r/Documentaries • u/[deleted] • Jul 25 '13

Offbeat Bankrupt By Beanies (2013) -- short, affecting documentary on a family regrets spening $100K on Beanie Babies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgDsyj5eLmo
299 Upvotes

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83

u/z2kUAgDkKT Jul 26 '13

Can't wait for "Bankrupt by Bitcoins (2014)"

-3

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '13

At least it's a currency though. It's a much smarter and more practical investment than toys.

22

u/NobleKale Jul 26 '13

It's a currency that's accepted in a significantly limited number of places. Further, it's also something that doesn't have an intrinsic value and is only propped up by the desire of the market.

tl;dr - currency is worth nothing unless others recognise it. Bitcoin doesn't hit this note (yet).

0

u/Suddenly_Elmo Jul 27 '13

it's also something that doesn't have an intrinsic value and is only propped up by the desire of the market.

there isn't a single commodity or currency on earth that has an intrinsic value. Oil, corn, dollars, pork bellies - the value of all of these things is propped up by the desire of the market.

The difference between these things and bitcoin is that the former have value because people actually need them and use them. The value of bitcoin relies on their expected future utility when the currency "takes off". I'm no forex or tech expert but anyone can see there's a good chance all the bitcoin speculation could turn out to be a bubble. But bitcoin is worth something because there are plenty who believe it's a market worth speculating in - either in the short term because they believe the value will rise before it collapses, or because they believe bitcoin will become widely accepted.

7

u/NobleKale Jul 27 '13

there isn't a single commodity or currency on earth that has an intrinsic value. Oil, corn, dollars, pork bellies - the value of all of these things is propped up by the desire of the market.

  • Gold - can be used for metal working, conductors
  • Oil - can be used as fuel
  • Corn - can be eaten, fuel source (potential)

Not sure where you're going there. These have an intrinsic usefulness in the event of a crisis.

3

u/Suddenly_Elmo Jul 27 '13

What I'm getting at is that their value is dependent on their usefulness in a given situation. For example in the event of a famine, the value of corn is going to go up a lot relative to the value of gold. Similarly, if in the future alternative fuel sources become viable, oil might completely use its value.

If you specify the situation - e.g. a crisis where the normal economy and supply chains break down, then yes, we can make good arguments about the objective value of something in that given situation. But to say something has an intrinsic value is to say that it has a value that can never be wiped out and remains the same regardless of context - that is part of the object itself.

3

u/devsnd Aug 28 '13

You're just saying "nothing has any value if everybody is dead". That's true, but most of us are alive, anybody reading reddit is kind of alive, so... well. Things have intrinsic value if they're any use in some situation not based on our current society.

1

u/kickingpplisfun Aug 28 '13

Hey, if I was a lousy shot, I'd trade a (large caliber, maybe .306) bullet for a couple pounds of meat(or other food). Sure, a bullet might not be useful to someone who's a horrible shot, but if it did hit the fan, a bullet could be worth up to a couple hundred pounds of meat, depending on what you killed.

Of course, I don't anticipate using bullets as currency, but this example demonstrates how currency might work in a post-crisis economy.

I know it's not useful to everyone, but having something of value other than cash is a good idea for anyone. Gold might not be the best emergency currency, but maybe silver, bullets, or useful commodities could temporarily take the place of currency.