For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs

Bondholders were being paid in dollars that had little value. Holders of Confederate bonds were wiped out. Gold- and silver-backed dollars were pulled out of the economy as savings. The result was inflation, which people in debt loved but which devastated the creditors.

That armor was as strong as ever. The Coinage Act of 1873 pleased bondholders and bankers, the well-to-do, by making gold the monetary standard, completely eliminating silver as a standard. But farmers and working people, debtors of all types—“those who labor under all the hardships of life,” in Madison’s words—were infuriated by the “Crime of ’73,

So to protect you from the crime syndicates, the government makes you pay tribute for the privileges of working, going into business, or staying on your own property. It dictates the terms of your relationships with customers and friends. It finances your competitors with your money. And it can even enslave you in its army. What could the Mafia do