Gilligan Goes to Iraq

To quote the Lord of Truth, "OK, this person really has too much time on his hands. I have no idea who Ludwig von Mises is, or why he has an Institute, but the fact that this author can tie Gilligan's Island to the war in Iraq is pretty impressive." I'd have to agree, although I'm not sure I understand the whole thing...

Gilligan's Island is now out on DVD, reawakening the unanswered questions of childhood: why does the Skipper let Gilligan help with anything when he knows he'll just screw it up? Why did the movie star take a day cruise in an evening gown? Why did two of the richest people in the world board a dinky boat with the hoi polloi instead of leasing a private yacht? And why do any of the other stranded castaways treat the millionaire's government money as valuable while stuck on an island where no such government can enforce its value?

Because it's just a dumb TV show.

But that last question stuck with me. Would fiat dollars be treated as valuable without the government around to enforce its fiat? My impression in childhood was that money belonged to the government, was inextricably bound to the government, and we, the citizens of the government, were just using the money "on loan" so to speak. This impression came not only from the look of the money itself, but from American history, as children's cartoons had communicated it to me. (One Scooby Doo episode ends with the hidden "treasure" turning out to be a case full of hoarded and now worthless Confederate dollars.)

That's about where I checked out, but maybe someone else will enjoy it. What was really scary is that I recalled the Scooby-Doo episode he references.