Apparently, a pound is made of metal (that is, it doen't say the same on
coin as notes); but you are right: the phrase only made sense when the pound
was tied to something. Now, as the pound note has the same status as a
cheque, the only difference is that this particular cheque has the British
Government as the issuer, as with war bonds, gold as an underpinning
standard,etc, etc.
So you know you can rest in the knowledge that "Money" is every bit as
"solid and dependable" as anything in the universe, albeit on a somwhat
shorter timescale than some things. So, Banks really are maintaining reality
for us, just like those stuffy old bankers in "Mary Poppins". And that's why
Banks are made to look as though they hold the sky up. And whilst ever they
exist, who's to say they are not actually holding the sky up?
We'll never dare to find out, and so, we must continue to make the
Sacrifices.
Hope this has reassured those who doubted.
regards,
ppl
----- Original Message -----
From: "Horse" <horse@wasted.demon.nl>
To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
Sent: 03 November 2000 23:42
Subject: Re: MD Pirsig's letter - A response
> Hi All
>
> On 1 Nov 2000, at 14:24, Richard Budd wrote:
>
>
> > To Struan a five pound note is more valuable than five dollar bill, to
us, it's the reverse.
>
>
>
> Of more interest in this case would be to walk into the Bank of England
and demand that
> they give you your 5 pounds This is because on a 5 pound note there is a
message from the
> Bank of England saying "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of 5
pounds" - I
> don't know if there is an equivalent on a 5 dollar bill - but this would
imply that what you are
> demanding is not the same as what you have in your hand. Also, as the
pound is no longer
> supported by the gold standard you will not be given the equivalent in
gold.
> So what the hell is 5 "POUNDS" and where does it exist if you can legally
demand it.
>
> Perhaps one of you very clever chaps that sees the universe as a very
rational, scientific
> and logical place (with obviously no place for mysticism or other such
hippy shit) would be
> good enough to give us poor gormless gumby Pirsigians the benefit of your
incredible
> wisdom.
>
> Humbly yours
>
>
> Horse
>
>
> MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
> Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
> MD Queries - horse@wasted.demon.nl
>
> To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
> http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
>
>
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - horse@wasted.demon.nl
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:00:50 BST