@andarchy as simple & articulate as you are, due to the nature of this topic, the average person would still be confused. Heck , probably 90% or even more , of the human population doesn't even fully understand or even grasp the current monetary system but blindly follows & knows the value of the papermoney in their pockets.
However, I would just like to point out the example you used dollar being backed up by gold.. Nixon in the early 70s took the dollar away from gold. The dollar has value not because its backed up by gold , but because its tied up to oil., hence the "petrodollar" system. Oil, The one jurassic commodity all nations' & industries' source of energy, can only be purchased thru the dollar that's why it has an enourmous value & power that goes with it.. But that's another complex & confusing topic as well ..
But this is another excellent post you shared for us to understand steemit better @andarchy. thanks! ;)