Hacker News Reader

Gold and many other useful commodities are valuable with or without fighter jets backing them.

Yes, but not transferable.

Commodity money has been a thing in many times in history.

Why isn't it today?

In fact it is in many rural lawless areas where there is effectively no state, like gold mining regions of Brazil/Guyana/west africa

Fiat dominates in strong nation states because in part everyone needs it for taxes.