To give their life worth, some arrogant economists/finance people think they do have control. But they don't.
What make you think that a gold standard would be intrinsic to the value of money?
Nowadays the value of money is represented by peoples debt, i.e. work that will be done in the future.
Printing money just lets the government increase inflation. It doesn't destroy value, it just "steals" from the people, espacially those with much savings.
Don't forget, the dollar in your pocket is just a piece of paper.
EDIT: Yes, it is all a con job. One day we will realise.
Money used to be like this before the Gold Standard was removed. When that happened, money lost its true value. Off course, money people could get creative then.
Now the whole system relies on the population simply "believing" that fictional and unlimited entities (dollars) are valuable.
Side Note: The reason why humanity has chosen gold to obsess over as an ultimate form of money, is not relevant to the fact that it has been, is, and always will be. See: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-china-and-russia-are-b..., for one of numerous reports of governments buying up as much gold as they can.