> Fiat is backed by weapons. The same weapons that defend your house from other countries and force you to give up half your salary

This is a very American view of fiat (and governmental role in general). It's a logic that only works if you're talking about the strongest military and associated country out of all alternatives, and at this point it falls apart. How do weapons protect the value of the Angolan kwanza or the Singaporean dollar? Neither of these countries could do anything militarily if a sizeable number of countries did not support their value.