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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (7320)	8/21/1999 10:20:00 AM
From: Alan Whirlwind	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81131

Hello Searle, If I may comment on your points about goldbugs in the order you presented them: "(1) Someone who clearly believes gold should be a good/superior investment under all circumstances" From my persepective, "superior hold of value" would be a better term than "investment". I don't deny gold has lost some value here in the last couple of years, but look at the boon we've had in technology and productivity--everything is coming down in value with gold. I do raise an eyebrow at what oil is presently doing and at the terrible drought in the US. I was just in Tennessee and Georgia and the corn is in aweful shape. A good portion of the US is suffering from a multiyear shortage of rain. A hot, dry next summer similar to 1988 would be a real killer and grains would soar. "(2) Someone who attributes gold's failure to perform, as he believes it should, to someone else's evil doing" If you were invested in the Dow, bonds, etc, and you had the power by manipulating one commodity to increase or at least maintain your gains, wouldn't you take advantage? "(3) Someone who mistrusts the present monetary system and all the individuals and institutions in it and regards them as being part of a conspiracy against "decent" people. This conspiracy, historically, includes Rothschilds, Illuminati, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Trilateral Commission, Central Banks, Greenspan, Rubin, Goldman Sachs etc. You will note that most of the evil doers have Jewish/Eastern European names." I think people who bring this sort of stuff up are trying to find an anti-semetic under every bed. You could throw Joe Shmoe on the list too, but he doesn't have anything more than a $500 CD to his name. Obviously the names of rich families are going to be picked on. The rich pick on the poor plenty themselves so I don't have much pity for them and to protect themselves and their lucrative activities with accusations of anti-semitism is pretty sad and cheapens the experiences of those who have really had to suffer for who they were born as. "(4) Someone who wishes, secretly or openly, for a collapse of the present system and all that goes with it and therefore also desires mayhem and disaster" I have to admit, in my younger days, the survivalist mentality ruled in my life, but it wasn't all a bad thing. I planted berries and apples and so on to be self-sufficient and am reaping the benefits of my then whacko viewpoint to this day, so it isn't all that bad to think in terms of taking care of yourself and being prepared for an emergency. Obviously, now being a transplant patient, the end of our present system would also be the end of me. I don't believe more than a handful of survivalist types actually want society to collapse. That doesn't mean a lot more aren't considering the possibility and acting accordingly. "(5) Someone who does not brook any criticism of his position and, in fact, regards any critic as being either a member of the conspiracy or a pawn." I really don't see myself as looking down on other people. I do admit I had a great grandfather who had a fortune wiped out in the crash of '29 and a grandfather who was bankrupted by the crash in cattle prices later on in the '30's so I am skeptical about all investments and bubbles. My definition of a gold bug is someone fascinated by the history of precious metals, perhaps a coin-collector, or mineral/rock collector, or someone interested in geology or mining and who invests accordingly. Silver or even copper may also be as much of an interest or more than gold, but I loosely lump the PM's together. "I don't deal on US markets so I can't comment about the 'Dow crowd'". The main problem I see here is the denial that a multi year bear market could ever occur again. If it does, we are in trouble. But I'm happy with things just the way they are at present. --Alan