I got an "important" Email and bought gold bullion from an outfit on the internet so my family could survive the coming financial crash. Aren't I smart?
Oh, wait a minute..., no. No I did not buy gold on the internet. Or anywhere else.
For some time we've all been inundated with advertisements from gold and precious metals vendors. I got a bunch more this morning while deleting trash from my email. Which prompted me to take the time to write something on the subject. So here it is.
The spiel from purveyors of high-stakes investments is always about providing for your financial survival in the "coming financial crunch". Which, if history is any record of cause-and-effect, demonstrates we humans learn absolutely nothing from history.
Now, if you are so busy you don't want the technical points of why "GOLD! Au Au Au" should be the very last item on your family survival list, drop down to the Bottom Line. But if you want to argue the point with someone bugging you to buy gold, just enjoy (or "suffer through", depending on your point of view) this discussion.
Go ahead. Just aim your duckduckgo browser to the name of; Kenneth Austin, Treasury Economist. Use all four words in the search string. You'll get some high-level Treasury mumbling. I'm thinking that he might have been Treasury's way of someday being able to claim; "Well, good people, we warned you". He was also Obama's big shot Treasury guru.
So after eight years of collectively irritating most of the important nations of the world into moving away from the Greenback's exclusive global Reserve Trade status, which made trillions of existing Greenbacks worth-less, the Obama successor is now having to consider the distasteful medicine of "devaluation" of the dollar. But watch out for the buerocratic "double-speak".
The practical effect of a nation's currency devaluation on the common citizen is the inflation of domestic prices. The loaf of bread that used to cost a dollar may now cost a dollar-fifty cents. The car made in the USA that used to cost twenty-five-thousand now costs thirty-seven-thousand. The house that used to cost a hundred thousand now costs a hundred-fifty-thousand. And so on. Of course, the USA products that are exported may experience a renewed demand from foreign nations whose currencies are worth more than ours on parity. Our CEO's get a larger bonus, so that's neat. For the 1%'ers. And don't forget the international food vendors; there is about a half-dozen big ones who control our food, from the field to the shelf. They'll sell it to the highest bidder of course. Just wait until the next bad crop year to find out how that works.
We might as well get used to the coming financial effect of the existing cause. We've already mortally wounded the favorable global financial system our forefathers worked so hard to establish after WWII. That "Cause and Effect" thing, you know. When two foreign companies deal in their own currency instead of Greenbacks, that fifty billion dollar deal no longer needs Greenbacks. The net global requirement for US currency then falls by fifty billion dollars. Which, divided around, raises your domestic prices. The mathematics, politics and financial manipulation surrounding currency manipulation and devaluation are quite complicated, but you get the idea. Many universities, including Harvard, will even let you study this and other subjects at decent rates or even free. Very nice folks there.
When you get to Austin's writings at Treasury, pick the one about dollar devaluation. It's inevitable, and has been in full swing for the past nine years. Our government has been bullying some exceptionally major globally trading nations with our myopic, politically driven, financial attacks for the past years. Birds are now home to roost.
One of the most confusing schemes for normal working citizens to "survive the coming crash" is to take their family resources and invest in gold and other precious metals. These assets are stored in remote locations around the Earth. I just do not believe claims that a stash of bullion anywhere is going to save our individual finances when any disastrous "crunch" takes place. Or any other time, for that matter. Sure; for those whose wealth has to be measured on a financial balance sheet it might be OK. But "they are they" who care not one bit what that loaf of bread costs. Us commoners do care, however.
If you just absolutely must have precious metals, buy something that others just absolutely must have and will pay you for "when the crunch comes". What might that be? I have a couple of ideas but you have to find what suits your tastes and family situation, not mine.
My Dad had a saying that went like this: "If you don't have your hands on it, it isn't actually yours!" His advice I grabbed and filed securely in my logic folder a long time ago. In the first place, a stash of gold in some exotic foreign location anywhere means you simply have one thing: A piece of paper that says it's there and it belongs to you. Don't believe that? Ask Germany how successful they were in wanting to repatriate their 670 tons of gold held in The Federal Reserve repository in New York, and some in Paris. Or even being able to count what was supposed to be in NY. BTW, dear soul, you do know the Federal Reserve is owned by a handful of banks, not by the U.S. Government, don't you? If you're interested in that spider web, just DuckDuckGo the string: why-germany-wants-its-gold-back. Have Ducky use those dashes between the search words. The dozen results give various reasons so don't just digest one if you want the whole story. It took Germany several years to get their hands on some of their gold. How much luck would a person have? Spell "None!".
A couple of years ago Texas established the legislative foundation for it's own gold storage repository. This year Utah Legislature discussed the same thing. But that's way down the road, brother. Besides, there will be "fees" for storage in any secure domestic vaults. It's just like renting space anywhere else. Unless you have a stash that is really significant, fees will be uncomfortable.
So you'll store it at home? Just..."WOW!" Just remember a couple of rules: Don't tell anyone, and remember to pack heat 24/7. Have a good security system wired to the police dispatch from a phone line that can't be cut. Don't sleep so soundly that you can't hear your alarm. Have it in a fireproof, crowbar-proof, carry-off proof, burglar-proof, container. If the creeps among us would slit the throat of a college professor to get his firearms, what would a lot more creeps do to get to your gold? Remember the old saying; "If one person knows a secret, it's a secret. If two people know a secret, it is not a secret."
While you're at it, have your DuckDuckGo download an IMF file with the innocent sounding name of G20_SDN1203.pdf. And take just a second to figure out who was at our "helm" of our "Ship of State" when the idea of this robbery abortion began in about 2010, finalized in 2014, became law in 2015. This sly gem is easy to understand If you don't go to sleep reading the preliminary, intentionally monotonous, tedious, bureaucratic drivel. But do pay attention to pages 10 thru 12, even though there is a generous dose of high-sounding double-speak there also. It is clearly designed to confuse you if you don't understand bank insiders' lingo. It concerns the security, or rather the lack thereof, of your bank deposits. Banks are not to be confused with Credit Unions, by the way.
Oh, "WTH", you might as well know what it actually says; it simply says the bankers can seize your deposits if they run short, and there isn't one solitary thing that you, your lawyer, your senator, your congress, your president, the U.S. Army, the FBI, the Supreme Court, can do about it. Well, maybe Gino Rimon on the very meanest of his days, could figure something out.
When you make a deposit at the bank, you are in fact giving the bank an "unsecured loan", to use the legal definition. All you are is an "unsecured lender". Which means your money is not actually yours anymore; you loaned it to the bank. And "no", I'm not making this up. This applies to "banks". At least according to the IMF Rules, which control only "banks", not "credit unions". Quite another story this clever wording, but still important in the subject of financial survival against the "crunch" all the "financial advisors" and gold peddlers are beating their drums about.
Banks and Credit Unions are not the same and are not subject to the same rules. Nor are their accounts insured by the same pot of cash. Unless you can get to your "precious metals" unimpeded, and be able to carry them off on demand, it just isn't worth diddly to you when the day comes that you need a loaf of bread. And that is not the only problem with remotely stored assets of any kind. Whether "remote" means somewhere you have to spend three days on an airplane to get to, or whether it's in another state from where you live.
What's to stop the bullion-keepers from showing a dozen different people the same pot of bullion? Nothing, that's what. And what does a number on a bullion certificate stored in some foreign land mean? Simply that; it's a number on paper. Nothing more. Or what keeps the bullion keeper from simply telling you; "Don't worry about counting it or looking at it; it's all there!", when you ask to see it. Again; ask Germany what happened when they wanted to see, and count, their remotely-stored gold held in trust by The Fed as well as another repository in France.
Good grief, brother, if a billion in gold can go missing from the bombproof subterranean vaults at the World Trade Center, shrinking to a couple hundred million actually recovered when the doors opened, how secure is anywhere else in the world? The gold is gone, but investors still have their little pieces of paper. Quite comforting, I'm sure. "Oh, it's just an accounting error..." Yeah, sure it is. So give me my gold. Well, so sorry; we can't do that.
And the so-called "crypto-currencies"? If you believe they are a great idea, and a way to beat the "failing" Greenback system, then go right ahead and help yourself. But don't cry when you find out they are simply an invisible idea someone with a computer sold you. You think the Greenback has no actual back? Brother, what do you think the cryptos have behind them except zeros-and-ones on some remote computer. And talk about bank robberies? Crypto-robberies only take one computer operated by some cracker in pajamas while drinking his morning coffee somewhere on the planet where there is decent internet access. Do you use your "smart phone" for banking, or for crypto access? The crackers just simply love you.
Right up front, brother; "If you don't have your hands on it, it isn't yours!". If someone else has it in some remote location, it isn't yours. If it's in cyberspace, it isn't yours. Ever heard of the internet crashing? Ever heard of "EMP"? Many cars might restart, but not computers.
I won't repeat advice here that you can find at various locations from successful honest people. And be careful about that "honest" thing. One place with valid advice for family "survival" in any financial crunch is at LDS-dot-org. The subject matter is food storage for the average family. And I'm not "proselytizing", so don't start beating that drum of yours, brother.
And before someone does shout "He's proselytizing", to try diminishing the value of what we may discuss here, know that my young family lived for a big year thanks to advice we had previously taken from that source "back in the day". Every day at work I carried one thin dime in case I had to call home for some reason. Mom had a couple of dollars left from our payday in case we needed something unforeseen. That was all. There was no more left over after paying bills and buying the few required food stuffs to go with the basic food storage we had already stored.
At this same time our Housewife Mom had our family to care for, her college education on her Veteran's G.I. Bill to attend to (she stayed on the Dean's List, BTW), she sold Avon in her imaginary "spare time", and worked at the Ford Dealer several hours a week keeping their financial books in order. I had a full-time job, college classes, and also worked as a mechanic in my spare time at the Ford Garage. Mom was also the Cub Scout Leader and the Primary President. I was the Boy Scout leader. We held Utah DWR Firearms Safety Classes every month, more often if required. Each single dollar from our spare time jobs helped, and our stash of basic food storage fed our family. We worked through that time, and still believe in the family having a reasonable stash of basic foodstuffs.
In tough times families work together to survive. Everyone has their job, even the little toddlers. We were lucky that we had practiced the Prophet's admonitions before our tough times arrived. And even more lucky that our kids have a very smart Mama.
There is good "family survival" advice at the above link for you to read. Pick the plans that fit your family's situation. Some will fit, some won't; every family situation is different. But they are all interesting, thought-provoking and you'll find value there. And they don't ask for your email address, unlike some other places.
One story that struck a note with me was from Sister Yvonne Aston who lives in England. Her family lived for a year on their storage also. Their survival year was quite shorter than "our year", but we still call it a year. That's why her story rang a bell with me. Find the search box on the right side of the page. Just type her name into the search and see her story. A simple plan, organized, painless, and came in darn handy when the financial crunch hit her family in England. And her method for building up reserves against a time of need was smart, reasonably easy, painless, logical, and it worked. Best of all, you can do it!
And if you just can't stand the strain of going to a Religious resource, the website HoneyBee Pantry has good information also, no strings attached, and, like LDS-dot-org, they don't want your email address either.
Following honest advice sure beats sending your hard-earned cash through an intermediary to some unknown ghost in a foreign land. Or even in another state. If you just simply must have precious metals for a reserve, or bragging rights from admiring sheeple, buy it from the U.S. Treasury. Or more accurately, the U.S. Mint. They have all kinds of genuine precious metals for sale for various purposes you might have in mind. And they sell direct, not through a third party. Prices are reasonably close to average spot price, and you get a genuine known precious metal weight in your hand. And, very importantly, if you ever need to use them they have an immediate value recognized everywhere. Not so with bullion, brother! And Uncle Sam won't sell you a gold or silver-plated piece of lead or tungsten like some "dealers" will. Think that doesn't happen regularly to bullion buyers? Au contraire! Check again by sending your DuckDuckGo looking for terms like; "gold adulterated with iridium". Same thing with silver. Think you could tell the difference? Not unless you personally own a seven-thousand dollar ultrasonic tester and know all the mathematics of how to use it. The guy selling the bullion has a tester and he'll test it for you? Good luck, cowboy; pray diligently.
Just remember this if you forget everything else: During a serious "financial crunch" if you have a chunk of gold and I have a loaf of bread, I might trade with you if I don't need that bread for my own family. But there is no way to make "change", brother. I get your chunk of gold, you get my loaf of bread; call it even, see you next time, sucker. Expand that fact to anything else you might need. Back in the day of pirates they used to have gold necklaces with a spare link on each link of the main chain. Cutting off a single link to use did not disable the necklace.
And if the chunk of gold is stored remote somewhere, doesn't matter where, and all you have is a piece of fancy paper claiming you own a chunk of gold, take a guess who would give you anything of substance for your piece of paper. In fact, some people just print up classy-looking certificates of all kinds, to dazzle their friends. Betcha they'll sell you one of their gold certificates, real cheap; "they're in a temporary crunch, unfortunately, and need the money today". And if you believe that's why they want to sell it to you, please; take a red pill.
As the saying goes; this is "My Humble Opinion". You have to develop your own.
"If you can't get your hands on it without asking permission, it isn't really yours!"
So Here Is "The Bottom Line".
 |
Several examples from around the world, including the U.S.A., show the obscene prices vendors can get for food items in times of shortage. Many examples are more scary than an ounce of gold for a loaf of bread. Food is one thing your family cannot do without. So instead of buying an ounce of gold to someday trade for a loaf of bread, why not just buy a sack of flour today for five bucks and learn how to make bread? Really, it's quite easy to do and provides a lot of confidence. |
 |
In the early 1930's our citizens were starving while our bureaucrats languished in luxury with full stomachs. "Government" had the food stores locked up with keys held by government appointed workers.
Before this time in America, there had been famines around the globe where governments simply killed their people instead of allowing them to keep or buy the food they had produced.
China killed forty-five million unarmed citizens from starvation as well as the execution of disenters from 1958-1962 while the rulers grew fat.
Russia killed seven million; five million of that number from starvation.
As a result of the Russian government starvation program, Canibalism was rampant in Russia. Ukraine was totally stripped of all it's food in 1932. Farmers with pitchforks and citizens with sticks just can't win against armed troops from the government.
England,from 1845 to 1852 era took all the hundreds of tons of food that Ireland, a fabulous bread-basket nation, produced. This caused the Irish to either starve to death or move to America, during the so-called "potato famine". Ireland lost over one-fourth of her population during that time from either starvation or exodus to the USA. England accomplished this by enforcing a "free market" scheme.
Say, haven't we heard a lot of hollering about "free trade" arrangements lately? I wonder what that subject would have to do with someone claiming all of our food for the highest bid price? And who is it exactly that is bellering the loudest? Ask Ireland what England's "free trade" enforcement did to their food availability.
From 1930 to 1933 the people in America got fed up with the government hoarding up the food for elite distribution. Shades of Russia earlier and China yet to come. In 1933 the people congregated by the thousands at the stores locations. The people demanded that the government open the food stores. Many of the crowd members were armed. The stores were opened only because the government forces at the lockups couldn't deal with the numbers of people involved, especially the armed ones. News reporters who had been watching the "riots" printed the facts and the government had to back off.
So what was one result of the USA armed "food riots"?
Within a few months after the 1933 food riots, 1934 saw the government enact the "National Firearms Act". This began the long march, very active today, to restrict citizen's rights under the U.S. Bill of Rights to possess firearms. Do you think, in your wildest thoughts, there might have been a connection between the U.S. Government starving our citizens, causing the citizens to finally rise up armed in 1933 or die of government sponsored starvation, and then the government starting it's war on the Second Ammendment in 1934? Or was it just a coincidence?
There is no such thing as a "coincidence", brother. Governments all over the planet had been eliminating their political and social opposition by planned, systematic, starvation and murder. Without, of course, that troubling opposition from armed citizens. In no other nation on earth did the citizens possess arms like in the USA. So, taking a page from the 1933 food riots, we can't put up with armed citizens opposing us when we decide who should eat and who should starve, can we!
Lester Brown of the WorldWatch Institute has warned us that the USA could very easily see her crops seized and shipped to the highest bidder in a time of famine. Remember what I said way back at the start about the oligarchy of food distribution by just a handful of food production billionairs? They will sell to the highest bidder, brother, and the highest bidder will not be you and me. Sufficient reserves for the politicians and the elitist crowd will be retained in secure, guarded locations just like back in 1934, but the balance will be going overseas to that highest bidder.
"Why", you may ask, "is China buying up all the farmland in the USA they can get their hands on?"
Could it be somehow linked to that "free trade" thing? Sell to the highest bidder? Or, simply ship it home to your own people?
Make a note of that information above while you are deciding whether to buy gold from all those strange voices, or to think for yourself as well as "Heed the Prophet's "Warnings".
. . . . . . . .
If you avail yourselves of the important knowledge available today you can take a look into other people's thought process and know what they are planning. This includes your business or National opponents. For instance, to understand China's self-proclaimed program to replace the USA as the leading commercial nation on Earth you must read their Military brains because the PLA runs China. "Unrestricted Warfare" by Generals Liang and Xiangsui of the PLA, discusses exceptionally high-tech warfare, and there are several other high-ranking Chinese Officers explaining their tactics. Effective, successful, war does not have to involve guns and direct battle casualties. "All warfare is based on deception", was a leading principal of the tactically brilliant Sun Tsu, and has been used by the Chinese PLA for many years.
If, over a period of time China, with sufficient money, could control a significant amount of USA produce they could decide whether to sell it in the USA or ship it all to China. If China did not actually use all of it, then the remainder could be shipped back to the USA for sale to the hungry "round-eyes" at a much higher price. All it would take is a time of diminished crops in the USA, and another batch of our dull-thinking bureaucrats. In the early 1970's, our CIA warned the USDA not to remove the export limits on grain designed to accomodate the Russian lobby. Russia had cozied up to the USDA brass to accomplish just that. As a result of this bureaucratic sell-out, Russia bought a huge amount of our available USA wheat. The next year our prices for foods across the board rose by approximately thirty-percent because of our own shortages.
Anyone want to bet the same tactics could not be used to establish an ounce of gold for a loaf of bread?. China is replacing their historical purchase of US Treasury Notes with the nearly frantic purchase of gold. Could it be the Chinese detect a significant devaluation of the Greenback? If you think an ounce of gold for a loaf of bread could not happen suddenly in the USA, please, Brother, never play poker with a professonal.
"To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."
. . . . . . . .
Who was Brother Featherstone?
"Hey", you might be thinking; "Maybe I better go back to the top and review the whole history?"
"Could we have missed our reduced crops in the USA from bad weather since about 2012? Could it be possible we might have a brand new food shortage looming in the USA?
What'll it be, brothers and sisters; buy a bunch of gold to trade for food later, or buy the supplies now to "make the bread yourself"?
Now y'all have a very nice day, y'hear?