Consider this: In 2002 the euro was $.87 on the dollar. Last Friday (4-6-07) it closed at $1.34– a better than 50% gain for the euro in just 4 years. The same is true of gold. In April 2000, gold was selling for $279 per ounce. Last Friday, at the close of the market it skyrocketed to $679.50—more than double the price.

Gold isn’t going up; it’s simply a meter on the waning value of the dollar. The reality is that the dollar is tanking big-time, and the main culprit is the widening trade deficit.

Diversify, diversify, diversify. Any smart investor will say the same thing. While I’m stocking up on gold and silver, I’m also saving in a 401K, have saved in mutual funds, am pondering investing in some stock, and more importantly, am investing in supplies and food, for as Brigham Young once said, “The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat.”

It may not appreciate in an economy where it backs the paper currency, but in a fiat economy it sure does:

Any FRN-based investment portfolio needs to do better than 5% yearly, otherwise it is automatically being depleted through inflation.

Also, gold never appreciates, so its important to note that while converting your wealth to gold might be “safe,” it sure isn’t a great way to invest. :)

I recognize that gold and silver will be worth more than paper, at least for a while. Paper money can lose value overnight, and precious metals will not. I’ll make you a deal then, I will raise the rice, and you can pay me for it with your gold. I like the idea of our self-reliant lifestyles being worth gold! Makes me want to weed, water and harvest and raise my chickens etc. all the more!

Kelly

Draughon cites G. Edward Griffin’s quote to rebut the claim that there is insufficient gold to be used in our economy:

The deeper reality, however, is that the supply is not even important. Remember that the primary function of money is to measure the value of the items for which it is exchanged. In this sense, it serves as a yardstick or ruler of value. It really makes no difference if we measure the length of our rug in inches, feet, yards or meters…. Our rug does not become larger just because we have increased the quantity of measurement units by painting additional markers onto our rulers.

If the supply of gold in relation to the supply of available goods is so small that a one ounce coin would be too valuable for minor transactions, people simply would use half-ounce coins or tenth-ounce coins. The amount of gold in the world does not affect its ability to serve as money, it only affects the quantity that will be used to measure any given transaction (G. Edward Griffin, The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, p. 141)

That’s because all nations’ central banks have shifted to paper currency and abandoned any backing by specie. The 13 trillion dollars in our GDP is just a bunch of inflated fiat Federal Reserve Notes. The GDP goes up, but wealth and money do not. We’re just circulating more bills.

Draughon does a good job in his book of debunking the common myth that we need an “elastic” economy that fiat currency provides, because, as some claim, there wouldn’t be enough gold to back it. Gold is only so pricey because it’s compared to what today’s inflated dollars are. Sure, one wouldn’t want to immediately back everything with dollars – as Ron Paul has repeatedly advocated, it must be a gradual process of reintroducing currency backed by money, to drive down price inflation, and consequently, inflation as a whole.

JFK started to do it, but then he was assassinated and his United States Notes (backed by specie) were removed from circulation.

[/takes off tin foil hat]

If we do not return to the gold standard (which we most assuredly will not, as a nation), then the event described in the title of Draughon’s book—Financial Armageddon—will inevitably occur.

I don’t know of any nations that use the gold standard. Isn’t it impossible?

The country’s GDP is like 13 trillion bucks. The going price for gold is $670 per ounce. So 13 trillion bucks in gold is like 550 million kilograms in gold.

?

Yes. It was an anti-banking company. As I understanding it, their money was backed with specie as an honorable bank should. As Jack Monnett explains in Awakening to our Awful Situation, the larger reason for its economic troubles were the external factors that affected numerous other banks as well.

Are banks really inheritantly bad?

Not at all. When banks back their paper currency with hard specie, offer realistic interest rates, and shun fractional reserve banking policies, then they can be very helpful. Too bad we don’t have any of those these days…

If you only knew how much of the things you mentioned I have, and it is not my intent to brag, but I do most things in an effort to help my siblings as they are not members of the Church, and they will not be prepared on their own.

I am certain I could go out into the middle of a secluded woods and live quite COMFORTABLY by myself for over a year if I have enough time (several days) to get my abode moved into position.

I believe there is no such thing as too much preparation, and I still add to my holdings when I find things at greatly reduced prices. I am an avid yard sale, flea market, and auction buyer. I am also a Wholesale Distributor for Living Essentials in Utah. Of course, being in the precious metals business also helps as I am able to buy gold and silver at MY prices.

When it comes to preparation, everything you do before the emergency is preferable to attempting to do something after the emergency has arrived.

During the Hyper Inflation in Germany and other European countries, people sold valuable jewelry and other items for loaves of bread, or a bag of potatoes. Please do not tell me that having gold and silver with which to conduct commerce will not be preferable to accepting whatever the world socialists come up with in order to live your daily life such as a micro chip embedded in your body somewhere. I assure you, I will permit NO MAN putting that kind of chain on my life, but many will.

Say what you will about gold and silver. I believe a poor Chinese rice farmer would give you rice for gold or silver, but he will not give you any for fiat currency once the currency has been demonetized through the plans of the NWO elitists.

I agree with what you’ve said here. Things will get much worse before they seem to get better. Draughon’s book uses an excellent analogy of musical shares to show that everybody is content while the music is still playing, but not until the music stops playing (read: economic crash) do people worry about finding a seat.

I share your interest in and acquisition of gold and silver. I don’t have a lot, but I’ve started, and will continue to acquire more as a sound investment while I watch all dollar-based savings lose purchasing power and long-term stability.

Hopefully our brothers and sisters are working feverishly to get their food storage and other necessities in order. My predictions (my opinion and I have no facts to provide, but there are many available) are that before the end of this year we will experience some kind of major economical disruption which will further the “fear factor” to a point where our Federal Government will seize upon another golden opportunity to abrogate our freedoms, thus leaving us ever closer to Constitutional impotency.

If you do not now have gold and silver coins as part of your emergency preparedness and readiness plan, I would suggest doing so as the metals continue to gradually rise just enough to keep the populace moving toward “Financial Armageddon” at a sustainable pace before the World Banks declare foul and we clamor for our Federal Government to “protect” us.

I have been a “gold bug” for over 20 years and a follower of Howard Ruff and others who know the real value of monetary trade lies in the precious metals, i.e. gold and silver. Fortunately, I am a coin and precious metals dealer here in Ohio so I am able to keep myself informed and prepared in this area also. I believe gold will reach a new high this year (again this is part of my informed opinion) and that will bode well for my business.

The most worrisome part of what I see coming is that the burden upon the Church Welfare System will likely be caused by too many members not being prepared. This too will be a part of the sifting process. I also fear, as I have mentioned before, that there is a movement afoot to remove the tax exempt status from all churches, and some of the so-called Hate Crimes legislation being put forward is designed to bring that about.

Let us hope our Lord will be merciful unto those of us who are not obedient to His guidance, and the guidance of His Prophets. If He is not, He will yet be justified in His actions.