Change You Can Believe In

What is a systemic pogrom, and how do they work?

When you have a pitch fork and the price shoots in a direction and exactly touches the upper or lower medium lines, that validates the fork.  The more something like that happens, the more valid the fork is.  So when you have an already validated fork, and the price shots down to exactly touch the lower medium line, and it's an upward trending fork, then yes it is bullish, there is no better time to buy.  I'm just bullish, not ultra bullish yet like you are, another week inside these forks with out breaking to the downside, validating them even more, I'll be ultra bullish just like you are.

If money is sitting in a bank account earning no interest, easily confiscated, going into what will be some tumultuous months, and you can still sleep at night, do nothing.  I'd rather take a chance on losing 10% in fiat value than losing it all if the Europe situation gets out of control.

I've been stacking since 2005, so it hurts to pay $1675 for AGEs, but it ies what it is.  Still safer than any bank.

What good is electronic money if there's no friggin electricity?

sprite,

you said:  " When the muddied waters start to settle, people will realise you can't EAT gold and silver....although you can certainly purchase stuff to eat with it.  The real wealth is land........and the equipment and commodities required to work it."

one other essential - the knowledge and skills required to work the land.  agriculture (gardening, farming, ranching) involves an immense skill set that was once widely held, but now is largely lost.   many people have  left their agrarian roots generations behind.  writers of gardening books now find it neccessary to explain that onion sets should be planted root end down.  hell, half the people reading this probably don't know what an onion set is. 

i began my journey back to the land in the '80s, and there's still a lot of stuff i learn in the garden.  the folks who "put in a vegetable garden" thinking they're becoming self-sufficient are making a step in the right direction, but only a small step.  the total yearly production of the average suburban vegetable garden would only amount to bare subsistence for a week or so for a family.

anybody seriously thinking about even partial self-sufficiency would do well to read GROW IT by richard langer.  it's out of print, but there are lots of copies available on the net at used booksellers.  besides, it's a fun book to read.  langer has a very readable style of writing.

Can you own real estate anonymously?

I'm always stunned, that the most important aspect of PMs even isn't understood from 90% of the goldbugs these days: anonymous possession. Do you really believe, when the system is staring into the abyss and the hungry masses will shout for support, that those with real estate will stay untouched, while the revolting masses are becoming a threat for the governments?

People in english speaking countries should learn history. Especially german history, because Germany has gone through currency devaluations numerous times after the lost wars. There you can study, what happens during the crisis and after the crisis and at the restart.

In Germany 1948 a 50% tax was put on real estate. It was called "Lastenausgleich" (balance of burden).

Real estate, not used personally, means to put a sign on your back: DEAR GOVERNMENT TAX ME I CANNOT ESCAPE!

I wasn't suggesting you invest in diamonds or fine art, actually, I was trying to make the same point as you - the lack of alternatives to PMs.

Having some cash to take advantage of possible - temporary - deflation - yes, but I am not comfortable with significant amounts of cash for many reasons (inflation, bank failure, bank holidays, cash under the mattress is not safe either). Then what? Not much, except PMs, that's my point.  I am not a gold bug, just don't see anything better out there than gold (and silver). 

I wasn't quoting Richard Russell, the fine art theme gets mentioned quite a bit on different sites, the last one that I heard it from was Jim Rickards. He actually says there are now some funds out there that invest in fine art, and that he invested in one a few years ago and that investment has done better for him so far than even gold  However, I think that misses the point of why the very rich invest in fine art - to put their money in tangible assets held outside the system. If it's a fund, it's really a paper investment, with the risks that it entails. It may perform better than other investments for the time being but it doesn't provide protection that owning hard assets outside the system does.

If I had to choose between giving money away or buying diamonds or fine art, I'd rather buy them than lose the money altogether  But otherwise I'll stick with PMs.

hi treefrog,

I think that for most people, buying farmland is not be an option, but many will have garden plots that are big enough to grow stuff to supplement their diets during potential hard times, and it is as much a 'peace of mind' factor as it is a practical one. 

I grow stuff on a small scale; I use just 10% of my garden, and for six months of the year, there is always something from the garden on our dinner plates. Added to which, a couple of fruit trees which look after themselves, and which provide more fruit than we can eat, so therefore something to barter with in a SHTF scenario, or just to help out neighbours by sharing it out. 

I think the key point here, is that to farm 10% of the garden, already arms me with tools and knowledge in the event that I want to increase from 10%. I am very aware too, of how much water is needed during dry spells, to avert a crop failure; it takes a hell of a lot, and there are always dry spells & hosepipe bans even in wet old blighty, so a water capture system on some scale is important even for small plots.

Finally, I do know some retired people who grow over half their food on their own modest sized gardens, so I come back to that point of keeping a toehold in the concept; a productive corner of the garden that can spread out if and when needs be.

the most frustrating thing about today is Ben Bernanke says the same god damn thing for the last year and gold gets smacked down everytime.. Whatever

yes, agreed then. We are a bit short of options. We all of us just need to be careful though, that what we think is diversification, is indeed that, and not in fact the illusion of diversification. A case in point, one could have invested in a diverse basket of instruments through MF global, and lost it all. Somebody who invested in just one asset class but through a variety of brokers, might have actually been better diversified. Then we find out that all the bloody brokers will go down on the same day for reasons we don't understand (including the ETFs for fine art etc), and find out that we were never diversified at all.

It's a bitch!

Great read.  I'm a bit smarter now.  I loved the historical perspective that it provided.

Lays out very convincing arguments on how the gold standard provides for a functional and stable financial system.  One that does not allow for manipulation.

I'm afraid that current monetary power-brokers will not give up their power very easily.  Why earn an honest living if you can simply steal from others.

If a new system is simply a new worldwide digital fiat system, then I feel uneasy about the future.  That is why I hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.

Keep stacking.

@TitanAe - Maybe "Hold your head high" is a little more to the spirit of the post. Usually "Hang your head high" is done with a rope or spear!

Mindful that it probably was the cartel that did the deed today, do not though overlook the following. If the cartel teach the market, that gold will be taken down before options expiry, BLS reports, BennyBucks speeches etc, then the market will front run it. Ultimately, the flying monkeys don't even need to do anything, they train the market to recognise the triggers, and the general market will do it for them.

just a thought....