Flutterby™! : Cross of Gold

I'm not generally a fan of "the gold standard". Especially since gold now has an industrial use in electronics, rather than, as it was historically, just being a shiny metal with curious properties, tying currency value to keeping an important commodity from the market seems foolish. But I understand some of the arguments both ways, and think that Terry Pratchett's recent novel Making Money is a worthwhile exploration of the value of currency.

But here's another piece that's worth a read, and if anything can make me a fan of a position, William Jennings Bryan opposing it is a good start: William Jennings Bryan’s 1896 “Cross of Gold” speech:

You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard. I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.

Also worth reading because of the way in which political oratory has changed over a century.