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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: koan who wrote (980749)	11/10/2016 3:39:33 PM
From: J_F_Shepard	Respond to of 1572373

I don't think the God analogy is apt:)>. There is no science supporting the existence of God, there is extensive science in terms of probability supporting the use of gold and silver as measurements of value. There's no science supporting the financial value of gold either, it gets it value because people like the shiny metal and it is relatively rare..... It has industrial value: it's a good electrical conductor, it doesn't oxidize or corrode, it is very maleable, easy to plate and plate onto, easy to solder and weld to, It's maleability is what makes it so attractive for jewelry making and makes it available to coat almost anything with extremely thin sheets of it..... It is the one thing you can always depend on in times of chaos. No matter what happens to the world, no matter what happens to financial instruments, gold and silver will always have intrinsic value. In time of chaos and crisis, people cling to a god and in reality would give up their gold to get right with a god, ie kick the "L" out of gold and you get god.....(couldn't pass that one up, lol) Try and think of a situation where it would lose its value. And I believe at the moment it is at the bottom. Gold finally hit $100 an ounce in 1973, in 1967 and many years before that gold sold for $35 an ounce, so yes it can lose its value.... onlygold.com Now, I realize I'm not going to convince anyone with my argument on the value of the metal gold, but given my choice in times of real crisis I'd give up my gold for a barrel of water and a few pounds of pork bellies....

To: koan who wrote (980749)	11/10/2016 8:25:36 PM
From: James Seagrove	2 Recommendations Recommended By THE WATSONYOUTH TideGlider Respond to of 1572373

Good boy Koan, I knew you'd come around. Ayn Rand would be proud. Gold Gold and economic freedom are inseparable, . . . the gold standard is an instrument of laissez-faire and . . . each implies and requires the other. What medium of exchange will be acceptable to all participants in an economy is not determined arbitrarily. Where store-of-value considerations are important, as they are in richer, more civilized societies, the medium of exchange must be a durable commodity, usually a metal. A metal is generally chosen because it is homogeneous and divisible: every unit is the same as every other and it can be blended or formed in any quantity. Precious jewels, for example, are neither homogeneous nor divisible. More important, the commodity chosen as a medium must be a luxury. Human desires for luxuries are unlimited and, therefore, luxury goods are always in demand and will always be acceptable . . . . The term “luxury good” implies scarcity and high unit value. Having a high unit value, such a good is easily portable; for instance, an ounce of gold is worth a half-ton of pig iron . . . . Under the gold standard, a free banking system stands as the protector of an economy’s stability and balanced growth. In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold . . . . The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists’ tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the “hidden” confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists’ antagonism toward the gold standard. Ayn Rand Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 96