--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But if Smith was right, and gold and…" description: "\"“But if Smith was right, and gold and silver became money through the natural workings of the market completely independently of governments, then woul..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f21/david-graeber-4667_gold-and-silver_but-if-smith-was-right-and-gold-and-silv_74206.png" --- # But if Smith was right, and gold and silver became money… ![“But if Smith was right, and gold and silver became money through the natural workings of the market completely independently of governments, then wouldn't the obvious thing be to just grab control of the gold and silver mines?” quote by David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f21/david-graeber-4667_gold-and-silver_but-if-smith-was-right-and-gold-and-silv_74206.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f21/david-graeber-4667_gold-and-silver_but-if-smith-was-right-and-gold-and-silv_74206.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f21/david-graeber-4667_gold-and-silver_but-if-smith-was-right-and-gold-and-silv_74206.png) > ““But if Smith was right, and gold and silver became money through the natural workings of the market completely independently of governments, then wouldn't the obvious thing be to just grab control of the gold and silver mines?”” [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If commodity money emerges naturally, the logical response would be to seize the sources of that money, exposing the tension between market forces and political power. **In simple terms:** Seizing commodity sources reveals power dynamics. Key Takeaway Control of money sources is a political act. Themes economic theory political economy resource control market vs state property rights Mood critical analytical skeptical Type philosophical political economic When to use this quote - policy debates on monetary reform - discussions of resource nationalism - analysis of historical gold standard - contemporary crypto mining controversies Key Concepts commodity money government authority resource ownership economic power Practical Applications - policy design for resource governance - strategic planning for resource acquisition Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean for a market to be truly independent of government? - How does control of a commodity affect its role as money? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Control Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control-gold-965714/) [Gold and silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold-and-silver/) [Governments Wouldn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governments-wouldn-965715/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Silver Mines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silver-mines-965716/) [Silver Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silver-money-965718/) [Smith Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smith-right-965717/) ## Related quotes > [“Myth: USDollar is money. Fact: Gold & Silver are money. USDollar is legal tender/debt brought down to low parcels for spending purposes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziad-k-abdelnour/myth-usdollar-is-money-fact-gold-silver-are-money-usdollar-is-legal/) [Ziad K. Abdelnour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziad-k-abdelnour/) > [To a proprietor of a mine, the silver money is a produce with which he buys what he has occasion for. To all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-say/to-a-proprietor-of-a-mine-the-silver-money-is-a-produce-with-which-he/) [Jean-Baptiste Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-say/) > ['Gold is the money of kings; silver is the money of gentlemen; barter is the money of peasants; but debt is the money of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-guzaldo/gold-is-the-money-of-kings-silver-is-the-money-of-gentlemen-barter-is-2/) [Andrew Guzaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-guzaldo/) > [Civilized countries generally adopt gold or silver or both as money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/civilized-countries-generally-adopt-gold-or-silver-or-both-as-money/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [There was once a merchant who was so rich that he might have paved the whole street, and a little alley besides, with silver…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-andersen/there-was-once-a-merchant-who-was-so-rich-that-he-might-have-paved/) [Hans Christian Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-andersen/) > [As a precious metal, silver is also money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/as-a-precious-metal-silver-is-also-money/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [“Love God's people, let not strangers draw away the flock, for if you slumber in your slothfulness and disdainful pride, or worse still, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/love-god-s-people-let-not-strangers-draw-away-the-flock-for-if-you/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“A third group of people see the highest felicity in the abundance of property and the extension of ease. After all, property is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ghazali/a-third-group-of-people-see-the-highest-felicity-in-the-abundance-of/) [Al-Ghazali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ghazali/) > [It is that fery person for all the orld, as just as you will desire; and seven hundred pounds of moneys, and gold, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/it-is-that-fery-person-for-all-the-orld-as-just-as-you-will-desire/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Bell, book and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/bell-book-and-candle-shall-not-drive-me-back-when-gold-and-silver/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-go-now-to-the-halls-of-waiting-to-sit-beside-my-fathers-until-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When I was on tour, people would say "We don't need a value-based currency, we can go out and buy gold and silver with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-von-nothaus/when-i-was-on-tour-people-would-say-we-don-t-need-a-value-based/) [Bernard von NotHaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-von-nothaus/) > [And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/and-when-they-had-finished-it-they-brought-the-rest-of-the-money/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [Today at school I will learn to read at once; then tomorrow I will begin to write, and the day after tomorrow to cipher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-collodi/today-at-school-i-will-learn-to-read-at-once-then-tomorrow-i-will/) [Carlo Collodi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-collodi/) > [All metallics are neutrals. So it is absolutely fine to mix gold and silver; you just want it to look like it has purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-london/all-metallics-are-neutrals-so-it-is-absolutely-fine-to-mix-gold-and/) [Stacy London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-london/) ## More by David Graeber > [People don't have an ongoing relation unless it's a form of debt because everything is an exchange, so ongoing relationships are incomplete exchanges, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/people-don-t-have-an-ongoing-relation-unless-it-s-a-form-of-debt/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [I would like, then, to end by putting in a good word for the non-industrious poor. At least they aren’t hurting anyone. 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It cannot be overemphasized that in a small community,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/the-criminalization-of-debt-then-was-the-criminalization-of-the-very/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [If you imagine that everything is an exchange, then we're supposed to just transact and walk away. If we haven't walked away and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/if-you-imagine-that-everything-is-an-exchange-then-we-re-supposed-to/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [“As Pierre Bourdieu was later to point out in describing a similar economy of trust in contemporary Algeria: it’s quite possible to turn honor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/as-pierre-bourdieu-was-later-to-point-out-in-describing-a-similar/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [ \[A\] great embarrassing fact… haunts all attempts to represent the market as the highest form of human freedom: that historically, impersonal, commercial markets originate… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/a-great-embarrassing-fact-haunts-all-attempts-to-represent-the-market/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [“As the events of 2011 reveal, the age of revolutions is by no means over. The human imagination stubbornly refuses to die. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/as-the-events-of-2011-reveal-the-age-of-revolutions-is-by-no-means/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [We need each other to do things that we can't do for ourselves. If we are intimately connected with each other, we just give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/we-need-each-other-to-do-things-that-we-can-t-do-for-ourselves-if-we/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) [Explore all 106 David Graeber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) ## More Gold and silver quotes > [All metallics are neutrals. So it is absolutely fine to mix gold and silver; you just want it to look like it has purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-london/all-metallics-are-neutrals-so-it-is-absolutely-fine-to-mix-gold-and/) [Stacy London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-london/) > [Today at school I will learn to read at once; then tomorrow I will begin to write, and the day after tomorrow to cipher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-collodi/today-at-school-i-will-learn-to-read-at-once-then-tomorrow-i-will/) [Carlo Collodi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-collodi/) > [And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/and-when-they-had-finished-it-they-brought-the-rest-of-the-money/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [When I was on tour, people would say "We don't need a value-based currency, we can go out and buy gold and silver with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-von-nothaus/when-i-was-on-tour-people-would-say-we-don-t-need-a-value-based/) [Bernard von NotHaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-von-nothaus/) > [I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-go-now-to-the-halls-of-waiting-to-sit-beside-my-fathers-until-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Bell, book and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/bell-book-and-candle-shall-not-drive-me-back-when-gold-and-silver/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [It is that fery person for all the orld, as just as you will desire; and seven hundred pounds of moneys, and gold, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/it-is-that-fery-person-for-all-the-orld-as-just-as-you-will-desire/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“A third group of people see the highest felicity in the abundance of property and the extension of ease. After all, property is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ghazali/a-third-group-of-people-see-the-highest-felicity-in-the-abundance-of/) [Al-Ghazali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ghazali/) > [“Love God's people, let not strangers draw away the flock, for if you slumber in your slothfulness and disdainful pride, or worse still, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/love-god-s-people-let-not-strangers-draw-away-the-flock-for-if-you/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/discovery-of-gold-and-silver-in-america-the-extirpation-enslavement/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“While under the Spanish flag, the Crown rigorously controlled the number of slaves allowed into Cuba and charged the settlers a 20% royalty for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-the-exciting-story-of-cuba/while-under-the-spanish-flag-the-crown-rigorously-controlled-the/) [Captain Hank Bracker, The Exciting Story of Cuba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-the-exciting-story-of-cuba/) > [It was important that people come to value light as we value gold, silver, paintings, objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-turrell/it-was-important-that-people-come-to-value-light-as-we-value-gold/) [James Turrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-turrell/) > [“Mindfulness is the bedrock of all spiritual practice. 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