Anerica 2050. What Will We Build? Part 5.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

Nanny State: Path To Revolution

The recipe for a social and political revolution is fairly simple. Have a large percent of the population of a country in perpetual poverty, with a tiny rich minority holding the majority of all wealth. Insure the middle class is small and powerless. Mix in rising expectations with too slow progress, and a lost war or declining power and respect for social/religious/political structures (like caste systems, the Catholic Church, or the King). Finally add a spark, and voila, we have a full on 'blood in the streets' revolution.

The French Revolution in 1789 and the Russian Revolution in 1917 follow the above pattern pretty closely. The mass of society willingly participated, because they had little to lose and everything to gain by overturning an established order that largely excluded them from power and confined them to a tenuous periphery.

Today in 2012 in America we can view Middle and Near Eastern revolutions on our flatscreens nightly. The Libyan dictatorship has fallen, along with Egypt and soon to follow Syria. Iraq and Afghanistan are boiling under the surface, and are likely to erupt once the American military presence has withdrawn. Certainly these world events are cause for grave concern, but my focus is drawn to a much closer arena...America.

The civil rights struggles and riots in the late 50's and 60's were nothing less than a partially successful revolution. An oppressed underclass (African-Americans) rebelled at the second class citizenship that they had endured since the slaves were freed in 1865. "The long, hot summer," was something Americans heard a lot about that as the summer months approached in 1968, and it filled them with dread. By 1968, just the word "summer" was conjuring not just beaches and vacations and re-runs on TV, but also what were almost universally known as "race riots," events that today, with more circumspection, we call "urban rebellions." Large swaths of Los Angeles were devastated in summer 1965; much of Newark and Detroit (and Buffalo, and Milwaukee, and Minneapolis) went up in flames in summer 1967. By the mid-70's, however, they had largely petered out.

Why did the civil unrest end abruptly? Answer: They were paid off!

The Nanny State

America of 2012 is a semi-socialist country where over 48.5% of all households contain at least one person who receives some form of government aid. The social and economic safety net has reached an extent where our national deficit (including monies promised in the future), is estimated at $100 Trillion dollars, or over $300,000 per American citizen!

Many complain about the bloated government-sponsored entitlement programs, but few consider the relevance of the timing of their creation. Social Security was rolled out during the Great Depression. The Food Stamp program was introduced in 1964, as was the lesser known Job Corps (free trade school education for poor, urban youth). Welfare too was dramatically expanded in this decade, and the era of the "government cheese" stories were born.

One way to look at the expanding social and economic programs above is to say they were merely responses by a receptive government to a petitioning electorate. Another, less naive way to explain these expensive programs, was that they were simply bribes paid to the restless underclass to cease their troublesome activities! Current precedents are Arab Kingdoms like Saudi Arabia pouring oil money into the streets to keep their populations docile and obedient. The USA did much the same in the 60's, and has only accelerated the process to our 2012 America where the government is always expected to be there when a citizen is hurting...like a good Nanny! And who would ever rebel against an entity that supplies food, housing, and the other basic needs of life?

Finally, the fiat paper dollar is the last refuge of a controlling American state. If you rebelled centuries ago, the King's head might end up in a basket, but your money was still good. Anyone in any country would've been all-to-happy to take your gold or silver coin, even if it had the face of a very dead sovereign upon it. Not so with the fiat paper dollar of 2012!

The paper dollar of 2012 is reliant solely on the 'good faith and credit of the USA'. That's it, brothers and sisters. No gold or silver is available to back these 'promises'. If you rebel against the government of the USA and win, then every dollar in your pocket instantly reverts to their inherent worth...zero! If you actually succeed in throwing out the bums, you become penniless. All your hardwork over all those years was for nothing more than to build a supply of greenbacks to feed your homeless campfire!

How's that devious method for keeping your slaves loyal and peaceful?

America 2050

The social program bribes are already falling short in America 2012. Social Security is admitting to projected future shortfalls. Unemployment is high and likely to remain so. The dollar is weak, and with further QE (Quantitive Easing, or money creation out of thin air) it must continue to grow weaker based on simple supply/demand economics. Eventually between now and 2050 the US dollar will ultimately fail. When that happens the social net bribe will fall to pieces. The poor will form the majority of the populace, with the very rich occupying the tip of the new economic pyramid. The middle class will be virtually erased, and their stabilizing social and political power dramatically weakened. The America of 2050 will be a second or third rate power, eternally on the verge or in actual blood-stained revolution.

Of course, there is one possibility to forestall this revolutionary state - military run or supported dictatorship. Shooting thousands of people does make quite an impression on rebels, at least for a while. However, we need look no further than an exploding Arab world to know the end results of playing that heavy card!

Rick

America 2050: What Will We Build? Part 4.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

There are many articles on 'Fiat Money' and its history. I urge you to read them. I'm seeking brevity, not comprehensiveness.

Future Economy - The Death Of The Fiat Dollar

The Founding Father's of America disagreed on many things. The extent of federal vs. state power, slavery, taxation, the form or our republic, how to give the smaller states some voice without being unfair to large ones. However, there is one thing they all agreed upon. Silver and gold constituted money - and paper fiat currency did not.

Briefly, gold and silver have been valued as money by humans for over 5000 years of recorded history. Whenever governments have tried to get around precious and scarce gold and silver as money, disasters inevitably followed.

The Roman denarius, a coin the size of a modern nickel and made of pure silver, was accepted throughout the known world two millenia ago. As the Empire shrank geographically and the size and expense of government grew, the coin was secretly diluted by substituting base metals for silver. Toward the end of the Rome, the denarius had only a thin silver wash and was universally shunned in commerce.

Why did Rome destroy the denarius? Because they wanted money to spend without increasing taxation on the already overtaxed Roman citizens. So, they tried to produce more money without the inconvenience or political repercussions of increased taxation - or the bother of mining and refining more silver. They didn't have any other choice. Paper money wasn't to be invented for over five hundred years, rendering impossible the kind of instant digital and paper money creation we take for granted today.

No, the money magic act we see today had to wait until the Chinese invented paper money in about 806 A.D. Then, the Mongol Empire in the 13th Century used their power and influence to spread it around Asia and Eastern Europe like an STD. The citizens called it 'flying money', as the slightest breeze made it fly away. At first the paper money was backed by gold and silver and the economy expanded. Eventually, however, the government decided it needed more money without the bother of taxation, and the massive printing of notes began. Within two hundred years paper money had become worthless.

Flash forward to 2012. It's been nearly a century since the first modern paper fiat currency was printed in 1913. 'Fiat money' isn't some under-powered Italian car blocking the passing lane. It means that it's money and worth something solely because the US government says it worth something. It's no longer backed by gold or any other real asset. In the last one hundred years the paper dollar has lost 97% of its purchasing power! It's lost 72% just since 1972, when Nixon severed our last connection to the gold standard. The term inflation has been an unalterable part of our lexicon, and it seems axiomatic today that things are likely to cost more tommorrow than they did today.

In America 2050 our money will be very different. In 2012 we are nearing the endgame collapse of the fiat money lie. Our National Debt exceeds $100 Trillion dollars if you include all the money we owe as well as all the money promised in our ever growing "Nanny State" social net.

Prices will fall in deflation, as we have seen. History in Weimar Germany and Austria (as well as many others) tells us that inflation and hyperinflation will then follow closely behind. Paper fortunes will be wiped out overnight. The US money supply will continue to grow because like an addict's addiction, one fix followed by another and another, growing steadily larger to avoid painful withdrawal symptoms.

As prices rise and the middle class melts away like an ice cream cone in the hot sun, riots and unrest will occur. The US Government will be called upon to "do something". History tells us they will have the following options available to them:

1. Implement Price and Wage Controls -  Nixon tried this in the early 70's to combat stagflation. It was voluntary and an abject failure. History tells us when price controls are not enforced, they're ignored. When they are enforced with heavy fines or even jail and death sentences, they likewise fail because factories would rather close than sell their products for below market prices. Goods simply disappear from the shelves. Yes, the price is low and government controlled, but the products are nowhere to be found. In Austria in 1922-1923, a thriving black market cropped up selling anything you could want from sausages to work tools, at a marketedly higher price than the state-mandated one.

The "good" part about this idiotic non-market based strategy is that the government can claim they are actually doing something. It's just the speculators and the big companies who are evil - deflecting blame from them onto the companies struggling with rising raw material costs.

2. The other strategy is more effective, but much less popular. To stop runaway inflation by tightening the money supply and raising interest rates. Increased taxes on businesses and citizens, while slashing government entitlement programs follow. Paul Volcker in the 1980's used some of these methods effectively to recover from the excesses of the Carter years. However, he had a mouse-sized problem, and in 2012 America has a Godzilla-sized monster to handle!

This latter strategy will NOT be employed by any US government, at least not without a major revolution or crash - changing the very structure of our political structure and the "democratic process". At this terminal stage they have no choice but to continue with the former choice, and keep the money machine pumping.

In the America of 2050 many rich will have lost everything they had in paper stocks and dollar denominated assets. The Middle Class will be reduced to a butcher, baker, candlestick maker type form. A large poverty-level workforce and an unemployed underclass will be present, always on the edge of desperation and a never-ending source of political and social rebellion.

We will have a money supply grounded in gold, silver, and other sources of real wealth. The economy will be forced to contract as it has been artificially bloated with easy money and credit over many decades. Prices will become stable, but the standard of living could easily revert back to an 1850 level of sustainability.

America 2050. What Will We Build? Part 3.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

Future Economy

The US economy is going through massive change. Manufacturing is no longer the province of the US as it was following WWII, when the US made products for a world looking to rebuild. We were owed by the world, and the US dollar's power and value was unquestioned. "Sound as a Dollar," was a common saying, and the speakers did so without the hint of a sarcastic smirk on their face.

In 2012 America unemployment is high, indeed, much higher than the US government manipulated low ball numbers of 9 or so percent. These number don't count those who've lost their unemployment benefits, who've given up after years of futile job searches, and the massive amount of underemployed. Yes, a job as a Walmart associate counts as a job at $22,000 per year. But it can't hope to replace the income that this now overqualified person earned at his previous employer. Cases of people accepting jobs at tiny fractions of their previous salaries are now commonplace. In these cases, despite the Obama Administration's claims, do not a true recovery make. Our Walmart worker has a job, but he's not buying the goods and services he once could afford. If he's lucky he's scraping by paycheck to paycheck, and not falling back on credit cards and other loans to make ends meet.

Today's America makes virtually nothing it consumes. Our economy is 4 times larger than Germany's, but Germany's share of global merchandise exports is actually higher than America's (9 percent vs. 8.5 percent) in 2009! The other key measure -- little known in popular discussions of manufacturing -- is export intensity, the ratio of a nation's exports to its total manufacturing sales. The global average export intensity is twice as high as that of the United States, which ranked 13th out of the 15 largest manufacturing countries in 2009, higher only than Russia and Brazil. Meanwhile, the leading EU countries had export intensities 2.5 times to 4 times higher than America's. Comparisons of the value of manufactured exports on a per capita basis are even more dramatic: they are higher in Spain ($3,700), Japan ($4,000), Canada ($4,600), and Germany ($11,200) than in the United States ($2,400).

China has become our merchant of choice. In fact, Walmart, the largest retailer in America, claims that 70% of all products they sell as made in China. As a result, China has now become the supplier of cheap manufactured goods to the US. In exchange we give them paper fiat dollars that are backed by nothing other than the "Good Faith and Credit of the USA". In the past they held those dollars in Chinese banks, effectively giving us their products for free. However, rumors abound now that they are quietly spending their hoard of paper dollars on natural resources, gold and silver, mines, real state - anything to divest themselves of a rapidly depreciating piece of green paper. The resulting dollars are dumped back into the US money supply, fueling inflation through basic supply/demand economics.

Of course, in this process the US surrendered it's status as the lender to the world to the largest debtor nation on Earth. We also dismantled the manufacturing base that won WWII and offered a middle class existenance to millions, in exchange for cheap coffee makers!

America 2050 - Economy

It's hard to find a precedent in the past for a nation that has risen as high and fallen as low as the USA must by 2050. I could look at the 18th and 19th English Empire and the shrunken corpse remaining after WWII, and get an weak idea of what the future may hold for America. Once the sun never set on the English Empire. They ruled the seas and were a commanding presence in any world political event. Today they are at best a third rate power excluded from the councils of the powerful. Their economy putters on, but growth of all kinds, population and economic remains static. Like Egypt, they find themselves eternally looking to the past for their source of glory. The USA will likely be in a similar, if not much worse state, in 2050. After all, the America Empire was the largest to date in power, wealth, and prestige, if not landmass. It's only reasonable to assume that her fall would break records as well.

The erosion of the middle class is likely to continue. Jobs working as a barista at Starbucks, or a retail clerk, will never pay the wages to build a middle class existence as heavy manfacturing once provided in post WWII America. Multigenerational family living will replace the nuclear family ideal, and renters will overwhelm buyers as the most economically feasible option. America of 2050 will resemble pre-WWII US infintely more closely than the post war boom version!

Already China is showing its economic, military, and political power around the globe. They're providing Europe with loan guarantees, buying mines and resources in South America and Asia, and pointedly warning American warships to behave themselves in the Taiwanese Straits. It appears we even need them for space exploration, as the Obama Administration announced that they need Chinese help to send a manned mission to Mars!

China is certainly a shoe-in for the next world Superpower. Other Asian nations such as India are sure to gain ascendance as well. America will confine itself to our shores and coastlines, and do our level best to avoid angering our Asian friends. Maintaining a bloated military policing the world is very, very expensive. By 2050, such an extravagance will seem an absurd to a struggling once-great power. Perhaps out of the profound darkness everywhere else, this anti-imperial reality will supply a renewed glimmer of hope that one day the descendants of the Founding Fathers may indeed create the 'City on a Hill' once envisioned by our Founding Fathers! A country that spreads its light by a silent, shining example, not through the miltary interventionist policies that have sought to control the world, but instead has only bankrupted our country!

Rick

America 2050. What Will We Build? Part 2.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

Baby Boomers - The Big Elephant in the Room

80 million Baby Boomers are starting to retire. Born between 1945- to the mid-1960's, they are a major part of our consuming economy. They have invested in stocks, started businesses, were famous for outrageous work ethnics, and paid taxes - a lot of taxes.

The problem now is they're retiring and expecting all the dollars that America has promised them for Social Security, Medicare, and other programs. Born in 1961, I receive my Social Security statement every few years. I always read them, but they're never quite real to me. I just can't imagine ever getting back any of the money they've taken from me for this program per se.

Of course, any money I might collect in the future isn't really my money coming back to me. Social Social Security, starting taxation in 1937, has been called one enormous pyramid-scheme, taking money from many and giving it back to a few. Today, about 16 people pay SS taxes for the benefits for 1 retired person. By the time the last Baby Boomer retires, the projected ration will be 2 people paying to support 1 retired Baby Boomer! All government BS aside, that means that SS taxes will have to either to increase by many times, benefits will be reduced or put off to further advanced ages, or money will be paid to retirees that will be so inflated as to be virtually worthless. Keep in mind that retirees are promised a certain amount of dollars per month, not what those dollars will actually buy! Therein lies the government's hole card.

The most likely result will in the future will be more of the same, to an extent. Benefits will be delayed and taxes will slowly rise. However, will future generations sacrifice 80-90% of their paychecks to support Baby Boomers?  If they're voters, I think not. The short fall will come from more money printing until the dollar becomes virtually worthless. Current deficit projections that include financial commitments the US Govt. has made to Baby Boomers and others reveal an astronomical figure of $100 Trillion dollars! That works out to $300,000 owed by each of the 325 million Americans today!

A Baby Boomer will get his $2500 monthly check, and buy one or two days worth of food with it. It's the only solution. The government keeps it word, and the younger taxpayers don't throw them out of office for impoverishing them. Every pyramid scheme has it's balloon popping moment. Bernie Madoff had the Great Recession starting in 2008, and America will have the Baby Boomers to burst the bubble of lying promises that our government has made.

I believe the America of 2050 will have fewer benefits or social programs available. Clearly our debt cannot continue to climb forever. Sooner or later a default, or more likely dollar creation will push us into Hyperinflation as it famously did for Weimar Germany, Austria, Hungary, Argentina, Iceland, and numerous other countries. People will work until death or sickness overcomes them, they will move in with their children, and the standard of living will be more meager than today.

The America of 2050 will undoubtedly still have a tiny amount of very wealthy living high in their guarded castles. But the destruction of the dollar, and the other social programs propping up a middle and the lower classes, will have been severely curtailed - taking the stabilizing influence of middle class working stiffs with it.

Rick

America 2050. What Will We Build? Part 1.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

Normalcy Bias

Many people reading my articles and watching my Youtube videos at rickpyle1 sometimes email me or leave comments expressing their exasperation with their friends and family. They want to know how they can't see the economic disasters looming and the dramatic changes in American lives that will most certainly be a reality in 2050. The answer is the normalcy bias held by many of our fellow citizens.

The normalcy bias is an irrational and illogical belief which states that since in the lifetime of the individual nothing catastrophic or devastating has ever occured, then nothing profoundly negative will ever occur in the remainder of their life.

The prosperity enjoyed by post WWII America has been a time of prosperity unparalleled in the history of humanity. We have had recessions, foreign wars, and some political turmoil. However, millions have not been executed without trial in purges, our money has not become abruptly worthless, wars have not devastated our homeland, millions have not been held in concentration camps or died of hunger lying in street. Many other countries including Germany, Japan, Russia, and China cannot make such claims.

America 2050 will have no "get out of jail free card" from the horrors described above. Like all investor prospectus point out, "the past performance of a stock is no guarantee of future results".

Rick

Smug Liberals and Willful Ignorance!

This is my favorite picture of SMUG OBAMA. I think it typifies the arrogant, smug, condescending attitude that liberals enjoy inflicting upon anyone not sharing their worldview.

In the article below you'll find a great example of the same willful ignorance in the face of obvious dangers to the US Dollar and the very existence of our republic.

The article is short, but you'll find it replete with insults, mockery, and accusations of racism against anyone who hasn't drunk the Liberal KOOL-AID!

Have a nice day!

My comment is IN BOLD at the end.

(Following article by "Dick Destiny" aka George Smith)

05.06.11

Fiat money, Zimbabwe, Weimar = code

Posted in Extremism, Phlogiston at 9:00 am by George Smith

Quote of the day, from the Economist, referring a Paul Ryan claim about examples of old hyperinflated currencies being handed out:

And then finally, Mr Ryan said, America needs sound money. He told stories of traveling around Wisconsin and being handed pieces of currency from Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe, he remarked on how nothing was more insidious than inflation …

It’s rotten ol’ Tea Party fruit, the crop from years of Fox News’ hourly gold bug commercials, Glenn Beck and parades of experts. One in particular, whose name I forget, was fond of showing an example of some astronomically numbered Zimbabwe note.
He had turned it into a souvenir business.
The phrase “fiat money” is more code for the same thing. Here, a sample from Google — it’s all Ron Paul, goldbuggery, catastrophe, conspiracy and fear & loathing associated with quantitative easing. Another example, as if you needed one, of how Google results can easily be bombed into trash by the practices and world beliefs of a relatively small social class. (An it’s also an example of what story one uses to persuade people who aren’t such hot thinkers to vote for tax cuts for the super-rich and elimination of social programs and public school education.)
All Tea Party articles of faith, now firmly passed into the realm of fears associated with a life driven by superstitions. And it’s exclusively a baseball-capped or blobby disgraceful white man’s disease.
If you run across people like this — and I see the house of one of ‘em everyday when I cross the el Molino Street bridge on the way to Rick’s at lunch, a place with a big lawn sign advertising some kook AM radio host — it is best to cross to the opposite side of the street.
How do I know this? By-product of census work.
An even money bet is that the people who buy souvenir Weimar marks and Zimbabwe dollars also have Confederate and Gadsden flags to fly, too.
More code: Fair Tax, abolition of IRS, Bretton Woods, questions re “What do you think about a consumption tax?”

1. Rick said,
   May 11, 2011 at 4:39 pm
   Guess what the US Dollar, the ZIM Dollar, and Weimar marks have in common? Everything!
   Oh, wait. Unlike Zimbabwe and Weimar Germany, the USA has a balanced budget, no debt, and responsible politicians who don’t spend more for entitlement programs than we net in taxes.
   Never mind, our FIAT DOLLAR is safe!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick
CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Who Should Get The Vote?

Recently the liberal rag, The Huffington Post, published a disdainful article based on some comments of the Tea Party President Judson Phillips. Mr. Phillips had indicated in an interview that he agreed with the notion that perhaps only people who own property should have the right to vote. Of course, the lefties spent the remainder of the article railing against the unfairness of the idea as far as the poor huddled masses yearning to be free are concerned. The only thing they didn't do was discuss the idea rationally and look for historical and other precedents like corporate decision making to weigh in intelligently on the proposed concept.

When our Founding Fathers were forming our government some two centuries ago they were decidedly ambivalent about democracy. The main worry was that the masses with no stake in their community i.e., no property, would vote themselves the treasury. It was a real concern at the time. The reason the Senate exists today is to act as a "saucer to cool the hot tea" that the Fathers believed the House of Representatives would constitute.

Today as our government sinks into socialism and our economy and once great dollar lies in tatters, can we truly just derisively laugh at the worries of our wise forefathers concerning democracy? Was it not the actions of popularity-seeking politicians elected by a rootless electorate, caring only for their bread and circuses (as well as free healthcare and other social "free money" programs), that has led to our present national debt of trillions of dollars?

I believe we need to look at a well run corporate model to discover the proper way to restore legislative and fiscal responsibility to our suffering country before hyperinflation destroys whats left of our "City on a Hill".

When important issues need to be decided in a publically-owned corporation, a shareholder meeting is called. Shareholders are then given voting privileges directly related to the amount of shares they own. The more shares, the more your vote will effect the outcome. The thought being, of course, that people heavily invested in a company will tend to vote responsibly since it is in their best interest to do so. Any notion of extending voting rights to non-shareholders would be ridiculed, and justly so, since people with no real financial stake in a company could naturally be expected to vote themselves one big dividend and close the company down.

The US government and the dollar are ready proxy examples for my corporate governance example above. Every owner of a US dollar in a very real sense owns one share of the federal government. Indeed, the dollar is really the most prevalent evidence of an investment today, not property. Every April when we do our taxes we reaffirm this principle by paying a substantial amount of our income to fund the folks in Washington D.C. in their work. For this reason I believe a measure of an investment stake should be weighed in terms of taxes paid each year by US citizens, rather than how many houses or condos they own. After all, someone sending in thousands of their dollars in taxes each year certainly should have a greater say in how those funds are spent than an individual who has paid nothing. It just makes good common as well as fiscal sense.

I am willing to consider the assessment of bonus points for certain classes of voters, like soldiers who have risked their lives in defense of their nation. Shed blood counts as an investment in my book.

The sickness the US suffers today isn't just a malaise of the economy or leadership, it's one of imagination. If this country is to weather the storm that it presently finds itself in, we must start thinking of out-of-the-box solutions ASAP. Business as usual thinking will only see our ship-of-state run aground, and it's citizens shipwrecked.

Rick

Junk Silver & Eagles vs. Silver Rounds!

Objectively speaking, an American Silver Eagle (ASE) coin, one oz. of 90% junk silver coins ($1.40 face value), and a one troy ounce silver round are exactly the same. Silver is, after all, silver. However, I recommend buying ASE's and 90% junk (pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, dollars) rather than privately minted silver rounds, even though the former two are a bit more expensive than the latter.

Why?

Should an economic collapse occur (and assuming basic law & order is maintained or at least locally reestablished), Americans will go through a crash course in trading and real money. Initially, I expect FRN's (paper dollars) will still be exchanged due to long habit even though they have all reverted to their inherently worthless state. Next, the 90% junk silver (pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars) as well as the ASE's will make an appearance in trade. US minted coins will matter and their value more readily recognizable and universal.

Privately minted money in the form of rounds is an alien concept to Americans, and to the citizens of the world today. I expect this prejudice to be around a long time despite the inherent logic of the silver is silver argument.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):


Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Best Places to Buy Survival Gold & Silver!

There are many pitfalls to face when deciding what and where to buy your silver and gold for investment or survival purposes. It's easy to fall prey to fast-talking sales people and radio, tv, and internet hustlers. Based on my personal buying experiences, and thousands of hours spent researching the topic, I can offer some easy and quick advice to avoid getting cheated out of your valuable precious metal funds.

1. Gainesville Coins www.gainesvillecoins.com
The National Inflation Association (NIA) http://inflation.us/ has rated this vendor number #1 for bullion sales. I've bought gold and silver American Eagles from them by wire at very competitive prices and received a flawless product promptly. Rick's Recommendation: Stick with the Gold and Silver American Eagle coins. Avoid foreign coins like the plague. Americans don't like foreign languages and the precious metal content isn't always indicated.

2. APMEX APMEX Gold and Silver
I like APMEX for their "junk silver" pre-1965 90% silver coin selection. Rick's Recommendation: Stock up on the 90% junk silver. Avoid the 40% clads, war nickels, and proof sets. Competitive prices and good products.

3. Ebay www.ebay.com
What can I say that hasn't already been said? You can get some deals here on junk silver and gold & silver bullion if you're willing to invest the time in locating auctions and being disciplined about your bidding. Make sure to check the seller's rating and look for 100% positive responses whenever possible. Rick's Recommendation: Use the Coinflation.com silver and gold calculator to determine how much you should bid on bullion and junk coins and stick to your guns.

BEWARE: Hyped companies like Goldline International www.goldline.com are targeted to those new to silver and gold purchasing, as well as those who fear another government gold confiscation as happened in 1933. Sales people encourage customers to buy foreign gold coins as "collector items" at prices that are substantially higher than other online competitors. All those radio, TV, and internet ads cost a bundle, and the company's pricing seems to reflect these inflated costs.
Rick's Recommendation: Steer clear of all foreign and collector's coins. They're just code words for spending a lot of money for less precious metal and/or coins that will be difficult to trade. The same thing goes for brilliant uncirculated BU coins, proof sets, first strikes etc. Unfortunately, the Goldline website seems to cater to all these questionable investments to the virtual exclusion of production gold and silver American Eagles.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

Note: I own gold and silver coins purchased from Gainesville, APMEX, and Ebay. My article is based on my purchasing experiences, and your mileage may vary. The bottom line is DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND DUE DILIGENCE BEFORE BUYING ANY GOLD AND SILVER! Do NOT just take my word, or the word of anyone else, as Gospel when making any investment decision.

Goldline International Scam Investigation Opened!

An investigation has been launched by Democratic Congressmen Weiner & Rush, of the selling practices of Goldline International. Goldline uses high profile conservative firebrands like Glenn Beck to promote their gold & silver coins and bullion. I believe the investigation by the government of Goldline is politically motivated, and represents yet another glaring example of the "Big Brother" mentality that seemingly has engulfed our nation.

My own review of their online selling practices and their website reveals they primarily profit by selling gold and silver coins at extremely high prices to novices, incited by inflammatory ads featuring conservative icons. The company especially seems to prefer non-bullion numismatic coins as their "true value" is much more nebulous, and not directly linked to silver and gold prices (as are bullion coins). The sales pitch relies heavily on worries about the economy and a possible Federal government confiscation of non-numismatic gold coins, as happened in 1933 under FDR. Goldline claims profit margins of 30-35%, but I suspect they actually soar as high as 67% on their favorite coin, the Swiss 20 Franc gold coin! On the other hand, competitors like Amergold.com offer the same coins at only about a 13% market up!

The Swiss coins contain 0.1867 troy ounces of gold, and are a little smaller than a nickel. The coin is promoted as a rare numismatic coin, and therefore likely exempt from any future government mandated confiscation. In reality, however, the coin is actually quite common and is of little numismatic value. Their website also spends a lot of time selling First Strike, Proof, and other coins that usually demand high premiums above and beyond their gold or silver content.

You can read my other blogs for more information, but I've said previously that most Americans should concentrate on American pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars (junk silver), and American Silver or Gold Eagles from Gainesville Coins or Apmex if they don't want to be ripped off. Bottom line, you'll get a lot more silver and gold for your buck. The numismatic and specialty coin premiums are much higher and more volatile than bullion investments, and easily evaporate in periods of severe economic instability. However, do your OWN research first BEFORE buying. Take no one's word, (including mine), as to the best investment vehicles for your particular situation. DO YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE, PEOPLE! Don't rely on Uncle Sam to always be there to correct your ignorant or lazy mistakes!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

China Promises Not to "NUKE" the US!

China Promises Not To Use "Nuclear" Option And Buy Gold, Dump US Assets!

China owns $2.45 Trillion US Dollars. That gives them a "nuclear option" of power over the US. If they were to dump these assets all at once buying gold, silver, or other real investments, the US dollar would become virtually worthless overnight! You'd be lucky to get buying power of $0.10 on the dollar. An actual nuclear bomb dropped on a US city would actually do a LOT LESS damage to the US than such an economic move.

How did we let the Chinese get such a stranglehold on our nads?

PS. We can trust the Chinese to be honorable men of their word, right?! :(

"Government is the only agency which can take a useful commodity like paper, slap some ink on it, and make it totally worthless."

Inflation Stole My Houses!

In 1913 the Average House cost $3,400 - a millionaire could buy about 295 average homes.

If you bought gold in 1913 with your million dollars at $20 an ounce you'd have bought 50,000 ounces. The value of the 50,000 ounces today would be about $60 million dollars.

In 2010 the average house cost around $200,000 with gold at $1200 per ounce. With $60 million dollars you could buy about 300 homes!

If you kept the cash in, well, cash... you could buy 5 WHOLE HOMES now! What happened? The government and the Big Bankers stole your money using a sly instrument called INFLATION.

If a man offers you gold or silver and you decide to take green paper instead - then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for SALE with your name on it!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

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Flying Money

Around 800 AD, The Chinese Tang dynasty invented the first paper money. China was a big country, and the rulers of China didn't like the idea of having to transfer all that heavy gold and silver around on a constant basis. The money certificates were exchangeable by merchants for the stated amount of precious metals in any city in the Empire. This remarkable innovation in trade was nicknamed "flying money" by the Chinese merchants, due to the frequent problem with the valuable paper blowing away on the slightest breeze!

A couple hundred years later the Song, Chin, and Mongol rulers began to use paper currency throughout China. By 1309 AD, the currency called the Yuan, had depreciated 1000%. Often the government would refuse to exchange the old money for new as the old became battered and useless. By the end, the great innovation that so impressed Marco Polo had ceased to have any connection to gold or silver, and reverted to it's inherent worth...nothing!

Every paper currency that followed in Europe, America, and around the world has either collapsed or become substantially devalued. In 1950, a US silver dollar bought 4 gallons of gas. It would do the same today due to its silver content if you sold it for US paper dollars. A paper dollar saved from 1950, however, wouldn't even buy half a gallon of gas at your local pump. That, my friends, is inflation and currency devaluation. Please keep in mind as well, that this loss of buying power occurred during the period of time where the USA was the Mightiest nation on Earth!

Is worthlessness the inevitable future for the US Dollar? In a word, yes. It's purely a matter of time. Perhaps it will be a matter of days, months, or years, but it will eventually become WORTHLESS. The process of paper currency devaluation is like an hourglass with an elastic neck, the sand will continue to slip away, only the rate at which it falls is open for debate.

There are a few truisms in historical economics. Governments will always seek to debase currency because it allows them to spend without raising taxes (which everyone who votes generally hates). Think about that for a moment. If you had a printing press and could print your own money seemingly without a reckoning, wouldn't you print away 24/7? When the government gets print-happy, however, the money supply soars leaving manufactured products & supplies in the dust. Too much money chasing too few goods means inflation, or worse, hyperinflation.

Buy 90% "junk" silver coins, American Silver or Gold Eagles now and prevent your money from FLYING AWAY!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

Why I Hate the War...Nickel!

Why I Hate the War Nickel...let me count the ways!

1. APMEX wants to charge me $21 to buy 20 of you, but will pay me only $16 if I want to sell them back! That kind of depreciation makes me want to drive an expensive sportscar off a dealership lot as a superior investment!

2. You're the ugliest coin on the planet!

3. You perpetuate the stereotype that a nickel might be worth something!

4. You're made from 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. What the heck is manganese?

5. OK. You helped beat the Nazis and the Japanese by giving up your nickel content for the war effort. But, what have you done lately for the US?

6. People talk about your silver melt price. What crap! No refinery would have them even though it is currently legal to melt these silver nickels! The extra energy costs because of the strange alloy means refineries would rather have 90%, 80%, or even 40% coins any day before touching the old war nickel.

7. Some 1942 nickels have silver in them and some don't! What?! No, I don't want to look at the reverse and look for the extra big mint mark above Jeff's Monticello!

8. Did I mention you're ugly...and your Momma is fat?!

9. & 10. This one is worth two because it irritates me soooo much. I can't tell you how many times I've read some post on a survival site about some knucklehead who got himself a real deal way below the spot silver price by purchasing these coin abominations. Look cheese-head, you get what you pay for! Heck, they should've been paying you to hall these ugly sons of an unknown father and a morally lax mother away to the nearest landfill!

The War Nickel has, and always will, occupy the lowest rung of the silver coin ladder. In a real apocalyptic emergency you will NEVER convince a non-collector that these blackish coins have silver in them. Besides, they're called...a NICKEL! Most people think they have...NICKEL in them!

My advice? Open up your wallet and buy some 90% junk silver dimes, quarters, halves, dated pre-1965 in the USA, and you might actually be able to trade in the future.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

Silver After the Apocalypse

So, the Apocalypse is finally over and things have settled down. The last of the brain-eating zombie packs have been put down, and local law enforcement has been restored. Now what do you use for trading? Chickens, unschucked corn, bales of hay? No, those commodities are bulky, a royal pain. and just not practical. Instead, let's try silver and gold.

Silver & gold have been a medium of currency used in trading societies for 6000 years. The types you're most likely to see coin-wise are the following: Pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars, American Silver Eagles, and weird, alien items called silver rounds.

Most Americans are blissfully unaware about the state of decay of their once great coinage. After a return to a more primitive trading state, you're going to have to educate your new trading partners. If you follow my primer it will be easy. Just say, "look, Sparky. All US dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars minted before 1965 are 90% silver. Anything else is crap (yes, I'm aware of the Kennedy clads and war nickels...and I hold to my statement). American Silver Eagles (ASE's) have Lady Liberty on front, and the Seal of the USA on the reverse. More importantly, they say on the back 1 oz Fine Silver - One Dollar. They were certified and minted by the US government and are and will in the future be reliable trade coins.

Silver rounds I saved for last. To be fair they contain one troy ounce of silver as well as the ASE's. However, my problem is that they are minted from a wide variety of private companies you're ernstwhile trading buddy has probably never heard of, and there are literally hundreds of versions of these things. Heck, I saw one with freaking Santa Claus on it! Are they serious? How in the heck are you going to convince some poor, uneducated slob that he should substitute "In God We Trust" with jolly old Saint Nick?!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

Global Warming: Cooking Up The Facts

I ran into a news story today that had it's genesis a few years back that is still pretty valid...at least in the minds of some people.

The scientists at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, did a study in 2003 on Global Warming and it's alleged impact on the health of children in developing nations. The two paragraphs below summarize their scientific findings.

"We estimate that climate change may already be causing in the region of 160,000 deaths...a year," Professor Andrew Haines of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told a climate change conference in Moscow.

"The disease burden caused by climate change could almost double by 2020," he added, even taking account of factors like improvements in health care. He said the estimates had not been previously published.

Wow, pretty frightening conclusions, right? Yes, it's terrifying to me that scientists are just pulling these numbers out of the most rarefied of airs without any scientifically quantifiable evidence. These paragons of scientific reason went on to claim that...most deaths would be in developing nations in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, which would be hardest hit by the spread of malnutrition, diarrhea and malaria in the wake of warmer temperatures, floods and droughts.

Did you get all that? It reads more like the Apocalypse of The Book of Revelations or the writings of Nostradamus than any scientific journal I've ever seen! In my high school science class my teacher taught me that in order for a thought or conjecture to take on the mantle of a scientific theory, it must be falsifiable. In other words, you have to provide me, the skeptic, with enough facts that you used to formulate your theory so that I have all the information I need to try to prove your theory wrong. It doesn't sound fair, but those are the rules. For instance, if you claim 160,000 children are already dying each year from diseases, malnutrition, hail storms, late night TV, meteorites etc., that are directly attributable to rising global temperatures, whether artificially caused or naturally occurring, you've got to provide me (and the world) with a pretty impressive amount of paperwork to back up such an extraordinary claim!

So, you may be wondering, just what proof did these men of science proffer to back up their 160,000 number. Nothing! Bupkiss! Zilch...well... you get it. You see these distinguished (or is it extinguished) men of learning say we can't wait for the facts to be properly compiled. We need to leap now into the void and do something before it's too late!

Funny, I tried the same sloppy approach when handing in my science lab report at the last minute as a teenage student. I just didn't have the time to do the experiment properly using a valid scientific method, but heck, I knew what the end result was supposed to be anyway! If I had waited to do the work the right way, the school might've already been closed and the lights out for the day. I had to act immediately, and scientific methods be damned!

I failed that lab report. I can still see the big red "F" on my paper, and the glowering look of disappointment and disgust on my science teacher, Mr. Arturo's face. He didn't accept my lazy approach to his class, and he gave me the poor grade I so richly deserved on the lab paper.

We should give the same treatment to these quacks as well!

I assure you, if Mr. Arturo had them in his class today they would be on the receiving end of some fearsome scowling!

Rick

Obama: Thug in Chief?

President Obama said he wanted to know "whose a** to kick" over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, adding to the pressure on energy giant BP as it sought to capture more of the leak from its gushing well. Do you think his words crossed the bounds of good taste, or were they appropriate under the circumstances?

Personally, I think there are times or situations when "cussing" may be appropriate. Stubbing your toe on the way to the bathroom late at night is one. Getting your hand caught in a closing car door is another. While bestowing a beating on a guy you just caught crawling out of your wife's bedroom window after arriving home unexpectedly early from work - qualifies. Lastly, catching a vandal using a key to write Prez Obama's recent BP speech into the door of your car!

We all know he and the entire country is upset about the BP oil spill. It's a major catastrophe - no question. But is even this extreme situation adequate reason for the inheritor of the office of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln to curse like "a hood" in front of the nation and the world? Is it possible for the American mind to even dream of the wise and dignified General Washington threatening to "kick the a**" of the British? I have a fertile imagination, but even I can't conceive of the word "a**" being mentioned in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Can you?

If this "incident" is some carefully planned tactic to appear tough and in control, it's immature and reprehensible. If the "gutter-mouthing" was unplanned, I'm even more appalled. Because that means we've elected a man who is perhaps better suited for the title, "Thug in Chief"!

SHAME!

Rick

Who's Your Daddy? The Evils of Governmental Paternalism

Who's your Daddy? It's a funny saying / question with a genesis in the mid-20th century African-American culture. It does bring up a thought-provoking subject, however, in the early 21st century. Just who is our father (and mother)? The US Government or the people we call Mom and Dad?

Traditionally, the role of parents is to help you learn to make good decisions and protect you from yourself. This parental authority is largely moral, as are many of the decisions they assist you in making. If you violate the parental rules and regulations, a parent's recourse is limited (especially today). Groundings and extra chores are the typical punishments handed out. When you leave home and / or reach 18, you may chose to hold to what you were taught by Mom and Dad or not. Either way it's your choice. If you want to smoke cigarettes, do drugs, live in an unhealthy way, cuss, and watch late night TV, they simply lack any compulsory authority to dissuade you from these questionable choices. Your mom's nagging not withstanding.

The scene changes markedly, though, when the Federal and State governments begin to assume the mantle of parental moral authority. In the past, the Federal government's job was to protect us from foreign powers, and insure domestic security on a broad scale. The state's job was to maintain order, roads, commerce, and protect the citizens from one another through law, police enforcement etc. Another major difference in governmental authority over paternal is now and always has been in the province of punishment. Mom could send you to your room, but the government could send you "up the river" and forcibly seize your assets! Big, big difference to my mind. But, the government's role in the past was minimal, and if you didn't rob, rape, or kill your fellow state residents, and declined to invade the USA, you were pretty safe from jail. At any rate, no state legislature or President ever considered it their province to take over your father's job once you reached 18!

In the 21st century our government has now taken on a decidedly paternal aspect. Today, the state government feels the need to protect you from yourself by enforcing state seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws, the violation of which can lead to hefty fines. Now, my Dad taught me to always use safety belts, and I personally think they're an indispensable part of driving. But Dad never threatened to pull me over and forcibly take hundred of dollars from me if I ignored his advice!

The Federal government, in it's new role as my Mommy and Daddy, is telling me I'll soon have to buy health care that meets their standards, or else! Why? To protect me from myself, and making bad decisions. How much I drink, smoke, exercise, and maybe even cuss, is now their business because my taxes (otherwise known as the government's money) are on the line. Hefty fines (and maybe even imprisonment) await me if I act the "willful child" and fail to comply.

Fellow citizens, Tea Party members, and patriots of America, we need to loudly and clearly tell Obama and Company the following; "You're not our Daddy, dammit!"

Oh, no...I just cussed. I guess they'll be coming for me soon!

Rick

What Kind of Gold/Silver Should I Buy?

The first thing I want to say is that everyone should have some gold or silver stacked away for the future. Any kind of gold or silver will give you an enormous advantage over the 98% of US citizens that have only paper assets (and no stockpiled survival food/water supplies as well). So, if you own any gold or silver, GOOD FOR YOU! You get the Prepper Seal of Approval! You're light years ahead of the average sheeple who is still blindly plugged into The Matrix. My guess is you're probably the type of person who is reading this blog anyway.

The question asked in the title of this article relates only to the conflict between the Preppers (the intellectual chosen people) as to what types or forms of precious metals are best to have for the uncertain future. We know we need gold and silver, we just want to know whether we should buy Numismatic Collectable Coins, Junk Silver, Silver & Gold Eagles, Foreign Coins, or Rounds and Bars. My infuriatingly simple answer is, IT DEPENDS!

I believe the issue can be broken down into two basic questions:

1. Do you want gold & silver for investment purposes, inflationary and hyperinflationary hedges, or later stage SHTF situations? Unfortunately for the Prepper community, all sizes (and forms of precious metals) do NOT fit all situations.

2. If you want gold & silver for an improving SHTF scenario, which form of precious metals will be most acceptable and therefore more valuable? I believe this questions hinges on the depth and breadth of the evolving knowledge of the newly unplugged Matrix denizens.

In Inflationary periods any of the above gold and silver forms will grant you a defense against the decaying buying power during inflation. Hyperinflationary periods are similarly accepting of all forms of gold and silver, with the only exception being the fact that numismatic coins and values just don't do as well. Coin collecting is a hobby of the rich and the happy middle classes. Hyperinflation makes these classes very unhappy as their wealth evaporates. During this painful period coin collecting is strictly relegated to a low priority, therefore numismatic premiums above precious metal content will suffer.

Bottom Line? During inflation and hyperinflation eBay and coin shops will still exist. You'll be able to exchange your silver and gold in virtually any form fairly easily for currency. You'll also keep up with buying power (or even advance) while paper folks are running around with wheelbarrows overflowing with green fiat paper!

Summary: Inflation - junk silver, gold & silver numismatically valued coins (preferably US - its just easier), Silver & Gold American Eagles, rounds, bars, your grammas silverware, etc. are all good. In Hyperinflation its all good as well, with the exception of numismatic coins.

The next scenario is where things get tough and contentious. SHTF (..it hits the fan) is what most survivalists are referring to when they mention prepping. Society, law and order, and the economy have collapsed. People are starving and perishing for lack of food, water, fuel, medicines etc. So what form of gold and silver are the best in the early stages of collapse? Answer - NONE! People need food and clean water in these initial stages, and they need to defend themselves from marauders. Shiny metals won't supply any of these very basic needs. Preppers who have these INVALUABLE resources will not trade you these necessities for any form of your gold and silver. And the 98% of the population who were completely unprepared for the complete collapse of the world order don't even have enough food for themselves, much less a surplus they can afford to trade away for your junk silver or gold eagles.

Only in the later rebuilding stages of the SHTF situation will gold and silver come into play once more. The question of knowledge of value becomes relevant again as well. Law and order exists once more, at least in the small towns. Economic recovery has begun, and commodity and useful item bartering is a common activity within a 20 mile radius of the newly ordered towns. However, hauling around produce all day to trade to a neighbor for clothing, canned peaches etc., is becoming tiresome. People start waking up to the fact that gold and silver still exist, and can be used once again for trading purposes. So what silver or gold is best to dig out of your stockpile?

I believe the most familiar form of precious metal will be the preferred choice, old 90% silver pre-1965 junk dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars (war nickels and non-1964 Kennedy halves not included*) will be most useful and readily accepted. Why? Because many people remember that they were once used as currency, and carry the stamp of the old US, the importance of which hasn't totally evaporated yet. Next would come Silver and Gold Eagles. These coins carry a premium due to the stamp on the coin as legal tender with silver content of the Old US. However, people will still need to be educated about just what exactly they are. Most US citizens today do NOT own Eagles, and are not even aware of their existence! They'll be harder to trade at first than the more common junk silver. Lastly, comes the precious metal rounds and bars. Yes, I know they have the same amount of silver as the Eagles, but just who the hell is Sunshine Minting and Johnson Matthey? That's what you're going to have to explain to extremely skeptical (non survival prep) trading partners!

I believe there will still be enough trust in the reputation of the Old US to make US minted coins, 90% junk silver and Eagles, acceptable fairly quickly during the SHTF recovery period. But the privately minted rounds and bars will not have that stamp of approval to rely upon. People will remember that private companies could and did cheat their customers, and that tungsten filled-gold bars did exist. Indeed, even the notion of a private currency will be a hard sell to a NON-PREPPER! Remember, everyone alive today thinks that printing your own money up is called COUNTERFEITING, and is BAD! As a result, I firmly believe that junk silver and ASE's and GSE's are the best ways to go. Believe me, you won't care about the small extra premiums you had to pay during this period of time for the Eagles over comparable rounds. Of course, keep in mind I'm not saying your rounds will be worthless (perish the thought), just a lot more of a pain to move than their US minted alternatives.


Summary: SHTF Recovery Mode - Junk Silver and Gold & Silver Eagles are the only way to fly!

*Note above on 1942-1945 35% silver war nickels and the 40% silver 1965-1970 Kennedy halves. Remember, with non-prepper trading partners you need to keep things simple. They'll understand eventually that all pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars are 90% silver. But please, do not find yourself having to explain these two freaks to non-preppers and non-coin collectors! Yes, I know pound for pound they're cheaper than the 90% coins. My reply? They should be! And please, don't get me started on those so-ugly-even-a-mother-couldn't-love 35% silver "war nickels". I mean, they don't even look like a silver coin! And don't forget to explain to your perplexed trading partners that some of the 1942 nickels weren't made from silver, so you have to look for the big mint mark on the back. Can you say i before e except after c, and sometimes y and w?!Please, give me a break! Refiners like the reputable Midwest Refinery scorn these two silver coins as unacceptable for melting now, and I don't believe anyone else will really want them in the future. Personally, if you have these two turds I recommend you sell them NOW on ebay and buy 90% junk silver ASAP!

Additional Note: I didn't really get into foreign coinage at all. I know there are a lot of stunning Pandas, Kooks, Krugs etc., out there. But notice I didn't even attempt to spell the last two coin names for a very crucial reason. Americans just aren't very knowledgeable about foreign coins and grams and such. We want ounces, and English only please! So, avoid these coins for SHTF instances unless your just a collector who has extra money to play with.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Gold & Silver vs. Guns & Ammo

In the survival prepper community no topic seems to garner more heated debate than the question of whether to buy and stockpile gold or ammo. The gold side argues that investments in precious metals will see you through any crisis and are easy to accumulate and store. The ammo side, on the other hand, heaps scorn upon precious metals with such apparent simplicities as "you can't eat gold". Instead, the ammo folks recommend storing food, water, medical supplies, seeds, land, and other basic physical necessities as the best and only way to properly survival prep.

The reader of this blog may now well be asking themselves which survival supplies I recommend, gold or ammo? My answer is, YES! I do not take sides in the survival prepper war because I see a need for both precious metals and actual survival commodities in the following probable and possible future scenarios:

1. Inflation - has been the bane of our national existence the minute we started using fiat currency (paper money). It is highly likely that inflation will continue and accelerate in the future. Precious metals like gold & silver have been bulwarks against wealth erosion via inflation throughout history. It is likely that these shiny metals will continue to maintain their glow in the future.

2. Hyperinflation - The folly of our deficit spending and expanding fiat money supplies make this economic disaster a legitimate concern for any thinking man or woman. Once again, gold & silver have historically helped its owners to weather such times when the inherent worthlessness of a paper money supply unconnected to gold or silver becomes evident to the entire society. Inflation numbering in the thousands of percents per year can easily result, devouring the buying power of any paper or paper linked securities.

I have not mentioned the ammo side in the last two economic situations, because its value is distinctly inferior to precious metals in these particular cases. During the above inflationary periods basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter etc., are available, with only occasional spotty supply interruptions. The main problem isn't that food doesn't exist on the supermarket shelf, it's just that the prices have increased sharply. Stored gold and silver is easily converted to negotiable currency and will keep pace with either inflation or hyperinflation, maintaining or even possibly increasing commodity buying power. On the other hand, the extensive use of ammo in these situations where basic law and order is still present will only get you shot by the authorities or imprisoned. In addition, gold and silver coins or bars can be easily stored, transported, and sold. Physical supplies, not as much.

3. SHTF and / or TEOTWAWKI - In the case of the end of the world as we know it, precious metals can quickly lose their luster. If millions are starving, lacking basic medical supplies, and law and order has broken down completely, shiny metals will only get you laughed at or more likely killed. Imagine trying to bargain for food or water during the height of the Katrina disaster, with mobs of desperate looters roaming the streets, with only a few gold or silver coins! Starving masses want bread and clean water, not useless pocket change! In addition, for those who believe that a return to such a primitive existence will be permanent, precious metals will likely never be of any use as well.

However, in the course of human history there have been many natural disasters, wars, plagues, economic collapses, but we have always recovered. A return to even a limited law and order society will likely see the return of the gold and silver coins to favor. Why? Because carrying around bales of hay all day long so you can barter them to purchase chickens from a guy who's been touring with clucking fowl is a ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASS! That's why mankind reports the use of gold and silver coins in our earliest records.

I believe we must go back to the old west for some needed guidance and perspective in this precious metals worth question during a SHTF recovery period. A few hundred years ago when trappers traded with the Native Americans in the wilderness, they traded useful items like knives, guns, ammo, food, clothing, liquor etc., for the beaver skins they desired. After all, what would an Indian in the middle of the wilderness have wanted with shiny gold or silver coins? No, it wasn’t until the trader returned to “civilization” that he encountered trading posts willing to exchange silver and gold for beaver skins or other goods. A true SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation is essentially identical to this old wilderness trading situation. Silver and gold only have value when you have established enough law and order and reestablished enough economic sophistication, that trading stations can be maintained and made profitable without being burned and raided on a regular basis.

No one knows for sure what the future has in store for us. I think a true survival prepper will use whatever resources he has now to provide for some level of protection for all three of the above challenges.

Disclosure Note: I put my money where my mouth is. I have some of all of the above mentioned survival prep metals and commodities.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!