“Actually there is no material advancement in the USA. Material advancement means there is amply opportunity for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Superficially, it appears that in the USA there is sufficient provision of eating, sleeping, mating and defending, but actually nobody is safe even in his good apartment. I have got practical experience in New York. Several times my typewriter and tape recorders were stolen and the police could not take any action. There are many persons in the Bowery street, they have no shelter to live.
So if a certain fraction of the people is supposed to be very materially happy at the cost of others, that is not material advancement. Had it been so, then why there are so many persons confused and frustrated? So actually there is no material advancement here. Here, I am seeing practically that Gaurasundara, such a nice intelligent and qualified boy, he has to work hard 12 hours simply for his subsistence. I think there are many instances like that, so this is not material advancement. You can call it capitalist advancement, and the reaction for such advancement is communism. Such movement is simply suppressed in your country, but actually the reaction is this. So the Western type of civilization, industrialism, and capitalism, is no material advancement. It is material exploitation. When one gets the bare necessities of life, namely a peaceful home, sumptuous eating, necessary sex life, and feeling of security, then it is called material advancement. In the absence of such four preliminary necessities of life, it is not at all material advancement – just try to understand. According to Vedic civilization, a man is supposed to be rich when he has got sufficient grains and cows. Here we have neither sufficient grains nor cows, but you have got a sufficient quantity of papers only – falsely thinking that it is money. When there is some catastrophe, this bunch of papers will neither supply milk nor grain. They will be seen only and the man will starve.”
Here Srila Prabhupada clearly states that paper currency cannot provide you milk, fruits, vegetables, grains. And we are seeing nowadays how much inflation has become a problem. Srila Prabhupada speaks about this in his Morning walk conversations on 31 December 1973 in Los Angeles :
Prajäpati: Actually, I was concerned this morning about inflation. The government and the newspapers, they say the biggest problem today is inflation. From our Krsna conscious standpoint, how can we cure this problem of inflation?
Prabhupäda: It is very simple. Don’t accept paper currency. It must be gold or some metal worth. Just like one dollar, it must be worth one dollar metal. Then it is solved. But they want to cheat. How it can be solved? Because if I pay you one dollar, I must pay you value for one dollar. But it is the cheating process is going on, “I pay you one dollar, a piece of paper.” That’s all. So you accept cheating, and I also cheat. Government allows. So how the problem can be solved? It is cheating. But the government allows it as law. And you accept, I accept. Then how they can be solved, solution? This is the solution.
Prajäpati: In the economy itself there isn’t actually enough money to…, that’s even in the banks…
Prabhupäda: That is cheating. Therefore I say cheating. I have no money. I give you simply paper. I promise to pay a hundred dollars. What is the use of that promise if I have no money? But you want to be cheated, I cheat you. That’s all. You are satisfied with being cheated by me; so I take the advantage and I cheat you. I give you a paper. That’s all.
Bahuläsva: Real money is gold and silver?
Prabhupäda: Any… It must be valued. According to the market price, it must be valued, whatever it may be. Gold is taken because gold is the most valuable metal. A small piece of gold, it can carry two hundred dollars. But if I give you iron, then you have to bring another, what is called, bus, to carry it. [laughter] So, therefore, the gold standard is accepted everywhere. There is a standard price of gold, so when I pay you money, it must be…, carry the value in gold. That’s all. Then there is no inflation. The people want to be cheated, and people cheat. That’s all.
Hare rāma Hare rāma rāma rāma Hare Hare”