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 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse / Albrecht Durer |
A posting Contest calling upon your greatest posting skills!! Bernard Connolly's Dark Vision for the World Economy is having quite an impact both within the industry and with investors the world over. A new Fifth Horseman? An olde Contest revisited. A new Fifth Horseman waiting to assault these Castle walls... This inspires a Contest subject: What is your "Dark Vision for the World Economy?" This will describe your worst case scenario and most importantly gold's role. The Subject box of your entry
must contain The Contest will go from this moment until 5pm (17:00 MDT) Wednesday, June 26, 2002. Each entry must be at least 100 words to qualify (there is no advantage to posting first or last.) The winner will receive (get this!) one Brazilian 20,000 reis gold coin from our recent special online offer (offered at $370 ea.) There will be two runners-up. The first runner-up will receive a lucky French Angel. The second runner-up will receive a silver Canadian Maple Leaf. With that much gold sitting on this Table Round, this should prove to be the best contest ever held here. We look forward to reading your entry. Good luck to all, and may the best poster claim the gold. . . . . . |
Editor's Note: Every once in awhile an article comes along by a commentator/analyst who has found the key to a clearer understanding of the forces at work in the world economy. This article by AIG's chief global strategist, Bernard Connolly, offers that degree of insight. The picture he paints is an interesting one. Far from a world moving toward global world government and co-operation precisely orchestrated by the G-3 (Japan, Europe and the United States), Connolly describes a world perilously at odds with itself, fracturing along old pre-World War II fault lines, and heading toward a catastrophic inflation in all three nations -- a circumstance brought by their own inability to reconcile long-standing differences among themselves and the failure of each to come to grips with their own internal problems. In a world of three structurally weak currencies, gold, he says, will be the primary beneficiary because it is the one asset which stands apart from this governmental and central bank currency destruction. We would like to thank theminingweb.com and Mr. Connolly for permission to reprint this important contribution to the current analysis and we highly recommend that USAGOLDers take the time to thoroughly digest it. This article will be a source of discussion and support documentation for some time to come. Beyond that, Mr. Connolly provides some very convincing reasons for gold ownership on the part of citizens in all of the three G-3 nations. --MK
Brazilian
20,000 Reis winner
Aureo Speedwagon (06/26/02; 14:19:46MT - usagold.com msg#: 79194)
****Dark Vision****
Dear Dad,
Happy birthday! One of these days we'll be able to visit you--we
have enough gasoline coupons for each state to make the trip;
we're just waiting for our interstate travel permit to come through.
Silvia says she can't believe we haven't seen you since the wedding
in 2000, and that you've never even seen your great-granddaughter.
Aureo Jr, Agnes and the baby have moved in with us now. "Baby"...Audrey
is almost 7! I'm sending you a picture of her.
Hope to see you soon! Praise the North American Union!
Your loving son,
Aureo.
44K Attachment: Audrey.jpg
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dad,
This part of the e-mail is embedded in the photo of Audrey using a new ultra-secure quantum encryption method
they've developed here in the remnants of Silicon Valley, so don't
worry; if any snoops had tapped this, the message would have vanished
instantly.
I don't think we're going to be able to visit anytime soon, because
they won't issue me a travel permit. Every time I submit my proposed
itinerary to the Office of Homeland Security, there's always a
bridge out, or a large scale fire or flood, or some classified
national security emergency somewhere along the way, and it's
back to square one. It takes about 90 days for the permit to be
processed. And there's no way I can fly--the truth came out at
the Santa Clara County Air Travel Planning Department when the
clerk opened my dossier and showed me a MasterCard receipt from
a San Jose gun shop. "You rented a .357 Smith and Wesson
and bought 100 rounds of .38 Special ammo. Obviously, you know
how to use a gun. You're never going to get a flight permit."
If only I'd paid cash!
So that's probably what's holding back the car travel permit,
too.
But things seem to be getting better here. The County Nutritional
Planning Commission raised the weekly calorie allowance three
times this year, and our house is scheduled to be re-connected
to the water system within a couple of years. So funny that we
have e-mail and Web and satellite TV, but no flush toilets.
We still have a quart jar half full of gold eagles;
thank you so much for persuading me to stock up on gold when it was still available. Remember how you were always saying
an ounce of gold could always buy a good suit? Well, I bought
a suit for an ounce of gold! It's a government-approved radiation
suit, $20,000 list price in Newbux, and I've been using it to
do some salvage work in the old financial district in San Francisco.
I drive into the city to Duboce street where the J Church muni
train became a subway, and I walk the tunnel downtown. There isn't
a lot of blast damage; the crater is only a hundred yards wide,
but it was a neutron bomb: most of the energy went into creating
a flood of neutrons, so the structures were pretty much left alone,
but everything is highly radioactive.
It's a risky thing to do salvage in the financial district, so
I don't do it very often, and I won't let Aureo Jr. do it at all--got
to protect the family jewels. I struck a bonanza a few months
ago when I cracked open an office that nobody had gotten to yet,
and almost every skeleton was wearing a Rolex!
Of course, I had to turn everything over at the Materials Planning
Commission checkpoint when I returned back through the subway
tunnel, but it was a good infusion of electronic Newbux for the
family.
All official transactions have to be in Newbux, but people privately
trade pre-'64 silver coins. It's illegal, but the cops wink at
it, mostly. They crack down pretty hard on gold, though. You're
supposed to turn in gold for the official price of $20,000 per
ounce, but then they deduct income tax, transaction tax, and precious
metals windfall profit tax. So gold pretty much stays hidden.
One of the most annoying things is compliance with IRS regulation
section 60501: any time there's a cash transfer of $10,000 or
more, you have to file a Form 8300. Around here, $10,000 is the
cost of a meal for four at a nice restaurant, so you end up paying
in electronic Newbux to avoid the hassle.
I get a steady income of silver from an unexpected source. Remember
how I used to do all my own tune-ups and carburetor re-builds?
I'm in demand now! The only other nuke strike we had around here
was the air blast directly over the Blue Cube, a top secret computer
facility at Onizuka Air Force Base, just off Highway 101 and Mathilda
Avenue in Sunnyvale, that controlled satellites transmitting the
nation's most vital military and intelligence secrets. Next to
the Navy's Moffett Field, NASA Ames Research, and Lockheed. Again,
it wasn't a property-damage bomb: it put most of its energy into
a huge electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that fried all electronics
for fifty miles in every direction.
So today we have millions of SUVs with fried on-board computers,
and the only cars that work are the ones with the old-style controls.
With the price of gas today, nobody wants an SUV, of course.
Anyway. Silvia's doing fine, putting a lot of effort into her
garden. Aureo Jr and his family had to move in with us because
of the real estate bust--they lost their house when the bubble
burst, and then Fanny Mae became landlord to everybody. Except
us, because I paid off the house long ago and own it free and
clear except for the taxes, which are steep. I always tell Silvy,
"Did
you ever think you'd live in a hundred-million-dollar house?"
Well, we do. Too bad we
won't be able to pass it along to the kids, because the death
tax kicks in on assets over $1 million.
Aureo Jr. has a nice little plumbing business going, building
cisterns for people who can't get connected to the public water
works, which is anybody who isn't related to a member of the Water
Planning Commission. The bonus is that he has free access to copper.
Audrey isn't doing well in school, thank God. I was so furious
a couple years ago when Agnes took Audrey for a pre-enrollment
interview, and the Educational Planning Counselor told her not
to teach the child numbers or the alphabet. This is because kids
who already know the alphabet get bored and unruly during class.
That made me damned mad, and I made sure to teach her to read,
and she's racing through the Nancy Drew books right now and having
a lot of fun. We've warned her not to let on at school that she
knows how to read; it doesn't come up much because most of her
classes are multi-media, like History of Human Sexuality, Social
Conviviality, and The Life Of Our President. She was confused
when we changed Presidents, because the class never mentioned
that there was an election, just shifted gears to praise of the
new guy. She had no idea that there ever was a change in Presidents.
I got out my box of old fiat and showed her pictures of Washington,
Lincoln, and Grant. She spent the afternoon making paper airplanes
out of Franklins and throwing them around in the back yard.
Anyway. Happy birthday, and I will see you again one of these
days, here or in heaven.
Your loving son,
Aureo
French
20 Franc Angel winner
Waverider (06/23/02; 15:47:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 78876)
***** Dark Vision *****
The ships hull rode the rhythmical flow of the waves as though
it was at one with the sea. Half a dozen dolphins jumped and played
in the clear indigo ocean immediately off the bow and the golden
sunlight sparkled in the spray like freshly cut diamonds. Oh,
to be a dolphin - unbound in the beauty of the ocean and oblivious
to the world of human beings.
It was the fourth week at sea - an emergency departure not unexpected,
but one that would never be forgotten. Preparations had been made
eighteen months previously - the storage of food, emergency medical
supplies, extra fuel, guns, ammunition, fishing gear, crab traps,
spare engine parts...and the bilge...hundreds of kilos of Gold
and Silver which provided ballast for the vessel and financial ballast for
its captain.
That was the most important and secret of all preparations, as
Gold had
appreciated suddenly and drastically when it finally broke free
from decades of chained bondage.
Spot was angry - angry at the bondage, the manipulation, the disrespect,
and it was relentlessly attaining its rightful place in the world economy. Gold was asserting itself as the sacred
standard
of value and the pivot of
the new international monetary system. It currently traded at
$3,000.00 US per ounce, inversely proportionate to the value of
the US dollar.
The vast majority of people
were unprepared for the hyperinflation
- it had gripped the fiat unexpectedly as true inflation data
had been disguised and kept from the public for the past few years.
When inflation hit, it hit with a vengeance, jumping 500% in a
day and financial institutions were ordered to freeze bank accounts
and retirement savings plans. The government was bankrupt, the
banks were bankrupt, and the people were bankrupt - financially,
psychologically, emotionally and spiritually.
The great reckoning had been ruthless and had caught the masses
unaware. The resultant collective anger was immense - it seethed, it boiled, and its devastation
was immeasurable. The anger was rooted in a sense of betrayal
- betrayal from a government whom most believed
would provide
for their every need - provide
security, provide jobs, provide health care, and provide more when there
was nothing left to provide with.
Betrayal had turned to anger, anger had turned to hunger, hunger
to desperation, desperation to crime, and crime to insanity.
I was in my home and had placed barbed wire around the top of
my fence. But that didn't stop those out of work, out of welfare,
out of unemployment benefits and desperate for food. A young chap
in his early twenties had hoisted himself over the barbed wire
and landed on my property torn and bleeding, breaking his leg
and begging for sustenance. There were no ambulances or public
medical care as the system was bankrupt - services that had always
been there and taken for granted no longer existed. I'd set his
leg fashioning splints from brooms, and stitched his wounds with
only some precious whiskey to soothe his pain. I carved crutches
for him from tree branches and sent him on his way the following
week.
I escaped to the sanctuary of the ocean days later and left my
home to the care of friends, come of it what may. It didn't really
seem to matter any more - my few precious possessions were with
me now and property values had fallen so drastically with the
collapse
of real estate it was hardly
worth worrying about.
The morning news crackled over the radio. Unemployment increased again this month - 50% of people were out of
work...the demonstrations continued in some cities, the riots continued in others...the crime
rate climbed to new heights like an over inflated stock index...the
DOW fell below 5,000...who would ever have thought...only a few
of us.
The story was the
same all over the world
- Japan, Europe, North and South America. Argentina was still
the worst as their economic implosion was now into its third year.
Thousands upon thousands had died as disease
ravaged the country secondary to poverty and lack of sanitary living conditions. Favourite tourist destinations of
a few short years ago were now avoided like the plague. The party
was over and the hangover was deadly.
As I listened to the news, I steered towards a small coastal community
to fill up the water tanks. Water was still available to those
who had items for barter...Gold, silver, but most wanted ammunition
or food. I had fresh salmon and halibut to barter with, preserving
my bullion for the purchase of precious fuel. War encapsulated
the Middle East and although the US now controlled all oil refineries
in Iraq and the Caspian Sea area, the price of oil was unbound, similar to
the price of Gold. The world
had reached Hubbert's Peak earlier than expected and the reality
of depletion hit hard because the Arabs had grossly
falsified their reserve data.
I looked up into the sky as the cry of seagulls rang through the
crisp morning air. They soared white against the blue expanse
and I thought of Jonathon Livingston - he had it right and the
human race had it wrong. Freedom and sovereignty versus government bondage, honesty versus deceit, integrity versus
greed, and harmony
versus hate.
When the news was finished I switched on the autopilot and logged
onto the net. The USAGold forum had become a frenzy of activity.
There were hundreds of posters who had the insight to buy Gold under $350.00/ounce. Many had made a fortune in shares
and had transferred that profit into bullion.
Those who held on to their shares for too long had lost their
total investment when the mines were declared state property in the interest of "federal security".
Belgian and Aristotle had every right to say "I told you
so" but the words were never uttered as current circumstances
spoke so loudly and clearly.
There was one sentiment common to all posters however - the yearning for the world
as it had been before Gold
reached $3,000.00/ounce.
There had been one precipitating event which drove it there, one
event which many feared but which most never believed would become
an actuality. Following the US invasion of Iraq, two cities in
the US had been struck simultaneously by terrorists
and it was ugly - a horror beyond description. Gold had catapulted
from $350.00 to $450.00 an ounce within days
and had caught the shorts off guard. Following the brief run,
the economy rotted more quickly than a corpse on a hot summers
day, and the
move to $3,000.00 was rapid.
The forum isn't the same. Yes, there's still The Blade who comes
to us from a mountain hide-away and whose posts now close with
"off to chop wood". Many discussions revolve around
the new role of Gold as the currency of international trade, and most posts are accompanied by personal tales
of extreme circumstances in extreme times. The jubilant ambience
that once accompanied the rising Gold and share prices has faded,
and is replaced by reminiscence of the world as it used to be,
never to be again. The sorrow for the state of the world is palpable,
and the yearning ceaseless...the yearning to trade all ones Gold
to buy back the world of yesterday which somehow, through the
folly of man, fell into the abyss.
The seagulls soar and the dolphins play. I share their elements
and vicariously live their experience in an attempt to escape
the reality and destructiveness of the human race. For their world
of the sky and the ocean is a world of freedom, beauty, honesty
and integrity. And unlike the self-destructive and imploding world
of humanity...a world without end.
Waverider
Silver
Maple Leaf winner
RobotGuy (6/21/02; 09:23:05MT - usagold.com msg#: 78708)
*****Dark Vision*****
I knew this was going to happen. It all seemed so obvious to me
a couple of years back. After a bunch of quick calculations, and
some serious pondering, I quit my job in the city and purchased
this little hobby farm. It took me a few years to get the swing
of things, but I make a few bucks here and there on the side selling
my goods at the local market. Enough to pay the bills anyway.
Well I used to, until all this came about.
I knew it was going to happen. All of the warning signs were right
in front of my face. The one thought that really got me going
was the consideration that our dollar might not be useful enough
some day to buy the oil we so direly need to keep this monster
rolling.
Well it happened. It happened a lot faster than I thought it would
too. Before we knew it our dollar was useless on the world market,
and the Saudis stopped their oil shipments. No big deal right?
Wrong. All the reserves we had left were consumed in such a short
period, that we were left high and dry without fuel, not to mention
the prices went through the roof. Some gas stations were charging
an ounce of gold for a tank of gas, but do you think they would
take fiat? I don't think so. The oil companies worked out a deal
with the Saudis,.. gold for oil they called it. Unfortunately
our federal
gold reserves weren't ours,
and our government wasn't much help buying the nation out of this
bust.
The worst part of my fears came true though. People who lived
in the big cities soon found themselves without food as many shipments
were delayed as a result of the fuel crisis. I heard stories of
people killing each other for a bag of rice.
They started coming out into the countryside about two weeks ago,
tearing the place up and consuming everything in their path. It's
like they finally discovered where food came from, and they came
a hunting. Mostly on foot, they were pleasant at first, asking
politely to trade thier jewellery or whatever valuables they could
carry for food. After awhile the farmers started to run out of
pigs, chickens, cattle etc., and people would just sit in the
fields roasting whatever they could get their hands on.
I knew this was going to happen, so I learned the art of preserving
produce, and I stashed quite a bit away in my secret place. I
figure I have enough food to feed three or four people for about
a year, but I think we would have to go into hiding so others
would'nt raid everything.
Sometimes I feel bad for these people, and I want to help them,
but there are so many.
There is one thing that will stick in my mind forever. A frail
young boy came to the door and asked for a glass of water. He
stood there patiently as I fumbled with the latch. For such a
young lad, he had the look of wisdom in his eyes. As I was pumping
his water, I asked him if he was travelling alone, and without
a tear he explained to me how his parents were murdered for their
jewellery. His look was one of deep anger and resentment. He described
his sister to me and asked if I had seen her. Apparently one of
their relatives has a farm around here, and he thought she might
have come out here looking for him.
Before he left to continue looking for his sister, he turned to
me and asked me if I could do him a favour. "Of course!"
I replied, "anything you need." He held up a one ounce gold maple
leaf, "my grandfather gave this to me" he stated,"somebody might kill me if they
know I have it. Could you put this somewhere until I come back?"
I hesitated for a moment, then I asked him to follow me. I took
him to my secret place and showed him all of my stores. I placed
his coin on top of a jar of peaches, and I told him that it would
be here when he returns. "Whether you find your sister or
not, you are always welcome to come back here and stay with me"
I told him. With that he gave me a big hug and proceeded out the
back door on his journey.
I really hope he comes back.
-------------------------------------------------------
There,... that dark enough for ya?
Silver
Maple Leaf winner
miner49er (06/26/02; 05:27:43MT - usagold.com msg#: 79130)
***** Dark Vision *****
Why do the tides roar?
Why do they surge insistently upon tired shores
That have had enough?
While claws of sea-spew blast and scrape
The borders of the eroding strand,
And hands of foam deftly finger through the sands,
Picking them clean of all that's precious,
As they drown in the engulfing wash.
The sands, weary of the onslaught, give a little,
Succumbing to the churning draw of the retreating flows.
And so the drama reenacts, a perpetual dance,
Performing to the rhythm of the Moon.
I saw the shade Tiresias standing on the shore,
The waves lapping over the tops of his feet,
A sand crab scuttled across the surface, hunkered down as each
wave broke,
Then continued on its pointless journey.
I saw as through the old man's still perceiving eye the sands
in random eddies.
Up close they became teeming
swarms of men,
Troubled by the unrelenting waters,
Ordered by the motion of the Moon.
Myriads of desperate souls,
Ignited by the pursuits of the moment,
Driven by
the momentum of the past,
And projected into the abyss of the future.
I watched every crashing wave disturb the shore,
And then withdraw, like the pulling back of a death shroud,
Revealing what had been laid waste. All that they had built was
laid waste.
Over and
over again, by the tides
which are driven
By the order of the Moon.
The ancient Theban appeared wizened and stooped,
Heavy with the burden of retelling
The same admonitions, time
and times and times by times.
I heard the sage unfurl his thoughts.
Weighty
words coiled in riddles,
But delivered
now with tired monotony,
as one performing repetitious tasks,
Only lightly conscious of the matters he pressed.
I watched each
generation pass from bright-eyed
small children
Through stages of progressive disenchantment;
From laughter and little thrills, to bitter wailing, and sighs of untold grief.
I saw even the blind seer of once mighty Thebes bow his head and
weep.
But his tears, like his words, fell into the gathered pools and
were lost in the ebb of the deathless tide.
-----------------------
We are found at the sunless dawn of a time of great stress. Stress
upon every system, upon every resource, and upon all who inhabit
the globe. The entire social fabric is poised to be rent asunder
by this immense weight. With that, the best preparations of any
man will at most only purchase him some time.
If the civil order of our societies should disintegrate, resulting
in devolution into chaos, or a determined construction of enslaving
global statism, the conclusion is sobering. Surely angels weep.
In this our gold will not be able to deliver us, as it was never
meant to deliver. It
is savings, not savior; a wealth-asset, not well-being itself.
Were we not however to descend the depths utterly, and our societies remain intact, then accumulation of this kingly metal
should reap bountiful
rewards. Yet whether feast
or famine, personal happiness -- contributing to and partaking
of those things bigger than ourselves -- is still the truest gold.
Lay up your treasures in Heaven; but store wisely here on the Earth.
miner
Silver
Maple Leaf winner
Bound Spirit (6/21/02; 13:25:59MT - usagold.com msg#: 78724)
*******Dark Vision*******
First, a little introduction is in order. I've been lurking for
about 3 years now on this site and not just a little, but
at least once a day. My rationalization for not actively participating
are: 1) I felt I needed (and still need) the education and 2)
I'm a damn good civil engineer with an incurable desire to please.
In other words I'm constantly flirting with failure due to my
proclivity for over extension.
To say that I've benefited from all of your daily interactions
would be a gross understatement. There really are no adjectives
to completely describe my recent metamorphosis. One thing I know
now clearly - Ignorance is definitely not bliss, but neither has
been my increasing melancholy and alienation from my family, friends,
associates and from general society. About the only place I can
find solace is through my daily exposure to the kindred spirits
at USA Gold.
Previously I thought I was a depressed sole when the focus of
my political energy was on decrying the success of the liberal
agenda which has irreparably
shredded the fabric of our western culture. But now, through my increased economic focus,
I witness daily the insidious destruction of our shared ideals,
our loss of personal freedom and the decay in our quality of life
all brought about by fiat money and the unprincipled people
who control it. Between the liberals and our choreographed economy,
I now see clearly the "end game" of western civilization.
Now don't misunderstand me I'm grateful for the vision above
the forest. My family has a much greater chance of survival now. But I'm finding it much harder to focus
on my job (i.e. on the design and construction of new debt funded
infrastructure). How could anyone have enthusiasm for their day
to day responsibilities once they've been convinced that the near
future holds no positive scenarios?
We will either: A) become a totalitarian world or B) Our lives
and our descendants lives will become reacquainted with the animal
kingdom. Anybody want to speculate on a third option?
Will our powers of reason save us or will they always be contaminated
by self-promoting rationalization? Maybe we will be saved by our
scientists who now rein supreme as modern day clerics. Maybe the
Internet be the innovation that somehow boot straps our societal
consciousness above our intrinsic personal selfishness? What "New
World" is waiting out there for us to discover so we can
temporarily flee our problems, as did our European ancestors?
Is there any hoping that we will rediscover the dogma of religion
or unite around some shared spirituality? These are all nice possibilities
to consider when our self help books recommend that we keep hope
alive. But for me the only thing I can hope for is something completely
new that I've never heard of.
Lets face it, most of the mature contributors to this forum own
gold as a means to survive what lies ahead. Beyond that, it borders
on naïve that we could return to a world where gold will
once again serve in its intended role as a passive guarantor of
our freedoms and inalienable rights. God, how I wish it could
be so but my crystal ball says no.
So for me, the more I hear and study about Keynes, M3, derivatives,
pro-forma CRAP accounting, Merrill Lynch, the Cartel, etc. the
closer I get to my version of a Mozart Death Requiem.
I'm certain that relatively soon, we'll all be rich with real
gold wealth. But when that happens, I'll do what I have to to
take my family and my little pile of gold to the mountaintop,
where I'll spend whatever time I have left writing poetry, loving
and protecting those closest to me and communing with God.
For those of you who have not experienced or forgotten the classic
poem "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeates. For
me, this one says it all.
The Second Coming
by William Butler Yeates
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall
apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
****** Thanks to everyone here for your efforts*****
Silver
Maple Leaf winner
GuyGold (06/25/02; 23:44:23MT - usagold.com msg#: 79104)
*****Dark Vision*****
For the last several years I have been preparing for a worse case
economic disaster scenario with the philosophy that it is better
to be years early than a day late in preparations. And, for years
I have witnessed an increasing verification that I indeed was
correct to have been preparing, and that I am correct to continue
doing so with increased conviction. What I observe:
1. World currencies
are collapsing, and I believe
that we will see runaway
inflation in the years ahead.
2. Word stock
markets are eroding, and
I believe we will see a crash worse than the US has ever seen
with nearly all savings
of Americans wiped out through the drop in the stock markets,
and by inflation.
3. Unemployment
is increasing, and I believe
we will see an unemployment rate in excess of 25% in the near
future. Already some of my friends have not found jobs (one high
tech private contractor has been 18 months out of work; another,
a Phd in Psychiatry, is tending horses at a stable-the only job
he was able to get over the last 12 months; another, who took
early retirement, hasn't been able to find a job to supplement
his retirement).
4. Natural disasters are increasing in frequency; I believe geologists
that this will continue to increase, and I believe it will have
devastating effects on the economy (e.g., geologists say that
Southern California is overdue for a dozen more Northridge sized
'quakes, plus the big one).
5. I believe 9/11 was the terrorists' calling card and that we
will soon get the "business". The US Govt thinks likewise;
there is much talk about dirty nukes, bio- and chemo-terrorism,
and, a secret shadow govt as a backup plan (doesn't forebode well.
Govt officials know much more than they are telling). One nuclear
expert stated that a "dirty bomb" set off in lower Manhattan
would cause the lower third of Manhattan to be inhabitable for
100 years due to the radiation. I dread the thought, and fear
its strong possibility.
6. Mideast is increasing in tensions; I believe that the Middle
East conflict will grow into a major war, and that war will result
in a protracted nuclear exchange. We will have gasoline rationing,
and supplies will be hard to come by.
7. I believe that we are entering a time in the world where there
will be total chaos, social
unrest, economic depression,
food and gas shortages, desease and terror unlike anything Americans
have seen.
I believe that all of the above events will soon come to pass.
However, because of my preparations, I am very optimistic about
my and my family's future. But I do believe that the general public,
who are like the proverbial deer staring into the headlights of
an oncoming truck, will be severely impacted financially. But,
this does not have to be. Unfortunately, the general public has been conned away
from gold and into paper,
when in fact, gold
is real wealth, and has
proven to be so for thousands of years.
My personal strategy is to have most of my liquid assets in gold coins. As a result, I do not expect to be part of the problem, waiting on long lines to be served by government
social agencies or charities.
When the gas shortage occurs you will not need to wait if you
pay in small denomination gold coins; neither will you be concerned
about a food shortage since local farmers and food distributors
will be happy to get paid in small denomination gold-they will
even make home deliveries.
To protect my pension and savings against inflation I have a gold
coin IRA and gold coins in my possesion as well. Incidentally,
if you live in high risk areas such as Los Angeles, NYC, or Washington
D.C., or near nuclear plants, etc., where you may have to suddenly
flee for your life, I suggest you keep your main stash of gold
coins at a safe harbor in another town, state or even country,
but have enough on hand to buy yourself a quick escape from the
disaster area. For example, you don't want to be searching through
rubble for your gold coins after an earthquake, or not able to
access your local safety deposit box because a terrorist attack
occurred on a Sunday or Holiday. Keep enough of a small supply
readily available for immediate use.
I always keep a few gold coins on my person for immediate emergency
use. You will be amazed on how fast you will be able to catch
a ride out of town, or exit by small private plane, helicopter,
balloon (I live in ballooning country), etc. if such becomes suddenly
necessary, and you have gold. And, after a disaster when thousands
of people are fleeing and competing for the limited motel rooms
that are available, if you have small denomination gold coins
handy, you and your loved ones won't have to worry about being
stuck in a shelter, or sleeping in your car, if you can pay the
local motel operators in gold.
I am reminded of a story about two campers, out in the woods,
awakened one a.m. to the roar of an approaching bear. One of the
campers scrambled to put on his shoes. The other retorted, "What
are you doing, man? You can't outrun a bear!." The other
replied, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun
you."
Get the survival
competitive edge. Buy gold!
Picture hundreds of thousands of people trying to flee out of
NYC at the same time--it's not that far fetched a scenario!
It is the preparations
you make now that will determine if you will end up leaving town as
a refugee or as an immigrant. Or, if you will be spending your
survival efforts waiting on long lines for basic necessities,
or getting home deliveries. Or, if you will end up in your senior
years begging for a job as a porter at your local grocery store
or enjoying your retirement at your favorite vacation paradise.
I would like to share my favorite poem by Wheeler Wilcox with
you:
One ship sails east, another sails west
With the self-same winds that blow.
'Tis the
set of the sail and not
the gale
Which determines
the way they go.
As the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
As we voyage along through life,
'Tis the act of the soul that determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.
We are all
facing the same potential,
and I strongly believe "inevitable" pending economic
disasters. It is not so much the disaster which will do us in
but the lack of positioning ourselves to come out of the economic
storm unscathed.
The economic storm is coming; we can sense it. NOW, ESPECIALLY
WHEN GOLD IS STILL AT FIRE-SALE PRICES, IS THE TIME TO SET YOUR
SAIL WITH GOLD!
1. Buy a supply of small denominated gold coins to have always
readily available as your "escape velocity" gold. (to
buy passage for you and your family out of harm's way quickly).
2. Buy a supply of one-ounce gold coins to have as your "safe
harbor" gold which you keep at a safe location where you
plan to re-settle in the event of an emergency.
3. Open a gold coin IRA account as your "retirement security"
gold to secure your retirement future.
(p.s. don't forget to add a 14 day supply of potassium iodide
to your gold survival kit)
Be prepared and you will sleep like a baby.
Silver
Maple Leaf winner
Nomad (06/23/02; 05:55:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 78846)
*** Dark Vision ***
http://www.fourthturning.com
*** Dark Vision ***
I apologize in advance for the length of my post. The information
here is from my favorite book, The Fourth Turning something I
have talked about here several times here with little or no response.
Nonetheless, it does not take away from the fact that events in
the last several years (911 in particular) have done nothing but
confirm the authors' hypotheses (originally published in 1997).
And besides, as a Gold Bug I am quite used to people disregarding
my analyses and conjectures º I had just hoped (and still
hope) that some readers here would be more open-minded and thoughtful
than average. As for it's relevance to gold,
I think that is quite self-explanatory after considering that the primary
danger of the Fourth Turning is a world-wide currency devaluation.
Hopefully this post will help some of you in your thinking and
preparation for the future.
Nomad
Fourth Turnings have provided the great pivot points of the Anglo-American
legacy. Dating back to the fifteenth century there have been six.
Each provided its own Crisis, each roughly eighty years apart.
Fourth Turnings in American History
A) American Revolution (1780)
B) Civil War (1860)
C) Great Depression and WW II (1940)
D) ??? (2020)
A Fourth Turning Prophecy
Sometime around the year 2005, perhaps a few years before or after,
America will enter the Fourth Turning. A spark will ignite a new
mood. Today (1997) the same spark would flame briefly but then
extinguish ... this time though it will catalyze a Crisis. In
retrospect, the spar might seem as ominous as a financial crash,
as ordinary as a national election, or as trivial as a Tea Party.
An initial spark will trigger a chain reaction of unyielding responses
and further emergencies. The core elements of these scenarios
(debt, civic decay, global disorder) will matter more than the
details ...
At home and abroad these events will reflect the tearing of the
civic fabric at points of extreme vulnerability -- problem areas,
where, during the Unraveling, America will have neglected, denied
or delayed needed action. Anger at 'mistakes we made' will translate into calls for action, regardless
of the heightened public risk. It is unlikely that the catalyst
will worsen into a full-fledged catastrophe, since the nation
will probably find a way to avert the initial danger and stabilize
the situation for awhile. The local rebellions will probably be
quelled, terrorists foiled, fiscal crisis averted, disease halted
or war fever cooled. Yet even if dire consequences are temporarily
averted, America will have entered the Fourth Turning.
The new mood and its jarring new problems will provide a natural
end point for the Unraveling-era decline in civic confidence.
In the pre-Crisis years, fears about the flimsiness of the social
contract will have been subliminal but rising. As the Crisis catalyzes,
these fears will rush to the surface, jagged and exposed. Distrustful
of some things, individuals will feel that their survival requires
them to distrust more things. This behavior could cascade into
a sudden downward spiral, an implosion of societal trust.
If so, this implosion will
strike financial markets
-- and with that, the economy. Aggressive individualism, institutional
decay, and long-term pessimism can proceed only so far before
a society loses the level of dependability needed to sustain the
division of labor and long-term promises on which a market economy
must rest ... people will come to the jarring conclusion that
they have grown helplessly dependent on a teetering edifice of
anonymous transactions and paper guarantees. Many Americans don't know where their
savings are, who their employer is, what their pension is, or
how their government works.
The (previous) era will have left the financial world arbitraged
and tentacled: Debtors won't know who holds their notes, homeowners
who owns their mortgages and shareholders who runs their equities
-- and vice versa.
At some point, America's short-term Crisis psychology will catch
up to the long-term post-Unraveling fundamentals. This might result
in a Great Devaluation, a severe drop in the market price of most
financial and real assets. This devaluation might be a short,
but horrific panic, a
free-falling price in a market with no buyers. Or it could be a series of downward ratchets
linked to political events that sequentially knock the supports
out from under the residual popular trust in the system. As assets
devalue, trust will further disintegrate, which will cause assets
to devalue further, and so on. Every slide in asset prices, employment,
and production will give every generation cause to grow more alarmed.
Before long, America's old civic order will seem ruined beyond
repair. People will feel like a magnet has passed over society's
disk drive, blanking out the social contract, wiping out old deals, clearing the books
of vast un-payable promises
to which people had once felt entitled. With American weaknesses
newly exposed, foreign dangers could erupt.
Preparations for the Fourth Turning
Reflect on what happens when a terrible winter blizzard strikes.
Picture yourself and your loved ones in the midst of a howling
blizzard that lasts for several years. Think about what you would
need, who would help you, and why your fate might matter to anyone
other than yourself. This is how to plan for (the coming Crisis).
As in a blizzard, simple but fundamental verities will reemerge.
These are the familiar elements of legend and myth that have endured
over time simply because they are required in times of peril.
Classic traits that don't necessarily pay of in an Unraveling
(traits like trust, reliability, patience, perseverance, thrift
and selflessness) will become hard currency in a Crisis.
Don't think you can escape the Fourth Turning the way you might
today (1997) distance yourself from news, national politics, or
even taxes you don't feel like paying. History warns that a Crisis
will reshape the basic social and economic environment that you
now take for granted. The Fourth Turning necessitates the death
and rebirth of the social order. It is the ultimate rite of passage
for an entire people, requiring a liminal state of sheer chaos
whose nature and duration no one can predict in advance. It could
involve episodes of social dislocation (and enforced migration),
total mobilization (and youth conscription), economic breakdown
(and mass joblessness), communication blackouts (and household
isolation) or social breakdown (and committees of public safety).
Most likely it will involve more than one of these elements.
If you apply
these lessons, you would be risking little. Suppose you're lucky, and the Crisis doesn't
touch you much personally. By having prepared for it, you may
have lost some short-term income or pleasure, but nothing of lasting
consequence. Suppose you're not so lucky. If you haven't prepared, you will have
put much at risk. History
warns that saecular winters can be searching times for everyone,
especially for those who are caught entirely by surprise. No matter
what your age, sex, income, race, family status or line of work,
sensible choices today could help you avoid truly desperate choices
in the Fourth Turning.
sector (06/17/02; 15:21:37MT - usagold.com msg#: 78386)
**Dark Vision**
Let us count only the financial images... leave Global Thermo-Nuclear
War out for now
Start with the trigger of stratospheric inflation in Japan that
leads directly to a massive gold move which seals the cabal's
demise. The signal event in that demise will be the panic of a
large central bank that begins BUYING gold as Dredsner did to
trip the gold move to $850 in the early eighties.
World economic chaos ensues as gold trades skyward. The US defaults
on it's COMEX contracts and shuts the US precious metals markets.
Those holding COMEX contracts are given the markets per ounce
value in dollars [$50]. The TOCOM is similarly shut but gold is
a world market so Dubai, Shanghai and possibly even London take
up the slack. Gold smuggling rises.
Massive inflation sweeps the US. A New colored FRN appears [See
today's AP report]. It is the basis for a two-tier currency, "Old"
and "New". Old money will be worth less than new money.
Those that hold old money will be linked with money-launderers.
The US will Balkanize into three sectors similar to the red and
blue electoral map of 2000.
++++++++++++++++++++
What about war?
The New Year will bring three. The Palestinian, the Iraqi and
the Indo-Pak. Will they escalate to apocalypse? Religious wars
always do.
What about American Homeland Defense? Now that the authorities
have described in excruciating detail how to build a "Dirty
Bomb", radical Muslim infiltrators will construct, distribute
and detonate them creating decades-long ghost towns at their respective
"Grounds Zero". New York, Washington DC, fill in the
other blanks.
++++++++++++++++++++
Wiemar Republic inflation will be the norm.
The barter system, based upon useful items such as guns, ammunition,
food, water, medicine and gold will abound.
Law and order will dissapear. The anarchy that so many of the
leftists in American Universities crave will not be pretty.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I once told the moderator of a popular Conservative Television
Cable channel that if the money is destroyed, the country is destroyed.
It sailed clear over his head.
slingshot (06/17/02; 18:36:43MT - usagold.com msg#: 78393)
***********DARK VISION**************
And they worshipped the dragon Which gave power to the beast:
And they worshipped the beast saying, Who is like unto the beast?
Who is able to make war with him.
Revelation, Chapter 13, Verse 4.
The marvels of technology has now reached a pinnacle which by
its own being can fulfill mans dreams or bring distruction upon
himself. Each new discovery has the means to be used for good
or evil for those who have the vision to
comprehend its use. No other creation has had a more profound
effect upon humanity than the introduction of the computer. Computers
have become an integral part of mans life. Freeing and enslaving
at the same instant. Everywhere we turn, the small box of microchips
has invaded our lives. From cars to planes and into our homes.The
list is endless and so is man's dependence. Nowhere has it embedded
itself more firmly than into the financial markets of the world.
Billions of transactions sent across fibre optics in a fraction
of a second. Controling the markets with the press of a key. The
worlds population has surpassed Six billion. War as we know it
in the nuclear age would be a last act of desparation. Destroying
resourses and infrastructure of fragile economies that took years
to build. We have unknownly set the foundation of what our future
economy will be. We have given the powers to be a tool to control
the world. Fueled by materialism and greed
we will enslave ourselves by turning away from true wealth and
succumbing to the fantasy of Fiat.
The economy of tomorrow will be one of control. Capitalism and
Free Enterprise will be dead. The economies will be controlled
by government. An endless process of the destruction of personal
wealth by devaluation and countless
exchanges of colored Fiat. All to keep us in the servatude of
government. The information you have given to buy that car or
house is all electronicaly stored away to be used against you.
There will be an economy, One that functions for the state.
Gold will play an important role for it will be the sole survivor
of freedom. The powers that be know this and discredit gold at
every chance. It will be highly sought after a few exchanges and
become a medium of exchange to be determined by freedom loving
people and not government!
To all of you I say, Buy Gold for the future is upon us.
Slingshot----------------<>
Christian (6/18/02; 08:09:28MT - usagold.com msg#: 78427)
******Dark Vision*******
U.S. Central Banks will be forced to revalue their gold reserves
at the IMF from the present $42.22 an ounce and use the resulting
increase in monetary reserves to bring about fair instead of the
free trade by using gold as a trade currency. We will have to
pay for imports by real money instead of fake fiat. U.S. Central
Banks will have to bring about a new paper U.S. currency in non
debt form and backed by a basket of agricultural commodities while
the present fake fiat $'s in circulation will slowly have to bne
devalued in order to devalue the value of present private, state,
federal, FICA and other related programs. A sound money system
must provide for a commodity currency, or at least for a common
denominator commodity as backing for currency. The bottom line
is that debt can not be paid off with debt, and debt generates
no aggregate income that isn't offset by more debt. It takes a
sound currency and production of goods times price to generate
aggregate income for an economy. Old debt's will have to be devalued
with an old fake fiat we now use while a new system comes into
place. --- Tacartion is an easy business. Any projector can contrive
new impositions. Public money ought to be touched with the most
scrupulous conscientiousness of honor. It is not the produce of
riches only, but of the hard earnings of labor and poverty. It
is drawn from the bitterness of want and misery. Budgets are not
merely affairs of arithmetic, but in many ways go to the root
of prosperity of individuals. The new dollars issued must be in
non-debt form. Income in the new currency form must not be monetized
by becomming more debt as it is with the present fake fiat dollar
system. The arrival of raw materials like gold or silver, times
price man debited, nature credited must be allowed to deliver
real earnings in non debt form. In my mind for this to happen
things will have to get so bad that the system collapses and people
are forced into barter. From this barter trade fair trade will
win over free trade.
Aristotle (6/18/02; 19:01:28MT - usagold.com msg#: 78475)
***** Dark Vision *****
Princes to kiss sleeping beauties are few and far between. Rarer
still, persons possessing well-founded comprehensive understandings
of the workings of the wide world of banking and finance. They
are the stuff of legends even among princes.
Yet here, in the very heart of Gold-dom and in plain view, the
"Thoughts!" of one such legend, ANOTHER, have issued
forth like a wellspring to quench the thirst for knowledge and
to nourish the minds of truth-seeking adventurers from all walks
of life. Even those who have blindly stumbled into this realm
of USAGOLD need not linger but a moment in time ere they gain
an awareness that this is a place not like any other place they've
been. Somehow the trees here grow taller and grasses seem lusher,
especially as they approach the banks of that trickling stream.
A dark vision???
The world abounds with intelligent people everywhere that haven't
even the vaguest notion of what is coming to pass in the world
around them. This includes people found even here in this oasis
of understanding. Here, yes here, in the very heart of Gold-dom,
we see their numbers wandering hither and thither like lost little
boys amid the tall trees and green fields, droning optimistically
about their mythical quest for leverage opportunities, all the
while muddying the waters of the crystal stream with their bare
and shuffling feet. Fairly reckoned, however, the fact that they
happened near upon the water at all -- yet chose not to drink
-- shall not in my mind render their plight shared with the regular
world any more or less tragic. Pathetic, yes, and they'll probably
beat themselves up over it in the end.
Dark vision??? Nothing sinister, just dark as a result of people's
poor vision (understanding) of the same old same old. That is,
of the Achilles' heel of (bullion) banking again taking down the
latest generation of players, complete with graves dug and obituaries
written by the latest crop of politicians under whose indignity
it befell to preside over the event.
In the land of the blind, be king.
Gold. Get you some.
--- Aristotle
Slowman (06/19/02; 20:44:25MT - usagold.com msg#: 78578)
"Dark Vision"
The manipulated, short selling , central banks are about to get
what they deserve. Precious metals are going to explode before
Aug. 31, 2002. The proliferation of bankruptcy and fiat currency
has come to an end.
As countries like Argentina, Brazil and Japan declare bankruptcy
and have fiat problems, the smart money , already has moved into
silver and gold. They being GATES, BUFFETT, SOROS and CEF fund.
FOLLOW THE MONEY !!!!
The trusting public is being set up for bankruptcy while coporate
America CEO's sell their stock while the company looses millions.
The news media and pension fund managers continue to acclaim everything
is fine LONG TERM.
New world order at work, BUY , gold and silver NOW to protect
any assets you may have.
YGM (06/19/02; 22:48:33MT - usagold.com msg#: 78589)
*****DARK VISION*****
In these turbulent days of this the "New Millenium",
mankind seems in an almost manic state of Ying and Yang. On the
one hand we behold astounding scientific advances and prosperity
to the realm of decadence for but a few. An endless shameless
display of media attention given over to look, act and live the
life of the affluent, rich or famous.
On the other hand we see, if we but look below the sugar coated
surface, a world still fraught with ages old hatred, poverty,
fear, and virulant diseases of man and now beast. Dare we let
ourselves dwell on thoughts of terrorists from near and far? Nuclear
threats abounding? What? Mad Cow disease? Is it not man who's
gone mad? Are these not surely the Seer and Prophets age old dark
visions?
No I think not! For there may yet be a Darker Vision. A vision
of dispair and anguish cast upon this same life of decadence and
prosperity we of the so called 'First World' take so heartily
and lightly for granted. We the few who know not the ways of hunger
and making do without. Our Castles are grand, moats deep and wide,
ramparts well manned.
But what you may ask could it be this Darker Vision? Well I say
to you this...Look to your history, of Depressions and Crash.
Take the 30's disruptions, lost homes, jobs and careers. Take
the future of youth all halted mid-stride. Take all of the worst
that the Great Depression did hold, multiply it by ten and only
then may you grasp my Dark Vision.
Yes an Armegeddon it is, and wars may ensue. But this Armegeddon
is the kind that will destroy the illusions we have so willingly
allowed to be fashioned of false wealth and prosperity for us
all....All but those whose strong backs have given of cheap labour
and the earthly riches of far lands. They shall not notice much
of this Financial Dark Vision. They learned well at their fathers
knee as did fathers before them. Trust not your worldly wealth
and savings, no matter how meager, to the suited man behind barred
window handing out script. No they learned to buy Gold. Gram by
Gram, week by week, Chicken by Chicken and Pig by Pig. Years of
gathering like a squirrel hoarding cone.
As I've said, our Castle is secure or so we all think. How little
notice taken of the fate bestowed of late, on modern Argentina
and the bubble collapsed. From cozy office desks to begging and
stealing. Well the pipers done playing and now we must pay. Decades
of illusion and false money dies nigh. Can you pay the piper?
Beware this "Dark Vision" and make a little secure.
Trade some of the falsehoods for the ageless money "Gold"...YGM
Boilermaker (6/20/02; 06:36:58MT - usagold.com msg#: 78606)
******* Dark Vision *******
We have struck an iceberg and we are sinking. Most of us are unaware
of what has happened although a few are milling about the deck
trying to decide if action is warranted. The crew is advising
everyone that this unsinkable new ship will be slowed for the
moment but the designers have insured that it cannot sink. There
are many compartments, separated by watertight bulkheads that
will provide buoyancy even though several may get flooded.
The captain is the famous Alan Greenspan whose prowess navigating
the stormy seas is legendary. The ship has been designed by the
famous architects Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers who have carefully
crafted the design, monitored its construction and intervened
whenever problems have appeared. Everyone agrees that the design
is nearly flawless and the captain can manage any crisis. Together
they have created monumental confidence that we are cruising on
an unsinkable engine of growth, the "New Economy".
But now we notice that we are dead in the water and the deck now
slopes a bit. A few are donning life jackets but they are branded
as hopeless worrywarts. The band plays on and people continue
to party on this magnificent goliath.
Deep in the bowels of the "New Economy" another story
is unfolding. Mountains of debt are beginning to spill over the
bulkheads and are quietly snuffing out the fires in the huge boilers.
Passengers on the lower decks know something major is amiss but
they are being told not to panic, everything is under control
and we will be on our way shortly. Captain Greenspan is reviewing
the ship's plans and realizes that the watertight bulkheads may
not rise high enough to prevent spillover. He calls the architects
but learns that they are not aboard. They're working on new ships
and aren't available to correct the problem at hand. We have a
new untested crew who are hopelessly uninformed about the design
flaws that are now beginning to emerge.
A few of the crew begin the perfunctory exercise of readying the
lifeboats. One of them does the old math in his head. He multiplies
the number of lifeboats by the capacity of each of them. The result
is troubling. But not to worry, the captain has not sounded the
abandon ship order and continues to council confidence as the
means to weather the crisis. Other ships are called for assistance
but none is close enough to respond quickly. The "New Economy"
has reached a spot on the ocean where no help is forthcoming in
time.
Some of the more astute and nervous passengers are beginning to
sense a situation that cannot be ignored or solved by confidence.
They are eagerly climbing into the lifeboats and preparing to
take their chances on the cold dark sea of reality in their own
watertight refuge. They do not panic but neither do they stay
the course.
Officers of the ship begin to see the truth. They have no answers
save for offering refunds to the inconvenienced passengers. The
captain remains stoic and silent. This is when I decide to find
my lifeboat and take charge of my own destiny. I recommend that
other passengers do the same.
Hipplebeck (6/20/02; 14:11:42MT - usagold.com msg#: 78641)
*****DARK VISION*****
THE GREAT BEAST
by Michael
The men had built a business larger than any other and controlled
vast holdings but it required the cooperation of many men.
When looking into the future the men realized that to carry on
for more than the lifetime of one man it would be necessary to
give the business an identity of it's own seperated from any one
man, so they made it corporal.
It became incorporated, or embodied
A body bigger than any of the men working to make it grow.
The beast was born.
In time, it became apparent that the beast had a life of it's
own. A man could rise in the ranks or otherwise find a way to
be at the helm of the beast and influence it and control it to
some extent to steer the beast in some preferred direction, but
there were underlying currents in the beast that were bigger than
any one man.
It was obvious that the beast was compelled to grow.
In fact, it was discovered that if the beast did not continually
grow it would die.
By offering riches and power to the men, the beast was able to
thrive.
Men fawned over the greatness of the beast and declared it a savior
and a miracle.
The beast devoured other smaller beasts and gobbled up all in
it's path. It corrupted many men.
There came a day when men became aware that if the beast continued
to grow at such a rate, that it would eventually devour everything.
All men would be in slavery to the beast.
Then it would stop growing and die.
It was a very rude awakening and at first no one wanted to say
anything because they felt foolish.
If no one else was saying anything, then maybe they knew more.
No one did anything until it was too late.
It took the men many years and much suffering
to regain their freedom and get rid of the rotting corpse.
Shapur (6/20/02; 18:09:04MT - usagold.com msg#: 78659)
*********Dark Vision*********
White Gold
I stare and stare and look at the sun
eyes wide and white
blinded over,
gold-struck and finalized.
that's all I see, white gold and me
alone and shook-- and quiet.
a breath, the dark vision widens
see the scene, its what I know.
the end, born from a past future
always the same
jaws and fangs in the neck,
your money's no good.
they don't take dollars,
they don't take checks,
promises are cheap,
gold they need.
gold is alive,
a wide-eyed head
white gold, I saw then,
they now see-- and they now dread.
Shapur 06/20/02
jinx44 (6/21/02; 22:25:02MT - usagold.com msg#: 78769)
DARK VISIONS submission
"Badges?.We don't need no stinkin' badges!"
Watch Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Mr. Bogart again, and
extrapolate it to modern times.
We get lost in the script and forget the message. GOLD is the
message, the sinful nature of all men, the backdrop. The Word
of God equates gold and silver with great value, whether symbolically
as in the treasures of Heaven, or as secular items with inherent
worth to the nations of the world. Gold and silver are literally
one of the many gifts God has bestows on us all. We only need
to ask Him
In the movie, I like to think of the small group of prospectors
as the current world of gold bugs. That world encompasses all
types from the Rothschilds, Ferdinand Marcos's and George Soros's
of the world, to the rest of us who know how wicked people and
governments can be over time and want to preserve what is ours.
The banditos are the world of fiat and their enforcers, who live
on the largess of others.
Perhaps, without knowing, Hollywood has shown us a bit of the
truth.
My point in the DARK VISION contest is to remind all who have
ears to hear, that the trump will sound and the Creator will triumph.
What does that portend for us here? It means that regardless of
the 'next horseman' who is unveiled, there are moral and physical
absolutes that we are subject to-for eternity. If we respect those
absolutes, we will fall under God's guiding hand. We will all
be subject to justice in the end. Our path must be the straight
one, the narrow gate, the golden gate.
It will not matter what the world hands us if we follow the path
of honesty and truth. All are subject to the vagaries of life.
That means the wiles of satan for you Christians. The blessed
hope is for honesty in commerce-gold--and honesty in life--God--we
are assured that right will prevail in the end.
We cannot fight against the PTB with their unjust weights and
measures, or the many traps that the huge socialist systems like
the US and the rest of the world lay for the working man. We must
recognize where our strength and hope lies. We must persevere
with love and caution, recognizing the nature of the beasts that
rule our bodies and our world-for no man rules, except by the
grace of God.
In essence, the DARK VISION for the world will take on many shapes.
Those of us who love Truth and deal in honest weights and measures
will never be forsaken. That same dark vision will also reveal,
in time, the corruption that is the lie behind it. Until then,
trust in earthly gold and heavenly riches. It is a simple message
that transcends all the horrible things man can do to another.
Respectfully submitted,
Yukon (06/23/02; 01:34:24MT - usagold.com msg#: 78841)
*****Dark Vision*****
In regard to the question, "Are the Federal Reserve Banks
under control of the Federal Government?" The answers would
be without a doubt, "OF COURSE!!" So much knowledge
to be learned by our brothers and sisters. And with the plain
truth always within everyone's grasp. It truly is frustrating
to see so many never give any thought to the events that surround
them, no matter how negative or damaging. Nor to inquire as to
why (beyond what we are spoon fed).
You are absolutely correct in that the web being woven over America
is indeed thick and entangling. With the daily propaganda (can
I call it that...or am I now considered a terrorist?) spewed from
our leaders, issues no doubt get distorted and manipulated. However,
and this is a biggy, I feel that if a persons convictions are
honest and forthright, and the truth must be known in one's search
for answers; then I find it impossible to believe that anything
short of full disclosure on the matter would be accepted.
Let me clarify that thought a little. With myself, I started coin
collecting back in 1995. I immediately noticed that gold and silver
coins for the most part were much more expensive than there clad,
copper and nickel counterparts (unique rarities excluded). After
learning the subtleness of grading, mintage, mint marks, date,
and present populations with respect to price appreciation, my
next thoughts then led me to the question: Why do we no longer
have gold and silver coin as circulating medium as stipulated
in the Constitution (Article I, Section 10)?
Isn't the Constituton supposed to be the SUPREME LAW of these
fifty United States of America? If so, where is the gold and silver
in circulation with which to honestly discharge my debts (vs transferring
the debt to someone else as with Federal Reserve Notes)?
As you can imagine, these simple yet direct questions led me right
smack square into a heap of manure filled with more questions.
And then one day, through the top layer (where the flies were
buzzing and hatching new larvae) I noticed a different texture.
Perhaps it was the way the light was shining, or perhaps it was
the source of the light. In any case, the greatest fraud (from
my perspective) ever to be perpetrated against the people of this
nation came shining through in all its putrid horror!
With mammoth marble structures, polished glistening conference
tables and plush imported leather seats adorned with the finest
pearl inlays, the wealth and power of this group goes beyond comprehension.
Buy along with this wealth, power, prestige and admiration and
you will find yourself in need and lacking. For you will have
unknowingly placed your chips with the master destined to bring
us down to the very depths of hell.
The sorrow, pain, suffering, and anguish associated with this
entity, like its wealth and power, goes beyond words. With the
blood of the innocent are the halls of injustice and inhumanity
decorated. This all under the guise of "Democracy".
Corruption, treason and greed make up the core beliefs of this
cirriculum and it is studied and practiced with such reckless
aggression as to make a mockery of the people of all nations.
For the system is called by different names but always has the
same principal beliefs. War is gain.
It is written that thou shalt not have any strange Gods, and the
worship of this power is both feared and celebrated. It is written
that thou shalt not kill, and without hesitation do the chains
of command and bondage betray. For nearly one hundred years has
this been the achillies heel of American prosperity. Illusion
has become so common and accepted that it now is increasingly
uncomfortable to imagine life without the wings and horns of our
captor. And so down the path we rumble, headlong into the known
and the unknown.
For a few, a thorough examination of life's choices reveal "the
path less chosen" to be better equipped to meet the needs
of the wary traveler. And as the rumbling gets louder, more and
more seem to say, "Let me seek the shelter of the forrest,
for I have lost much and tommarrow is another day."
Yet, along this path there does shine old and new beauties to
both wonder and sustain us. The solid strength, the unencumbered
vision, and the truly ancient history combine to give solace,
peace and tranquility. Indeed, the beauty of this path never fades.
Its luster shines throughout the ages.
But hidden amongst the many beautiful sights of this path, there
remains always the presence of the wicked venomous danger. Ever
waiting to gag, bound, enslave and destroy; proper direction is
essential on this old mining trail as it is not completely void
of all danger. Fortunately, the surrounding natural earth provides
the perfect compass.
An old papyrus found earlier in my journey reads of a Dark Vision:
"ArmageddoN. Four Riders Decend from the North.
Tears with gnashing teeth; I behold a Pale Horse..."
It was obviously part of something much longer as the paper was
ripped in an obvious fashion indicating more text was once attached.
World War? Economic Hardship?
Loss of Values? Thoughts from another...time? Place?
No matter. On this path there lies scattered about perhaps the
most feared and triumphant asset available to act as both sword
and shield. For knights and maidens of the roundtable the time
has come to collect what you may from this temporary way-station.
The journey ahead will test not only your physical, but your mental
as well. So be prepared to use all that you carry. Waste no efforts
with things you have no intention of using; but carry with the
light of liberty all that you can muster!
As the final struggle for men's souls continues, like the final
chapter of the good book, so it shall be written. For with only
divine help is there any hope to overcome the burden of this unholy
alliance between mankind and the great deceiver, as this is his
domain. So it shall be done.
Viva Liberty!
Yukon
balzac (06/23/02; 09:03:19MT - usagold.com msg#: 78855)
***DARK VISION*** : THE
REAL REASON
We ponder the events of our times and the effect on PMs but
I feel it necessary to examine the root of our present
world situation. [ The philosophy of ownership]
I could peruse the daily lists of geopolitical current events
and economic reasons for the dark vision however a very compelling
item appeared on USA GOLD recently, this fact was
that the US has gone from a $137 billion surplus to a $147
billion deficit in the first 8 months of fiscal 2002.
This reversal shows the trend, accompanied by the litany of accounting
deception and the $400 billion trade imbalance
are the economic factors influencing the dark vision ahead.
But what is the philosophical or the psychological reason in the
minds of men ? The real reason?
The main motivator for the dark vision is greed in high places.
This greed is fueled by a philosophy of ownership
driven by conspicuous consumption rather than any real need.
North american consumption today is influenced totally by the
comparison with peers , the old adage of" keeping up with
the Joneses " gone mad.
I believe this to be the motivator for corporate greed and
accounting deception.
Rather than living moderately , american corporate and political
leaders have become selfish , greedy conspicuous
consumers who care for nothing but acquiring more of the "good
life" the modern phrase for hedonism.
What happened to Statesmanship and ethical business practice?
Has greed overcome honesty?
Throughout history it is obvious that moral collapse is always
followed by financial ruin.
Lets hope that America is not morally bankrupt ,for financial
bankruptcy is sure to follow.
Balzac.
Noble1 (06/23/02; 16:24:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 78879)
*****Dark Vision*****
Greetings and Hail to all Ye mighty Kings, Queens, brave Knights
and fair Maidens residing in the cyber-realm of USA Gold Forum.
May I humbly introduce myself. I call myself Noble1. Not because
of any particular social status. Just sounded neat and choosing
a handle is even tougher than naming a dog. I have been lurking
outside the castle for quite some time, studying the landscape
and planning my approach. Contemplating whether or not I should
leave the shelter and anonymity that I enjoy as a village inhabitant
or expose myself to those within the castle walls.(Like many other
new posters). The lure of our gracious host, MK, dangling that
Brazilian 20k reis in front of me was tantalizing, but today,
the decision was made for me. For I saw a with my own eyes the
face of the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse and am compelled
to spread the word.
I joined a small group of disenchanted villagers slowly making
it's way toward the Trail. Facing us was the Moneyprinter, surrounded
by guards, preaching his dogma of the value of fiat, urging us
to turn back. When unexpectedly Four Horseman, armed, armored
and sitting high upon their mighty stallions approached, directly
in front of us, for all to see. We all shuddered and leaned back
in fear. The Moneyprinter faced the Horsemen and raised his arms
in defiance. The Horsemen abruptly broke stride and angled away.
Thus convincing the crowd that the Moneyprinter was in control.
Suddenly, a guttural rumbling was felt in the very earth we stood
upon. Created by the roar of cantering hooves from none other
than the Fifth Horseman himself, galloping along just far enough
into the forest that he could not be seen. The crowd sensed the
energy of this horseman whisking by and insisted on knowing who
he was. The Moneyprinter cried out to identify him to the crowd.
" He is the US Dollar. Of which I am in complete command,
allowing me to keep all other horseman at bay. Feel his strength
and power ." The crowd asks "Why can we not see him?"
The Moneyprinter replies " You can see him. Just look at
the wealth you possess in your pocketbook and remember, it is
you that keeps the dollar strong. If you fail in your role, you
will lose your wealth and all it represents." Of course the
crowd knew exactly what a dollar was (as originally established)
and the people understood and were satisfied with that reply.
They obeyed the Moneyprinter. Not wishing to do anything that
would risk the value of their dollars, they all turn back, save
one. As a hardworking professional laborer who has toiled half
a lifetime saving dollars and DDA's. I had to see him. I must
see him. I just must. Sneaking past the guards to the edge of
the forest, I spy the horseman. Alas, he is but a tired, frail
old man with the letters FRN written across his chest, gaily skipping
along, followed by an oaf clacking coconuts (ala Monte Python)
and a powerful amplifier. As I return to tell the story to the
rest of you villagers, you scoff at me. Not wanting to believe
what your "wealth" has become. Firsthand knowledge can
certainly give you ANOTHER perspective.
Having become a PGA, I continue to convert my FRN's to seashells
and oxen (Au and Ag) while trying to educate other villagers about
the engineering and transformation of the once mighty Dollar to
unbacked FRN's by the Moneyprinter. The true nature of the Fifth
Horseman is the failing falling FRN. We must act like the child
who exposed the emperor and reveal the dollar's (FRN's) genuine
stature to our acquaintances so they will have the opportunity
to protect themselves.
The Giants understand this and are already positioning themselves
to take advantage of what is to come. You ask. "Who are these
Giants and what are they doing?" I'll leave that for ANOTHER
story. When the public comes to grasp this, the music will stop.
Don't be one of the many left standing (holding paper). There
are far fewer chairs than there are players in this game. For
when this time arrives, it will come quickly to the unsuspecting
masses. Be prepared. Buy your seashells and oxen now with overvalued
paper.
The Moneyprinter believes he knows how and has the wherewithal
to take care of himself and the rest of us under his umbrella.
Given that the FRN is failing- THE DARK SCENARIO IS IF THE MONEYPRINTER
ALREADY HAS SEASHELLS AND OXEN. THE DARKEST IS IF HE DOESN'T.
For if he doesn't, he will take the fall and TPTB will be begged
by the commoners to provide a new almighty dollar and thus restore
order. For this is just what they need to establish their NWO
and all it represents. These PTB will tell the people "Just
look over the hills to the south and glimpse the suffering and
despair that results from not conforming. Do you want your children
digging through trash for food?" The people will plead for
TPTB to provide the solution. TPTB will be more than happy to
oblige them. The people will become enslaved thinking they are
being saved.
Best Regards,
Noble1
Remember...Gold is the noblest of metals.
Black
Blade (06/23/02; 22:06:11MT - usagold.com
msg#: 78893)
***** Dark Vision *****
Barbarians at the Gate
The use of metal and metal coins as the only acceptable money
continued throughout the centuries. Perhaps the earliest use of
gold as an item of value was about 9,000 years ago with ancient
gold objects found in modern day Bulgaria (ancient Thracian civilization).
In ancient days gone by, Persians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans
(among others) would go to war to loot state treasuries and energy
(in the form of slaves). The spoils of the vanquished and the
slaves were typically paraded through the streets of the victors.
The Romans developed one of the greatest empires ever known. Unfortunately
for Rome, the Italian Peninsula lacks deposits of precious metal.
The Romans obtained gold and silver by looting the treasuries
of their conquered neighbors but ultimately those treasures were
eventually spent. When Rome defeated Carthage they also acquired
the region of Spania (Spain). The Romans used thousands of slaves
to work the silver and gold mines and they sent the metal to Rome.
Slaves worked these mines for over 300 years bringing out large
quantities of silver and gold. Some estimates are that over 300,000
ounces of gold were produced annually.
These precious metals were used to pay the great Roman legions.
Their loyalty was only as good as long as they were paid in gold
and silver. Eventually the great mines played out and precious
metals ran short. Then began the debasing of the coin of the empire.
The soldiers were not fooled and as these soldiers were needed
to fend off the Barbarians from the northern lands, the situation
became more difficult. What to do? The Romans debased their coin
with the addition of cheap metals as lead and copper. Eventually
the Roman currency became despised and the government lost prestige.
Finally in the fourth century A.D. the empire collapsed as the
"Barbarians" truly were at the gates of Rome. The Roman
legions loyalty waned and they abandoned Rome and the Romans to
the Barbarians. With no "money" left to pay for mercenaries,
the great empire was finished. The Huns and Vandals eventually
sacked Rome and the empire disintegrated into a collection of
principalities and weak states in a loose confederation. The empire
was dead.
The Gold Standard and The Collapse of Currency
The gold standard prevented governments from debasing the currency
(previously in the U.S. gold and silver coin were currency). Like
Rome, today's politicians love to spend money, even if it means
that the currency will be debased. That is the function of a politician.
However, a gold standard compels politicians to be honest and
to not spend beyond the means of the country's ability to pay
and stay within the budget. This of course is an intolerable situation
to a politician. What to do? The first step was to prevent citizens
from exchanging scrip for gold (and eventually silver).
The process of shaking loose from the gold standard began with
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Gold Reserve Act"
of 1934. This new executive order made private ownership of gold
illegal and called for the collection of all gold coin from circulation.
Afterward, the currency was debased as the dollar was devalued
from $20 to $35 for an ounce of gold, and later it was devalued
further to $42 an ounce. In 1971, President Richard Millhouse
Nixon repealed the gold standard and shut the "gold window"
preventing the exchange of U.S. dollars for gold (silver was no
longer minted for circulation in 1965). Soon coins were made of
only cheap pot metal clad in silver colored coating. Even copper
pennies were no longer copper, but cheaper zinc. The debasement
of the currency was well under way.
Politicians were now able to spend with abandon. The plunder of
the treasury could fully commence and the printing presses could
run flat out. Fiscally irresponsible politicians were free to
destroy the life savings of the people. Long before Alan Greenspan
became the Federal Reserve Chairman he stated:
"Under a gold standard, the amount of credit that an economy
can support is determined by the economy's tangible assets, since
every credit instrument is ultimately a claim on a tangible asset,
but government bonds are not backed by tangible wealth, only by
the governments promise to pay out of future tax revenuesThus,
government deficit spending under a gold standard is severely
limited."
"The abandonment of the gold standard made it possible for
the welfare statists to use the banking system as a means to an
unlimited expansion of creditthere are now more claims outstanding
than real assets."
"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to
protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is
no safe store of valueThe financial policy of the welfare state
requires that there be no way for owners of wealth to protect
themselves."
"Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the 'hidden' confiscation
of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious processIf
one grasps this, one has no difficulty understanding the statists'
antagonism toward the gold standard".
- Rand, Ayn, with additional articles by Nathaniel Brandon, Alan
Greenspan, and Robert Hessen, 1966, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal:
The New American library, New York, 309 p.
The Currency Wars
Today the debasement of the World's currencies continues. We see
the battle between the Japanese and U.S. currencies for the weaker
position. Each nation is vying to gain a competitive advantage
for their respective export markets in the shrinking global economic
pie. The Japanese to date have spent over $20 Billion worth of
yen to prop up the U.S. dollar while selling yen to weaken the
home currency. To date this has been a failure because the U.S.
dollar is grossly overvalued. The foreign investor is taking his
cash home as western equities markets fall and interest rates
are very low.
We also see other currencies falling off into oblivion. In Latin
America Argentina's Peso, Brazil's Real, Colombia's Peso, Uruguay's
Peso, and Venezuela's Bolivar appear to be headed much lower and
even possibly to the scrap heap of dead currencies as these Latin
American economies flounder amid banking crises, geopolitical
turmoil, and debt defaults. Mexico's Finance Minister Francisco
Gil Diaz has stated that he sees a similar fate for his country.
In Asia, countries about the whole region await to see the outcome
of the Japanese devaluation and if successful they too threaten
to react by weakening their currencies.
The viability of the Euro is also in question. I have debated
in the past about how viable the Euro will be. So far the Euro
is strengthening against the U.S. dollar. That may be due to the
fact that the dollar is so overvalued. I have stated that I do
not see how it is possible for 15 nations with different political
systems and cultures to combine under a unified currency. Strict
fiscal discipline is necessary something many European countries
are not known for. The only way that I can see the Euro becoming
a viable currency is for the nations of Europe to give up their
national sovereignty and submit to a central power such as the
ECB. That includes not only giving up fiscal responsibility but
political independence as well. In other words let the Barbarians
enter the gates.
Just as ancient Rome, the "Barbarians" (in this case
the international bankers and politicians) are at the gates. The
world's financial banking system is one of debt and the ability
of central banks to print a constant supply of "money"
to float the financial system. The growth of derivatives in the
financial markets has only amplified this leverage to an unprecedented
degree of speculation that cannot be held in check forever. Eventually
the inevitable end result is rampant global currency inflation
and perhaps hyperinflation.
The Dark Vision (with a faint glimmer of hope)
Hordes of the former middle class are picking through landfills
to find discarded scraps to eat. Woe be to any stray cats and
dogs. Rodents, insects, anything that walks, fly, crawls or swims
and is edible is consumed. The banks are closed and the stock
markets are shutdown. Commodities markets are no longer functioning.
Fresh vegetables and meat are selling at a premium to those who
can afford it. The well connected and those who prepared and are
able to withdraw cash and transfer their wealth into hard assets
are now isolated but survive fairly well. Barter is more valuable
than the currency. Crime is in the streets. There is rioting and
looting in every city. The police are overwhelmed and martial
law is declared with orders "shoot to kill". However,
like the legions of Rome, the soldiers have not been paid and
their loyalty is about to be sorely tested. The Barbarians are
at the gate.
Is this the former Soviet Union of 1992? Is this Argentina in
2002? No, this is The United States in the not too distant future.
The second Great Depression has arrived. In fact no country has
escaped unscathed. As most industrialized nations do not support
agrarian societies, this time around the Great Depression is total
devastation. Gold and silver have no stated value because the
currency is nearly worthless. However, precious metal will help
transport wealth across these stormy seas. Those with precious
metals can make purchases if necessary, however, most keep their
ownership a guarded secret. Once this period of economic turmoil
quiets down, those with precious metals will emerge to start up
new businesses and purchase land much like the Southeast Asians
who held gold during the "Asian Contagion" crisis in
1998.
The loss of freedom over the last century has conditioned the
people to accept ever more restrictions. The people have sold
their birthright to freedom for a few scraps of perceived security.
The economic turmoil will lead to a more restrictive, almost totalitarian
form of government in most every country in the World as the elite
seize power and a new empire (New World Order) emerges with well-paid
mercenary enforcers to keep power like the legions in the
early Roman Empire. Meanwhile an official economy operates in
the open while another underground economic system based on precious
metals, barter, and hard assets operate out of sight from the
prying eyes of the elitist government. The majority of people
are enslaved to an oppressive government. A new currency is created
to replace the old defunct currency. Unless today's Barbarians
(politicians and bankers) suddenly acquire a conscience and embrace
silver and gold as money and commit to freedom, then this is the
future society we have to look forward to until the next group
of Barbarians approach the gates.
a nation
of one (06/24/02; 14:36:02MT
- usagold.com msg#: 78948)
*****DARK VISION*****
Gold is beautiful.
It's heavy.
It feels like it's yours.
And it is.
Everyone knows it has value.
It's harmless. You can wash it off and put it in your mouth and
it won't hurt you.
Wonderful things can be made from it.
It stays the same for millennia.
When Alexander the Great conquered Persia he so effectively surprised
King Darius in the city of Persepolis that the king did not even
have time to save his treasury, and Alexander's men are said to
have found five thousand tons of gold there. That same gold is
with us now, in your girlfriend's ring, or in your computer's
circuitry.
Our legal currency is merely paper that has had ink printed onto
it. If your hands are clean, it often feels dirty. You don't know
where it's been. More than 30 percent of all U.S. one dollar bills
have a detectable amount of cocaine on them. Even when relatively
new, they look second-hand, and you can't make them look like
they're not. Paper money has no value of its own. Nothing enduringly
wonderful or intrisically valuable can be made from it. And, really,
paper money doesn't actually smell very good.
You can always tell when money is not worth anything, because
people get rid of it as soon as they get it, unlike good money,
and gold, which they tend to keep.
Americans have been getting rid of their money for quite some
time now. First they spent it calmly. Then enthusiastically. Later,
wildly. When they spent all they had, they borrowed more. Then
they borrowed all they could. When they slowed down, the Fed stepped
in and lowered interest rates, and now it is so easy to borrow
money, credit card companies call you on the phone just to insult
you if you don't want any. Very few borrowers understand that
whenever money is loaned at interest -no matter what the amount,
no matter what the interest rate, no matter how large the nation
in which it is borrowed- that the money that is to be required
in repaying the loans does not exist but has to be created for
that purpose. It is created by banks. The U.S. Constitution says
that only Congress shall create money, but Congress gave up that
power before they even knew what it meant. There is a limit to
borrowing, and Americans are coming face to face with it right
now. Deep down inside, they tell themselves that the dollars they
will be repaying their loans with are not going to be worth as
much as the dollars they borrowed, and for this they think they
are wise.
Into the U.S. economy has recently been injected $1 Trillion.
Do you know how much money that is? ...No. You don't.
Take 163 rooms filled with confetti, each piece a quarter inch
square. The rooms are ten by twelve, with eight foot ceilings.
That's a trillion. A billion is just one of those rooms, with
the confetti 15 and five-eighths inches deep. A million is only
about one sixty-fourth of an inch of confetti, spread evenly on
the floor, or, made into sheets of typing paper, one ream (500
sheets) plus an additional 169 sheets (rounded up to the nearest
whole sheet). That's a million: 669 sheets of typing paper cut
into quarter inch squares. A trillion is a million times that:
669 million sheets of typing paper, cut into quarter inch squares.
We have not seen this new $1 Trillion reflected in prices yet,
but we will. And other trillions too. Every one of those dollars
is going to count when we figure the new price for gold, because
gold is the only real thing, and the dollar is going to have to
be adjusted to fit.
Yet even this $1 Trillion will not be enough to pay the people's
debt. A very large part of it will never be paid. This is beginning
to dawn on some people.
That's one reason these are pregnant times. The baby seems half
born, but it is only the first, since they are twins. When they
come fully into the world, we will call them 'Catastrophe' and
'War.'
The Chinese have a saying: "Where there is an army, the people
become poor." But that is only if they live.
War is a great way for a government to pretend there is no economic
trouble. After all, quite a few of the citizens are not around
during it and afterward; those who are tend to be wary and silent;
everyone who can stand up is put to work defeating the evil enemy;
and from the public treasury, money flows like water. But the
troubles we are facing will not be hidden so easily. America's
problems will be public. That is America's nature. That is what
Americans believe in. That is what Americans live and fight for.
When it comes, no one will mistake it.
That is when gold will be wanted most.
You and I are preparing for that time.
For every bubble there is a pool of unsold items being held. The
items in the pool do not possess the listed value, except individually,
and, even then, only if sold at that price. When holders in the
pool release for sale a statistically significant proportion of
their items, the bubble bursts. All prices are temporary. Not
just those in stocks and real estate. If the crash of 1929 happens
today, by 2005 the DJIA will have dropped to below 1260. Of course
you laugh. But several factors seem to justify thinking it could
be worse than that. First there's all that money, not just one
trillion but many. Then the debt, even bigger trillions. And the
fact that stocks are profoundly overpriced. Real estate too. Many
companies formerly viable become unprofitable during a depression.
Goods stop being bought. Profits decline further. People's income
goes down. They cannot buy as many buy goods. Companies have no
reason to produce. Profits shrink. And so forth. Additionally,
America has exported its ability to manufacture things, thereby
making itself vulnerable to the whims of foreign nations. Certainly
the other nations know this. Further, we are now at war. So are
numerous others. We know our money is no good. And that's not
all.
Huge U.S. financial institutions have made colossally wrong bets.
Many of our largest, most trusted companies use bookkeeping practices
that are deliberately intended to misrepresent profits, because
their profits are already unacceptably low. The companies' officers
have no power to influence this reality, so, like desperate animals,
they do the first thing they think of. They lie about it. Then
they insist that they are not lying. In part because of this,
we know that U.S. stocks are powerfully overpriced, though few
in that business have the guts to say so. Those who otherwise
might have had the guts fell for the tale that all is well, and
today they conduct themselves as though they still believe it.
Especially the most loyal Americans are fatally obsessed with
following biased advice that benefits the markets and people in
the know but not themselves. With companies falling down nearby,
and the herds stampeding through the exits, with their own pants
and shirts on fire and bullets flying all around them, they stand
glibly reassuring one another, fingers fidgeting nervously in
their pockets, patented smiles pasted all over their faces, with
everything they own still invested in the market, because they
have not found the courage yet to figure out that loyalty only
works in one direction, which is exacty what the people wanted
who convinced them to adopt their erroneous beliefs in the first
place.
Bonds pay negligible interest. Nations are being manipulated to
serve alien desires. The people's money, in the East and in the
West, is being used in ways they would never knowingly approve.
The people elected to represent them do not. The majority of citizens
hold dearly to ideals which, when fully understood, mark those
who believe in them as being doomed to extinction. Public officials
lie to the people and the people do nothing. Passivity invites
aggression. Aggression naturally turns into abuse. Blood will
flow.
Balances of power shift. China and Russia, long dangerous, grow
more powerful continuously. If America falls they will rule. The
Middle East could evaporate in a minute. Pakistan and India actually
are capable of, and perhaps even willing to, turn themselves and
each other into landscapes festering with millions of incinerated
or catastrophically wounded. Nor are our Middle Eastern enemies
through with us. They are playing, like a cat with a captured
bird. The U.S., which we love more than anything else than we
have ever loved, really can become irretrievably pockmarked by
lethal disasters put in place by a people known for their skill
in the use of little more than boxcutters. Rockets' red glare
could force our nation to its knees. Our computers may be rendered
into junk in seconds by an enemy government's virus. All of our
bank balances could be wiped out in the span of one night by the
click of a mouse. Our giant, nuclear-reactor power plants could
be made useless forever, and poisonous for ten thousand years,
by people whose main strength is merely that they possess the
desire and the will to do so. No above-ground building is safe.
Modern cities are obsolete. Nerve gas may kill you tomorrow on
a public road. Deliberately cultivated germs could wipe out millions
like you and me without anyone being able to prevent it. Smallpox
-which scientists thought they had made extinct- can be deployed
as a weapon this evening, and since vaccinations for it only last
a few years, no one is immune. You could be blown up while watching
a movie. Or dancing. Or eating a meal. These terrors are not false
but real. We feel them in our bones. No vision can be so dark
as one that is already true.
Not far from my home, there is a grocery store where a man works,
whose name I do not know. I do know him well enough, however,
to be certain that if times got rough, and no matter how panicky
people might recently have been, if I were to give him a full-size
South African Kruggerrand, Australian Kangeroo, Austrian Philharmonic,
Canadian Maple Leaf, or United States Gold Eagle, he would suddenly
remember where there was enough food to fill up the trunk of my
car with, and the back seat too, and that he would even carry
it out and pack it in there for me, and tell no one.
Within one block of where I live, there are at least five people
who, when the planes hit the buildings, tried to buy all of the
bottled water off of the shelves in that same store. By that time
half of it had been put in the back. When the United States of
America starts being spelled A-R-G-E-N-T-I-N-A, they will be selling
their bodies on the streets for food and cigarettes.
That man at the grocery store, and I, will each be counting our
respective, beautiful, gold you-know-whats. I will not have to
pick food from the dump, or wrestle with the moral issues involved
in the question of whether I should eat my neighbors. And I will
sleep relatively peacefully night, knowing that I did right.
You can't judge a man by the dogs he walks, but if something is
made of gold, you can be sure that its power -and also its appearance-
will never be less than impressive.
Here is a little, in fact a very little, smattering of verse that
I put together, just for this occasion, using all of the one-syllable
words I could think of that rhyme with 'gold,' plus a few others.
If you don't like such things, skip it. I don't usually burden
people with 'poetry,' but in this case I thought it might serve
a purpose.
Owed to the Yellow Stuff (That's a pun.)
I've been told
That gold is old,
And that both the brazen and the bold
Have bought it when it's sold.
Mellow
And yellow,
Smooth and round,
It is the nicest thing I've found.
It is always the thing that it always is, no matter whether flattened
or rolled:
Behold!
We keep it firmly in our fold
To ward off misery and cold.
Gold sings a song of serious delight
Deep in the darkness of the night.
It foils the edge of horrible fright
When nothing else goes right.
Forebear to scrimp or to withhold
When feathering your nest with glorious gold,
And do not yield if you're cajoled,
When you the glistening item hold.
But to say that gold is all that counts
Is not exactly what you ought to announce
To a devoted gold bug ready to pounce.
(Wait till his mind is off of his ounce.)
Of all that's old
Or bought and sold,
Of all the treasures that I'd hold,
There's just one good one: Gold!
THE END of my *****DARK VISION*****
a nation of one
Econoclast (06/24/02; 16:03:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 78954)
********* Dark Vision*********
As our world rounds the corner from the twentieth into the twenty-first
century, I feel that I am living in a drama of events that could
be compared to a marathon being run. All the time that the runners
spent training is comparable to the time of European growth and
expansion along with the push into the New World, development
of the United States and the Industrial Revolution. That is a
lot of history in one line of script, yet the training period
is always much longer than the actual race, yes? By the beginning
of the twentieth century, America had become positioned to become
the driving force of the world, both politically and economically.
The starting gun for the marathon was set off in 1913, that infamous
year in our history that saw the passage by stealth and deceit,
of those dual pieces of binded legislation; the Federal Reserve
Act and the Federal Income Tax. Those pieces of shlegislation,
analogous to a two-headed dragon, forever altered the future direction
that our great country would take, and marked the beginning of
the end for our Constitution and republican form of government
that our Founders fought and died for. In spite of many obstacles
along our path during the twentieth century, we had such strength
and optimism as a people, that we overcame all, as we sometimes
limped, but mostly chugged strongly through the twentieth century.
But now we have turned the corner into the twenty-first century.
We became numb somewhere along the way. We lost all track of the
fact that this marathon must have an end, and where and how that
end might come. We gave into the mindlessness and the high that
comes with just putting one foot after another over and over and
over again. But now all of a sudden, a finish line has come into
view. It turns out that it was a 99-year race. The actuarial tables
must show something, as an amazing number of important government
laws, programs, etc. either end or are projected to go bankrupt
in the year 2012. Our debt-based economy is starting to feel some
major aches and pains that were just theoretical inconveniences
farther back in time. The total public and private debt has grown
to overtake the nation's gross domestic product. How will this
race end? Who will be the winner(s)? Will we even make it to the
finish line or will we experience chaos and breakdown along the
way? If we do make it to 2012, what happens after that?
As America's economy goes, so goes the world. As I am an American,
that statement brings up a feeling of egotism mixed with a little
pride, and thankfulness that I landed on this planet here. My
circumstances could be much worse. America is considered to be
the "last Superpower". Economically, socially, culturally,
we drive and mold the world.
The decay that has been caused by the attachment of a deadly parasite
in 1913 has spread, and the host has sickened to the point that
everyone in the country is feeling the malaise on an individual
basis. Everyone knows that something is dreadfully wrong, but
most just don't understand the system enough to know where to
properly direct their anger and seek change.
The American people are being crushed under the weight of a confiscatory
tax scheme and a debt system of money that is only understandable
to a few. As families work harder and harder just to stay afloat,
the government continues to grow. The rate of growth is the only
item available for discussion. Actual contraction is not even
a concept open for discussion. Increased regulation and intrusion
into all areas of personal and business life, layer upon layer
of bureaucracy, it just keeps going. Now that we have entered
a protracted recession, and tax revenues have dropped, the government
is looking to take MORE from us to support themselves. Any organization
takes on the characteristics of its leader. The organization that
is America has taken on the characteristics of its leader, our
government. Corruption, moral decay, greed, ignorance, laziness,
non-accountability, have all worked their way through the system.
How could it not? Everyone knows that if government opens its
mouth, it is either a lie or there is an ulterior motive for what
is being said. Yet that is accepted. We have Forest Service employees
burning down the forests! Government run schools spend the day
not teaching our children how to read, write, and think; but instead
indoctrinate them into whatever the politically correct social
policy of the day is. Government accountants tell us there is
a surplus (this lie has recently become too blatant to continue)when
all you have to do is go to the Treasury's own web site to see
that they are lying. Politicians and government agencies make
laws and regulations that are patently repugnant to the Constitution.
The government then relies on ignorance, fear, and threat of force,
in daring people to demand different. The huge volume of laws
are only selectively enforced. Leonard Peltier is living proof
that we have a government of force and political will, not of
law. I could go on and on. All the decay and corruption has worked
its way throughout our economic and social fabric. We have a "War
on Terrorism" that as far as I can tell, is in reality a
"War for Oil Interests" in combination with a "War
AGAINST the American People and the Constitution itself."
Our economy is cracking and showing signs of stress under the
weight, which in turn is radiating out through the world. We are
slowly sinking into the abyss. America, our political, and economic
system was and still is the greatest idea for societal organization
the world has ever seen. The amount of abuse that the system can
take is a tribute to its greatness. But the thousands of little
cuts have added up and She is staggered and looking to hit the
canvas.
We are coming to the end of the timeline. We are nearing the breaking
point. All the countries in the world are in a race to make their
currencies worth LESS than other countries to maintain some kind
of competitive adva