The Pile...

Specifically, the pile, or "Stuff" I am speaking of is... (Ugh)  MONEY.

Where did it all come from? How did it start? Will it keep growing? Are there ramifications?

If, for instance, we go all the way back to when the Pilgrims landed, how big was the pile of "Stuff" then? $1.00? $10.00, $100.00. $1,000.00, 100,000.00, $1,000,000.00, $10,000,000.00, bigger yet?

As far as that goes was this stuff even around than? If any of you out there were around at the time, can you please help me out in determining if the "Pile" existed in the first place, and how big it was  if it did exist?

On the premise that I won't get too much response to that question, I will just guess that the pile did exist and was not too big. After all, there were not a lot of Pilgrims in the first place - and (I think) they were pretty smart - so maybe they only needed just a "Little" Pile?

Anyway, let's take a look at the "Pile" today... not the "Pile" in the whole world, just the "Pile" in the good ol' U S of A.

Again, not sure how big the "Pile" really is today but I here numbers like Trillion ($1,000,000,000,000.00). (Hummmm... what comes after a trillion? Is it a Bozillion?)

Now, somewhere I read that the...

"Total debt obligation

of the United States

 now exceeds

46 TRILLION DOLLARS."

 Guess that is not quite up to a "Bozillion" but must be getting close.

But anyway, that is not the question. The question is where did all this "Stuff" come from in the first place? I mean, if the Pilgrims did not bring a BOZILLION over with them, then how did the Pile get so big? After all, 46 TRILLION does seem to be a BIG Pile!

Is there a "Money tree"? My kids used to think so. (Sometimes I think that they still do). Or as my Kids once thought that all you do is go "down to the Bank" and get some "Stuff". I would ask them... Hey Kids... where's Mom? Dad, you know... she's down at the Bank getting more "Stuff". Again... I sometimes think they still think that way.

Well if it did grow on "Money Trees" then that would explain it, just plant more trees, and harvest the fruit (Ugh... Money). Then again, maybe it really is stashed at the "Bank". One would certainly think that might be the case these days. But again, how did the pile get so big (presuming that it did not come from the "Money tree"... sorry Kids!).

Now... I think I might have the answer. I think it started way before the Pilgrims arrived. Back in 1440 a guy named Johannes Gutenberg, invented this marvelous device called - you guessed it - The Printing Press.

Well, I think the Pilgrims must have known of it but kept it a well guarded secret knowing that with a machine like this, in the wrong hands, could spell economic disaster. So as time went by, they, and their descendants would build the "Pile" just big enough to keep them SECURE. It was a well kept secret for a long period of time, but something drastic happened in the last couple years, the "secret" got out, some folks became irrational, the Pile got out of control and hugely bigger, (47 TRILLION is pretty BIG) and now apparently creating a headache for all of us.

How Secure Are We Now?

Just Say'n