The elder Buffett, Congressman Howard Buffett, on honest money.

Monetary chaos was followed in Germany by a Hitler; in Russia by all-out Bolshevism; and in other nations by more or less tyranny. It can take a nation to communism without external influences. Suppose the frugal savings of the humble people of America continue to deteriorate in the next 10 years as they have in the past 10 years? Some day the people will almost certainly flock to "a man on horseback" who says he will stop inflation by price-fixing, wage-fixing, and rationing. When currency loses its exchange value the processes of production and distribution are demoralized.

This is from 1948. I'd argue that many people in America are no longer "humble," but rather they are victims of the government's fiat inflation legacy, though they share in the blame when they make a conscious choice to spend and retain debt well beyond their means.