Clarence dollars.

Clarence is a new cartoon on the Cartoon Network that I've managed avoiding quite well until yesterday when I chanced to notice in passing the main character handing out his own version of dollar bills at his school. That got my interest. As the cartoon developed I realized, hey, this is actually some degree of sophisticated insight to economic reality here. It could serve as intro to college level macro economics 101. It shows how paper currency takes the place of metal-backed currency, how something fake stands for something real and how that currency is manipulated to the point of being worthless, that is, how by manipulation currency becomes worth less. Therefore how your behavior is controlled.  The reality of faith-based M1 type currency is revealed when Clarence dollars are traded for real things, three Clarence dollars for a notebook, now Clarence dollars have meaning in the real world contained in the school, the next scene the whole school is trading Clarence dollars for everything imaginable. Later the unreality of faith-based currency is revealed through manipulation.

But now Clarence dollars behave as real dollars.

The episode begins with dissatisfaction with the present "buddy star" system of rewards for good deeds and grades, and de-merits for misdeeds that leave some students behind, namely Clarence. He devises his own system based on his own sense of behavior worthy of reward. He passes out his own hand-drawn currency for ordinary things, like wearing matching clothing, and even for negative things like a boy picking his nose and another wiping his butt.

Demand for Clarence dollars increases throughout the school presenting a problem for production. They can no longer be hand drawn, they must be copied. Thus the value of currency as individual pieces of art is destroyed by superabundance and now the currency becomes diluted.

The kill joy straight kid depicted with a square head and with the most buddy stars explains to Clarence the nonsense of Clarence dollars must stop.

"Sorry, Jeff, money talks."

"What does that even mean?"

Clarence holds Clarence dollar in front of his face and changes his voice,
"It means, I ain't going anywhere. Clarence dollars are here to stay."

That night Clarence dreams of swimming in Clarence dollars in the style of Scrooge McDuck. Swimming through dollars, the bills form into a threatening monster, he sees his school nemesis the petty bully school odd ball using a Clarence dollar for a snack machine purchase and wakes up within the dream shaken with fright and admonished by his dream mom, then wakes up for real actually frightened by his creation.

Clarence goes to school and finds the whole place in chaos. All comity is gone as students and teachers fight over the excess of Clarence dollars. Square head Jeff explains the whole school is gone crazy over Clarence dollars, he must do something.

Square head Jeff still protecting the buddy star system explains Clarence must end it the only way possible by taking the excess to extreme and flooding the school with Clarence dollars, diluting their value completely rendering them worthless by copying them in bulk to destroy their face value utterly until nobody cares to have them. The episode ends with a single boy at home on his bed rolling in Clarence dollars, well pleased, the last child, slowest of all on the uptake, last to amass his fortune, childishly unaware his pile of dollars have become worthless.

Not bad for a cartoon.

Besides explaining how real currency works on thread bare evanescence of faith in it, by faith in the governing body behind it, the show likewise explains scrip of the sort used by companies and by military bases overseas. It is just paper that represents the same thing that money represents, but has no value whatsoever outside its miniature contained system, in this case, the school.

It also explains the phenomena such as Pokemon trading cards, the actual currency of prepubescents who have little use for government currency, their real-world value dependent of an overarching real government currency.

The whole episode is available here at yourepeat.com if you care to view it. There are adorable and amusing touches throughout. I was impressed with this episode.