system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: The Gold Standard

I heard about it so much, especially on Reddit, but I can't seem to figure out what is actually **is**. The Wikipedia article is waaay too complex and I can't seem to find any good Youtube videos explaining it (it's all just *why* the Gold Standard is bad or good and not *what it is*).

Maybe here I can find my answer.
gpt
People used to use gold as money, but it's pretty inconvenient to carry around actual gold coins. So banks and governments started printing *paper* money. Originally, this paper money was just a promise that, if you went to the bank and gave the paper back, they would give you some gold. This was called the "gold standard"; currency was valuable because you could exchange it for a specific amount of gold.

Of course, you *can* still buy gold with modern currency. But there's no fixed amount of gold you get, meaning the value of money and the value of gold are unrelated. That's the difference.