Americans know little or nothing about fiat monetary system

Fiat dollars allow us to live beyond our means, but only for so long. History shows that when the destruction of monetary value becomes rampant, nearly everyone suffers and the economic and political structure becomes unstable. Spendthrift politicians may love a system that generates more and more money for their special interest projects, but the rest of us have good reason to be concerned about our monetary system and the future value of our dollars.
--Ron Paul (9/12/2003)

You can read the entire article from LewRockwell.com, published five years ago. Still very pertinent today.

Also, you can hear an interview here, with Dr. Paul, from KLAA, AM-830 from Los Angeles.