Minor Super Tuesday Musings

I wrote the following e-mail last night to a friend with whom I have been discussing investing in precious metals, and I forwarded it to a few other ‘what’s-happening-to-the-economy’ friends this morning, one of whom suggested posting it here on AADB, so I am, with a few additions. (They don't call me the queen of run-on sentences for nothing.)

I cannot bring myself to discuss the current sorry state of what passes for the American ‘election process’ just now -- for lack of time to address the subject in the manner it deserves, and for at least current lack of interest in doing so, because the entire effort seems pretty much futile just now. The brief message below simply deals with a very small sliver of what passes for our economy these days. I hope to add more in the near future. In the meantime, I’m sure many of you are capable of adding much more in-depth commentary on the broader economy, and I hope you’ll take the time to do so.
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‘Super Tuesday’, February 5th, 11:29 PM:

Put plainly and succinctly (and from the perspective of someone who is by no means an expert in investing, in precious metals, or anything else): ever since I decided to stop trusting the 'experts' and began serious personal investing on my own -- maybe fifteen years ago -- I have believed in owning a significant amount of physical gold, silver and platinum.

I see the future of this country in terms that will change from a current misty grey to a very unfortunate black. Our economy -- and that of the world, whose foundations rest in ours, like it or not -- is based on conveniently-created mirages, crafted by men whose focus is on personal and ideological power. They no longer bear any allegiance to our Founders' vision, or to real economic theory/free market theory.

People talk about the fluctuation in the price of precious metals. That fluctuation is discussed in terms of American dollars. Yet the American dollar is on the verge of worthlessness (maybe in our lifetime -- maybe in our children's -- but worthlessness nonetheless), simply because its value rests in the hands of men who do not respect industry, or work ethic, or genuine success, or honesty itself. They respect power. And it is backed by a government that is corrupt to the core.

There will come a day when no amount of dollars will buy a person what he needs. And yet something else will have to be of value. I believe such value will be found in two categories: (1) the natural resources we actually need in order to live, and (2) the ability to create, repair and invent ('make do') -- representing a reversion to 'the old (and in many ways better) days'. And where the actual 'buying' of what we need to survive becomes necessary, we will be forced to resort back to a 'currency' that has been deemed of value in historical terms -- high on that list being precious metals. After all, our dollar, when it had any intrinsic value, was backed by such metal.

I believe that much more than a recession is over the horizon -- maybe not in our lifetimes, but at least in our children's -- and that recovering from that 'more than a recession' will be brutal, if possible at all.

We had the wherewithal of character to recover from the Great Depression, but we were a different people back then. And, even more importantly, so were our leaders. Americans in the 30s also had the good fortune not to have an enemy -- obsessed, bloodthirsty, gaining strength every day, and not contained within any borders, nor kept outside of our own -- breathing down their necks. Had they faced such a deadly threat, they at least knew their leadership would genuinely despise it, identify it, keep it at bay, and attempt to eradicate it.

As a people, we are without integrity, without 'grit', and without a knowledge of our roots. We want to be entertained more than we want to do what is necessary to survive as a free people. And our leadership doesn't give a damn about America's (as our Founders conceived her) survival. They see our Founders' vision, and the America that existed up until fifty years ago, as something that requires covert 'fixing' -- so that a global elite can call all the shots and reap all the rewards made possible by those of us still willing to work.

I just came home from my office. In addition to working there, I purposefully insulated myself from the political news of the day. Turned on Fox(what passes for)News when I arrived home, and realized that we have indeed underestimated the ignorance of the American electorate. We're daily taking major steps toward that line of demarcation known as the point of no return.

It's a sad day in America.

~ joanie