Why do some people think the gold standard is better than the current system?

In the 1700 and 1800's Spain had a gold mine in Chile and shipped back what seemed like limitless amounts of gold. They minted so many gold coins that the value of gold tanked and Spain defaulted on foreign loans 7 times in 100 years. They eventually lost their power and now Spain's economy is almost completely tourism based. Anything can have value and lose value be it paper, gold, plutonium or what have you. What if the dollar had been backed by silver? Until it tanked, nobody saw it coming. So why are some people still so adamant that a gold backed currency is needed? Where are they getting this idea from?