monikaco on Nostr: The Cities of Vanishing Wealth Trading in Shadows, Speaking in Light A poetic ...
The Cities of Vanishing Wealth
Trading in Shadows, Speaking in Light
A poetic reflection on transits—woven into mystery, in the mystery.
“In Chao,” Marco Polo tells the Khan, “a merchant can buy a caravan of horses with a single slip. A spice trader, burdened with nothing but a scroll of inked characters, may cross the desert and return richer than before. The city thrives not on metal, but on belief.”
The Khan listens, tapping his fingers on the lacquered armrest of his throne. “And what happens,” he asks, “when the belief fades?”
“Then,” Marco replies, “the city finds itself full of paper and empty of trust. At first, the officials assured the people that each note could be redeemed for gold, for silk, for silver stacked high in the imperial vaults. But the scribes began to write more notes than there were vaults to hold them, and the markets filled with wealth that existed only in the ink of a promise. The more paper they printed, the less it was worth.
Keep reading :
https://www.monikabravo.blog/p/the-cities-of-vanishing-wealth
Trading in Shadows, Speaking in Light
A poetic reflection on transits—woven into mystery, in the mystery.
“In Chao,” Marco Polo tells the Khan, “a merchant can buy a caravan of horses with a single slip. A spice trader, burdened with nothing but a scroll of inked characters, may cross the desert and return richer than before. The city thrives not on metal, but on belief.”
The Khan listens, tapping his fingers on the lacquered armrest of his throne. “And what happens,” he asks, “when the belief fades?”
“Then,” Marco replies, “the city finds itself full of paper and empty of trust. At first, the officials assured the people that each note could be redeemed for gold, for silk, for silver stacked high in the imperial vaults. But the scribes began to write more notes than there were vaults to hold them, and the markets filled with wealth that existed only in the ink of a promise. The more paper they printed, the less it was worth.
Keep reading :
https://www.monikabravo.blog/p/the-cities-of-vanishing-wealth