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# Shmoney Dance
- URL: https://pulpconversations.com/shmoney-dance/
- Published: 2025-10-28T21:43:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-24T18:36:18.000Z
- Description: 1971 - 2025
- Author: Vinay Gupta
- Tags: Podcast, #Migrated-1787171093388, #Import 2026-08-19 16:25

#### Sh•mon•ey Dance

/shˈmənē/ /dan(t)s/

## Gold as parity

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/67/42/67423e8e-d1c5-4288-976a-2d7a9b94e567/content/images/2026/08/cd51335f-a1d3-498c-a786-b2b4bbd1accc_400x309.gif)

In 1971, I had an uncle who worked at Mickey D’s at the minimum wage of $1.60 - by month’s end he earned $280.

Now let’s assume I went *Back To The Future* and challenged him for employee of the month, but I demanded payment in **gold.** At the end of the month neither of us won - by fluke some dope called Meathead came out on top because his father-in-law pulled some strings.

Anyway my old-school uncle asked me to put our collective monthly wage in a shoebox for my future daughter. Fast forward to today …

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## … that shoebox would be worth $32,280.

My 8 gold coins plus $280 bucks from my recently departed Unc. 🍻 x 😵

🚨 In other words, keeping the gold gave me more than 100x in purchasing power due to dollar debasement. **One hour of 1971 min. wage labor equals $182.86 in gold** vs. today’s Federal min. wage of $7.25 - effectively zero, compared to the price of real-world goods, if indexed to gold.

**USD**: the king of convenience, liquidity, and medium-term stability. But it’s a leaky bucket. Diluted by monetary policy, debased by deficit spending, and blown-up by occasional bailouts (👋🏽 Covid).

**Gold**: Great for stashing 1971’s summer employment but awful for buying pizza or paying rent. And of course: safekeeping, insuring, and moving gold around is not risk-free. 🏴‍☠️

## Bitcoin: enter the 21st-century challenger

While gold offers us a universal yardstick, bitcoin’s line looks like an [Orange Pill Coffee ](https://drink.orangepillcoffee.com/substack?ref=pulpconversations.com)customer’s EKG. Volatile like a roller coaster but even then, **a better store of value than gold for almost a decade**.

### Get your mind right

The real “parity” isn’t dollars, but time and labor relative to a constant. Rethink your salary entirely. The dollar is a unit of account for managing short-term life, but gold and bitcoin are the measuring sticks for preserving and accreting value.