Interesting post. I think you've got a good grasp of what is going on. My thoughts on the USD is that, it's only a Ponzi if the FED are 'printing' more than they say they are (Fraud). Otherwise, transparency makes it legit. 'Money' nowadays (since the gold standard) in all it's forms is not backed by anything...But it does have the trust of the people, which is all something needs to have value..