs way more money, and Fugger's there again. And this, like, really launches him into the big leagues. He's, like, willing to take risks, but only if, you know, he's getting paid for it.
And over time, this guy's money, like, seriously shaped history. Kings, emperors, explorers, everyone was coming to him. I mean, Ferdinand Magellan? Fugger was there. King Charles I? Fugger was there. Pope Leo X? You bet. And, you know, Fugger was even using, like, fancy accounting methods for the time, double-entry bookkeeping and all that.
By the time he, you know, passed away, he was worth, like, a crazy amount of money, like, $400 billion in today's money. Some people even say he was the richest guy ever. But, you know, here’s the thing, he was, like, totally focused on money. I mean, he didn't really have friends, his family life wasn't great. He was just all about stacking up the cash. And, well, he knew it. He was, like, never gonna retire because he always wanted more. And that's kind of the point. This whole money game is, like, something we can see even now.
So, to really get how money affects us today, we gotta, like, go back and see how it all started, right? I mean, it used to be, like, physical, tangible stuff. Now it's, like, more abstract. It's gone from visible to mostly invisible, which, like, creates these challenges, you know?
So, where does money come from? It’s, like, a big debate. The old idea is that people used to just barter, trade stuff directly, but that was a hassle. So, then they invented money to make it easier. But some people, like, don't really buy that.
Anyway, it doesn't really matter. Money was clearly, like, super important for society's growth. I mean, they found these tablets from, like, way back that were used to track debts. Some people even think that writing, like, started because of the need to track money.
And money has taken on all sorts of forms. There was barley, cowrie shells, even the simple shells that were popular in the 90s. Eventually, people started using metal coins, which were, like, a big deal because they were hard to fake and easy to carry around. So, up until then, money was, like, a real, physical thing, you know? It was, like, barley, shells, precious metals. And then, this guy, Kublai Khan, comes along and starts mass-producing paper money.
Marco Polo, you know, that guy, wrote about it. The Khan, like, made sure everyone used it, or else. And that was a huge leap. Now, you had this piece of paper with basically no value that was, like, valuable because the government said so. It spread around the world because it made things easier.
Then the Bank of England, like, printed banknotes as receipts for gold. And things got even more interesting. They started printing more notes than they had gold, which is called fractional-reserve banking. That works, like, most of the time, unless everyone wants their gold back at once. Then you get a bank run, like the one that happened with Silicon Valley Bank.
For centuries, people thought that as long as paper money was, like, connected to gold, everything was fine. Up until the early 20th century, most countries used the gold standard. But then, the Great Depression hit, people panicked, and everyone wanted their gold. So, in 1931, the Bank of England dropped the gold standard. And then, in 1933, FDR did the same thing in the US.
And those decisions, like, completely changed everything. Now, money wasn't tied to anything physical. It was, like, just based on, well, imagination. That led to all these new financial tools, which just exploded with computers and the internet. Now we're in this modern money game, and it's all, like, bits and bytes.
You know, Fugger and Rockefeller had to use, like, paper ledgers, but today most financial wealth is on computers. Cash is, like, becoming less and less common. Using cash is now, like, seen as a sign of, like, old systems or even illegal stuff.
The modern money game is, like, a digital world where money is just numbers on a screen. And when you think about it, it's true. It's all, like, just numbers. And the reason the system works is that you trust that those numbers are real and that they're worth something.
The modern money game is, like, well, a game. The old game was, like, boring banks. The new game is, like, an amusement park, right? It's, like, designed to draw you in. The companies spend millions to make their apps addicting. They're, like, targeting your desire for, you know, fun and excitement.
But, you know, a lot of these investments and financial instruments are, like, a trap. You hear these things, like, "My course will make you rich!" Or, "This cryptocurrency is gonna be huge!" Or, "This investment is a sure thing!" Or, "You'll regret missing out on this!"
But you gotta remember to focus on what's real. The simple, boring stuff is still the best way to build the life you want. You don't have to ride every ride or play every game. You don't even have to be better than anyone else. It's not a competition. You just have to stick to the basics and keep playing.