|
Post by twp on Mar 26, 2024 10:22:07 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by twp on Apr 4, 2024 13:18:47 GMT -6
If you follow the gold and silver price in US dollars, remember that the point can be made (IS made) that the dollar price is really a measure of the value of the US dollar. Gold and Silver up, dollar value down and vice versa. www.goldchartsrus.com/chartstemp/FreeCharts.phpAs a Prepper, I do stack PMs but NOT as a speculation on future price in US dollars (a fiat currency which has no backing at the present time). My expectation is that if/when the fiat currencies are crashed by their various government agencies, there will be need for a currency which is recognizable as money and trade goods by people around the world. DO NOTE that it is not only PMs which have this potential value. Most commodities can be "stacked" as part of our Prepper stockpiles. Yes, that includes Lead, in various forms, Copper, usually in wire form, Platinum as coins and bars. Think of these commodities as trade goods in a Post TEOTWAWKI market. Ask yourself what commodities will be sought when fiat money becomes worthless. Remember that the generic term "commodity" applies to almost everything which we consume. For instance: Got Water? TWP
|
|
|
Post by kelabar on Apr 26, 2024 4:57:31 GMT -6
Ask yourself what commodities will be sought when fiat money becomes worthless. Excellent point. You can throw gold and silver at people as a (not really effective) weapon, but otherwise precious metals are a store of wealth. You can't eat them. Put them away until some sort of rule of law comes back. Meanwhile look at barter goods. Food was valuable in Leningrad in the 1940s, batteries in Yugoslavia, etc. Look at other SHTF events and learn what is actually needed when things go a bit ooky. A few examples IMO are electricity and transport. On a large scale being able to run a freezer or washing machine could be a very valuable service if grid power go down. The ability to recharge lights, radios, laptops and comms could also be valuable. And batteries, esp. AA, AAA and CR123, will end up being in demand I think. Welding is something else that not many will be able to do. For transport, if no one else can make a vehicle move and you can, you will be in great demand. Veg oil for diesels (maybe heating oil too, not sure on this I have no experience with it), alcohol or methane for gasoline engines. Wood gasifiers are proven tech. Propane conversions for gasoline engines. Even hand carts or bicycle trailers. Either make them and sell them or run a transport service. Whatever is in demand. Don't forget steam engines either. Small scale ones are relatively easy to make and with care they can last a long time. Mechanical energy and movement without using human power has made our lives a LOT easier. Look into it.
|
|
|
Post by twp on Apr 26, 2024 10:27:31 GMT -6
I feel the need to qualify my OP on this topic.
I said "when ...fiat currencies are crashed by their various government agencies". That has already happened, for all intents and purposes.
Yes, I'm still using physical fiat US dollars and they are still being accepted (mostly) in our local stores, HOWEVER, there is a definite pressure by gubermints to use plastic/digital money.
Case in point:
A week ago, I made the choice to close a bank account because that bank (which shall remain nameless) kept pressuring me to use online banking instead. This is a bank with many branches across my US state and the branch office which I had used had Three teller stations, fully manned and at least five employees visible in the office.
Without going into detail, I requested a specific feature on my account, I did that in a face-to-face conversation with both a teller AND their supervisor. I assumed that my verbal request was understood and processed, YET, a week later I was presented with a written account status document with DID NOT act on the specific feature which I had requested. Sorry, I know that sounds unclear, but I don't want to point a finger to the specific bank/branch. Suffice to say that I was dissatisfied with the service being offered.
I took the written account status document (a letter) into the physical branch and explained that this was not what I wanted and not acceptable. Their first response, to my face, was to tell me to use the online account tools. I repeat that they have THREE teller stations, manned by three tellers and I was standing in front of a teller AND their supervisor... This is not good customer service...
This led to my closing my bank account (oops, not my account, it was the Bank's account). I had to repeat myself to finally get my account balance refunded (cash). They (teller and supervisor) kept telling me to go home and to their online portal and place my request/demand. OK, rant over, but I hope you get the idea... Poor service and unwillingness to deal in physical fiat money.
ARGGH!
Sorry for the long post, but I hope you look at your own banking situation. Are you being served or just "serviced"?
TWP
|
|
|
Post by kelabar on Apr 26, 2024 18:19:25 GMT -6
I had to laugh (internally). A workmate tried to take cash out at the bank recently to buy a car. Was told they can't do that without advanced notice, blah, blah, blah, more excuses, etc. Was having a good old rant when I pointed out "Once you give them your money it is their money, not yours anymore. Read the fine print." Shocked stares... no that can't be right.. general disbelief... and back to normie indignation. Total ignorance of reality!
|
|
|
Post by twp on May 2, 2024 9:42:57 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by kelabar on May 3, 2024 4:52:19 GMT -6
Don't worry everyone. Everything is better now. The MSM news just said that wages in Aus have grown by 4.2% and inflation is only 3.6%. So... apparently... we are all better off. (Insert biggest eye roll in the history of the universe!) Now technically this is probably correct. Wages have grown by 4.2% in the last year...and inflation is only 3.6%, but it is for the last month! That sounds about right! And gold has gone over $2300/oz. Such untold wealth, we are all gunna be rich. Yippee! (end sarcasm) This made me laugh. Can you dehydrate Big Macs and save them to use as money? SWIFT might launch a CBDC but will it matter. It is being sidelined around the world. The BRICS nations have their own setup. More are joining all the time. Many, many countries are trading in their own currencies. Indonesia is setting up its own credit card system. The list goes on. The US dollar is becoming irrelevant to most of the world. The Western nations will cling to it forever, which means until their economies collapse. Some will say that SWIFT handles so much more trading than all the other systems put together but when no one wants to use it because their currency will be frozen and stolen it becomes a moot point. More relevant is local banking. I suspect that 'black market' banks will spring up. Some enterprising people will offer the same sort of services outside of the mainstream, most likely on a local scale. Integrity will be needed, and that will be why they start, but when someone can give you a belt with a 2x4 if you screw them over, you will find that there is a lot less 'screwing' going on. Until then barter and trading can be used. Gold and silver are nice but if things go 'pear-shaped' you can't eat them. Food, fuel, alcohol, cigarettes, batteries, medicines will all have value. If you have something (a good or service) that is wanted by someone else then you can trade that for something they have. Everybody wins. Start thinking about it now.
|
|
|
Post by drhenley on May 3, 2024 5:34:39 GMT -6
Gold and silver are nice but if things go 'pear-shaped' you can't eat them. Food, fuel, alcohol, cigarettes, batteries, medicines will all have value. If you have something (a good or service) that is wanted by someone else then you can trade that for something they have. Everybody wins. Start thinking about it now. And if you don't want anything they have? Barter is nice up to a certain point, until it isn't. It is always is more complicated and less efficient than using a universal medium of exchange (which gold and silver have been for thousands of years). Those things you mentioned are called "commodity money" and the thing about commodity money is that it can be consumed. Sure you can't eat gold and silver, because they are not commodity money, and that's kinda the point of using them. If you could eat money, you would be tempted to eat your money. And then you have none. Now it does depend on the circumstances. If you are stuck on a desert island with only a handful of other people, and limited food. PMs may not work in that situation.
|
|
|
Post by kelabar on May 3, 2024 6:34:36 GMT -6
And if you don't want anything they have? Then tell them you would accept (insert item A or service B) in exchange. They can then go looking for that and swap it for something they have. This is why it is called barter and trading, not sales. Those things you mentioned are called "commodity money" and the thing about commodity money is that it can be consumed. And they can also be produced. Moonshine, growing tobacco, preserved food, etc. Far easier to stockpile them now but still possible after an 'interesting times' event. And you can indeed consume your 'money' if you want to. That is exactly what I mean. "Look kids, gold for dinner today, yum" doesn't quite work. Neither does "We need to get our loved one to a doctor. Quick put some silver ingots in the fuel tank." With commodity money you have both, a money equivalent as well as a commodity which can be used if necessary. What are you going to do with your gold and silver? Trade it for other things? Then you will have no gold and silver. It is the same thing without the ability to use it as a commodity. And barring a gold mine in your back yard you cannot replenish it. PMs are a store of wealth until commodities become available on a dependable basis. If food is scarce no one will want gold. They will want to eat. If you have food available you can trade it or eat it depending on the circumstances. Options are always a good thing, especially if things get tricky.
|
|
|
Post by drhenley on May 3, 2024 8:51:46 GMT -6
And if you don't want anything they have? Then tell them you would accept (insert item A or service B) in exchange. They can then go looking for that and swap it for something they have.You just made my point. Barter gets messy and trying to figure out what you have to trade is worth in terms of what they have to trade causes a trade to be a time consuming and difficult transaction. That's where mediums of exchange come in.
|
|
|
Post by drhenley on May 3, 2024 8:55:37 GMT -6
|
|