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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

Thank's James.  Gold is a very arguable subject . Lots of real smart people 
with very different opinions.  Many would say that your jug of rum has no 
intrinsic value, unless there was someone who desired to get drunk, just as 
the same person might desire a gold ring or necklace.  

Gold 'has' been used as a medium of currency and as a 'store of wealth' for 
millenia, but you are right that you can not eat the stuff. 

Food and water, tools (including firearms and ammunition), medicines, should 
always come first.  After that there is a lot of argument from all of you 
smart people to whom I listen .............bobf


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--- On Sun, 12/7/08, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com> wrote:

> From: Clansgian AT wmconnect.com <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] gold back currency anyone?
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Sunday, December 7, 2008, 2:42 PM
> > >I know you aren't sure; but if you were not at
> the point where you are 
> > now; would you think some assets in gold is good for
> medium term stategy, next 
> > 2-5 years. 
> > 
> 
> No.  Whether I'm at the point where I am or not the
> answer would still be 
> 'no'.
> 
> Gold has very little intrinsic worth, its value is by
> agreed hallucination.  
> It's true that said hallucination is a good one and is
> universal and persists 
> over the years, but none the less, gold is good for dental
> crowns, musket 
> balls, fishing sinkers, drinking cups etc.  But that's
> about all.
> 
> Back in the old Jesus Freak - Kumbaya days there was a
> Rapture song which 
> started:
> 
> "Life was filled with guns and war
> And all of us got trampled on the floor
> I wish wed all been ready
> The children died, the days grew cold
> A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
> I wish wed all been ready"
> 
> What the goldniks don't seem to realize is that while
> gold will hold seem to 
> gain value as the dollar collapses, it only holds its value
> compared to goods 
> ....at best!  That is, if $800 buys an ounce of gold or
> twenty sacks of wheat 
> today, when the dollar collapses, that same $800 might not
> buy even one sack 
> of wheat.  But the ounce of gold might buy twenty sacks of
> wheat still, but 
> more likely ten  or five.  BUT if you buy twenty sacks of
> wheat and the dollar 
> collapses, you have twenty sacks of wheat.
> 
> Gold is better than keeping a bank account or hoarding
> paper dollars, but it 
> will never be as good as the commodities themselves.
> 
> A gold strategy is good for 2 to 5 weeks, but not 2 to 5
> years.  That is, 
> gold would be a good emergency stash to fall back on in
> case of an emergency, but 
> it is a lousy long term strategy even as long term as two
> years.
> 
> Gold can backfire.  Last February or so I bought a lot of
> wheat, the most 
> expensive being the soft white wheat for bisucits for which
> I paid $26 a fifty 
> weight.  I checked the price two days ago .... $56!   What
> if I'd bought gold 
> instead of wheat?  I'd be behind financially and a lot
> less secure.
> 
> What if the SHTF in earnest??  What are you going to do
> with that on oz. gold 
> coin?  Someone would have to be willing to cash it, trade
> it, or otherwise 
> convert it into a form you can use if you want to buy
> anything worth less than 
> the full ounce of gold.  In bad times, good luck with that!
> 
> So, to recap, no, I would not put a lot of trust in gold as
> a good strategy.
> 
> 
> James
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