Whatever else dollars might be, they are not money. They are debt instruments. They say so right on themselves, in big all-caps letters, right at the top: "FEDE

Whatever else dollars might be, they are not money. They are debt instruments. They say so right on themselves, in big all-caps letters, right at the top: "FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE". A "note" is a security that obligates repayment of debt. Money is the thing that would be used to repay the debt. Whether we like it or not, willing or not, regardless of our judgement of their ability to repay the debt, literally almost individual, institution, and nation in the world is a creditor to the fed.