This Piece of Paper (2026)

Merriam-Webster identifies “fuck up,” a phrase whose first known use dates back to 1863, as a transitive verb meaning “to ruin or spoil especially through stupidity or carelessness.” Ergo, “This piece of paper has fucked up the world” then means, in reference to the subject piece of paper, “The U.S. dollar has ruined and spoiled, through stupidity and carelessness, the world.”

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that governments, central banks, and the banking industry have “fucked up the world with this piece of paper.” Since 1971, these institutions have sustained, through policy and practice, a monetary and financial system increasingly dominated by credit, debt, and fiat currencies—that is, money whose supply has no fixed upper limit. Historical experience shows that a persistently expanding fiat money supply can significantly contribute to the erosion of a currency’s value—its purchasing power. Is it any wonder, then, that the dollar, as a fiat currency, has lost more than 85% of its purchasing power since 1971?

At first, this work may catch your attention because of its bold statement in reference to the world’s primary reserve currency. But perhaps this work will stay with you if you further considered and explored: “If this piece of paper fucked up the world—what is the solution?”