Posts by Walter Barrett8

Is nobody going to talk about the fact that the Federal Reserve's license expired last night?!

Anthony Evans78 said:The spot price is just for the elite few, not for us regular folks; once it leaves the refinery, you can kiss that spot price goodbye.🙂
Silver is hit with Sales Tax in almost all of Europe, so forget about matching the spot price there.
Besides, everyone in that supply chain needs to make a profit.😉
True. You always end up paying the plumbers and contractors regardless of the market rate... in my field (IT), people always go with "Oh, this should be easy for you, just fix it." And when I tell them my rate is $117 per hour, they claim "the neighbor's kid can do it for cheap."
Fine, let the kid fix it, then you'll come crawling back to me and I'll charge you $167 an hour 😁
.

Since we were diving into gold as an investment vehicle—or just a way to squirrel away savings—I’ve been looking at it from a specific angle. Think about it this way: when you commit capital to gold, you aren't just spending money; you're incurring an opportunity cost by choosing not to invest that same cash into gaining specialized knowledge or other assets. You buy a certain amount, say at one price point, and then you're stuck playing the waiting game until you can find someone to take it off your hands. $383 You go out and buy some gold coins, thinking you've got a solid hedge, but then reality hits when you actually try to liquidate. It’s not like walking into a Starbucks and trading cash for a latte. Unless you have a private jeweler or a regular contact who deals in bullion, you’re stuck heading down to a precious metals buyer or a pawn shop. And once you’re standing there, facing those predatory buyback rates... well, you quickly realize how much they're going to squeeze you. $233 He really ought to be happy.

Gold and knowledge are both long-term plays. They’re both high-demand assets, and honestly, they can both be a pain to actually liquidate when you need them most. But if you look at the long game, they should theoretically yield the same kind of masterful returns. There is just one massive distinction: you can lose physical gold. You can have it stolen, lost, or wiped out in some market catastrophe. Knowledge? That stays with you. It's portable, untouchable, and permanent. I think that pretty much sums it up. 🙂

vividgull10 said:It isn't just helpful; it's necessary.
Knowledge is great, and honestly, we all have a responsibility to pursue it based on our own interests and abilities. But let's be real: it's way harder to cash out your knowledge than it is to liquidate gold.

So yeah, everything has its place (...under the porch 🙂 )

Try selling gold or, even worse, silver at a fair price—something close to the actual spot rate—here in the States. Sure, you can do it, but it’s a bit of a grind. In many cases, it's nearly impossible unless you "know a guy," and since most people don't, local pawn shops and scrap dealers make their killing on the spread.

On the flip side, if you know how to fix a toilet or pick a lock when someone gets stuck outside their apartment, you’ll find cash appearing instantly. And I'm talking decent money for very little effort. A friend of mine recently got locked out of her place; some old handyman showed up, finished the job in literally ten seconds, and pocketed $233 right then and there. 😉

Andrew Barrett4 said:I’ve got some land, and I’m slowly adding more to it. A few years back, I took a permaculture course at a local open-access farm. Now, I’m going on my second year of messing around with beekeeping—essentially, I’ve got the degree and a handful of hives to show for it. It’s just a useful hobby, I guess. click

Beyond that, I hold other types of real estate, some private equity, and various securities. There are plenty of folks on this forum, at least in this sub-section, who seem to have a similar setup.

The biggest issue here isn't actually what you said, but rather the fact that you jumped into this conversation with such a heavy bias.

Sorry for the tangent.

It wasn't a prejudice; it was just a statement of fact:
Gold isn't "safe" because right now—just like at the end of a bull market or in the middle of a refugee trek—someone can simply take it from you. So, "safety" exists in water or inflation, though you might end up with nothing to show for it. The only thing you truly can't be stripped of is knowledge. That is almost always liquid or useful, and you can't really have too much of it if you're learning for your own sake. You can only have "too much" in a formal sense—like having a PhD and being stuck with a low starting salary where nobody wants to hire you to clean WCs—but then again, someone in that class shouldn't be looking for those kinds of jobs anyway.

Kudos on the other pursuits.

Melissa Sanchez17 said:Is there any actual truth to the rumor that the Federal Reserve is gonna double down on the money printing starting next Wednesday? Word on the street is they might swap out the current twist operation for something similar? 🤷

Who knows? Word is that according to the May calendar, the FED's contract or schedule expires sometime soon...

Andrew Barrett4 said:?

I did my initial studies back home in the States. After moving here, since finding decent work in a small town was basically impossible, I went after one of those high-demand vocational programs that practically guarantees a job placement. So, I already have two completely different career paths under my belt.

And now you're suggesting that at 38, I should just head right back to a classroom?

Ever heard of being 'overeducated'?
It’s that specific frustration when you have more skills than the market is willing to pay for.

Don't get me wrong, I mostly agree with the idea of investing in oneself. But at some point, that phase of life ends and moves into building.

At this stage of my life, personal growth and development mostly boil down to reading, reflecting, doing some financial planning, and making sure what I've already built doesn't just evaporate.

There's a difference between schooling and an education.
Right now, you're investing time in your education by learning about gold; if it actually turns out to be a solid investment, we could argue that buying gold is really just a derivative of educating yourself about money. 🙂

You could also buy a little plot of land, put in the hours to learn how to grow vegetables, plant some fruit trees, and rediscover that old-school connection between knowledge and the soil. You’d end up eating high-quality, homegrown produce where you know exactly where it came from—especially if you source your seeds from some local farmer who’s been preserving them for generations.

Andrew Barrett4 said:

P.S. You probably ought to just walk away from all those stocks, bonds, derivatives, and logarithms... it feels like a game designed by the elite, a mechanism they built to transfer energy—or "wealth"—so it seems a bit naive to think regular folks can find long-term prosperity within it.

Since knowledge eventually turns back into money anyway, I guess what's your actual point here? What are you suggesting we do with this perspective?

For those people who seem to think money is the only metric that matters, I’ve got a suggestion: stop chasing the dollar and start investing in what actually drives it. Put that $150 into some actual knowledge instead. It's a better play. $0.00 Nobody can take that away from you. It’s yours for life. You can't lose it once it's settled. And look, if you aren't afraid of putting in the hours, you'll eventually land something—probably something paying better than any dead-end gig you could find without that degree.
Sure, provided you're actually putting in the work to learn. It’s one thing to chase a piece of paper just to check a box, but that's not the same as actually gaining any real knowledge.

Ashley Martin2 said:hmmm... I’m calling BS on all of this. If those folks over at NASA actually managed to recreate conditions similar to the Big Bang, who knows where this leads? We might end up with some weird byproduct from their experiments—maybe gold, or something even better than gold that's somehow cheaper to make. If that happens, the value of gold just tanks. Look at what happened to silver once people started mass-producing nickel-silver alloys and industrial substitutes...🤷

We can't truly know what they've cooked up at NASA. At the end of the day, you're just left choosing whether to buy into the narrative or dismiss it entirely. Just look at how people reacted to certain metal alloys years ago; they were the big trend for a minute, and now? They're practically worthless...

Ashley Martin2 said:What happens if these modern-day "alchemists" actually pull off making industrial gold? Is there any sign we’re getting close to a breakthrough? I mean, we already see lab-grown diamonds and pearls being mass-produced everywhere.

It’s a matter of fundamental structure. Pearls are just a combination of calcium carbonate and proteins. Diamonds are minerals—specifically, an allotropic modification of carbon where the atoms are arranged in a lattice. That's why they can be manufactured. But trying to synthesize a gold atom or molecule? Theoretically, sure, you could do it, but you’d need conditions mirroring the core of Sun City.

Andrew Barrett4 said:I guess that’s more or less the gist of it (and it’s not just stocks that are undervalued, for the record). There really is no such thing as an ultimate asset, so Precious Metals aren't exactly 'the silver bullet for all time.' That's just my take, anyway, even if I do hold some.

Still, none of that changes the fact that this uphill climb is probably going to last quite a while longer.

I’d argue there is one: knowledge.

It’s the only thing nobody can strip away from you. It improves your quality of life regardless of how you play it:
- You can liquidate it.
- You can apply it more effectively or pass it on to those who actually value it, which leaves you feeling fulfilled and useful.
- You can exist outside the "system." When you actually understand how things work, you’re never truly helpless—you don't even need the system anymore.
- Through a broader understanding of context, you can finally grasp what's actually happening and wake up. That’s how you actually become a functioning human being and truly live out your potential.

What I was originally getting at is that we shouldn't view gold as just some new bubble or a specific investment class. If the entire global structure has been built over millennia on the idea that a tiny elite holds the wealth because the masses don't, then we are approaching the endgame. For the first time in history, we have the technology—military, financial, religious—to actually bring that game to its conclusion. Since finance is essentially a component of power, gold and silver, as true money, aren't just an "asset class" anymore; they represent the currency of a truly free, new world, assuming we ever reach that stage. If we don't, well, we'll just be left with barcodes and "-2 credits" for every damn mistake we make, and that'll be that...

P.S. You really ought to walk away from all those stocks, bonds, derivatives, and logarithms... it's all just a game designed by the giants. It’s their mechanism for transferring energy—or "wealth"—so it's incredibly naive to think that regular people can consistently thrive within their rules over the long haul.

Robert Vaughn10 said:Monetary inflation will eventually take its toll. It might take ten years, but the dollar is certainly going to lose a significant chunk of its purchasing power. On the flip side, I don't see any scenario where gold takes a major hit given this level of money printing.

Are we looking at a new tax or outright confiscation?

A lot of those sellouts love to argue that gold is nothing more than dead capital. They claim it’s bad for the economy because you just buy it and tuck it away in a dark corner, whereas that same cash could be "stimulating growth" by being funneled into stocks, bonds, or whatever else. Of course, anyone holding actual power could easily weaponize the arguments of these so-called "experts" to suit their own needs...

What’s your take on how prices are going to react once tomorrow's summit wraps up? 🙂

Anthony Evans78 said:I don't have any doubt the elections will be rigged. It’s like Stalin used to say—it doesn't matter who casts the votes, only who counts them.
And if by some miracle the left actually wins, I bet they'll flip the script fast enough. It'd be even more unbelievable if they actually told the Germans "fuck you" and pulled out of the global economy.
But hey, this is the US, anything can happen.🙂

So, does a half percent drop mean we should expect prices to plummet any time now? 🙂

ironstag8 said:

Following the news yesterday that they’re slashing their US debt holdings by one-sixth, the Federal Reserve announced today that they intend to buy gold worth roughly $1 billion in an effort to bump their bullion reserves from 12% up to 15%.
Given where gold is trading right now, this strategy should push the country's official stash from 98 tonnes up to about 120 tonnes.

Reports came out earlier this week showing that China's gold imports via Hong Kong reached 102 tonnes in April—that's a massive 60% increase compared to this time last year.

I was reading that our folks over at the Federal Reserve have pumped up the reserves to 14 billion euros. It's highly unlikely that those idiots (the leadership there...) would even consider buying gold.

Even if they did have the bright idea, they probably wouldn't "be allowed" to.
But the real question isn't whether they would, it's what would happen if they actually had the nerve to try...
Honestly, they'd be better off dumping money into silver; the market impact would be massive,
which might actually trigger a gold rally far more effectively than just buying bullion directly.
And then, the great irony would unfold: Americans laughing at Kazakhs in the movies, while we end up looking like the fools...

Anthony Evans78 said:The comparison holds up.
Some substances are banned while others—like booze or cigarettes—are perfectly legal.
Even cocaine was totally fine until about a century ago.🙂
There’s zero chance any government is ever going to successfully seize assets like cash or drugs. Besides, trying to ban precious metals backfires twice: first, because forbidden fruit always tastes better 🙂 and second, it just proves how worthless paper money actually is. 🙂

They might try pulling an old 1933 playbook, using the excuse that they need gold reserves to back another massive
monetary expansion intended to finally "solve" the crisis... 🙂
By then, people will have been desperate for so long they might actually hand it over voluntarily, just hoping to see some kind of end to this mess
and whatever else is lurking around the corner.

quiettrucker12 said:Man, that’s a lot of text. Honestly, 🙂😉

Since you brought it up, what would you choose right now?

I get the point, but... In trader speak, Silvercorp and San Francisco are "investors," not speculators. To me, they are the perfect "riders" for a bull market. I wrote a ton about this 7 or 8 months ago. They don't flinch during corrections, which is great, but there's a massive catch: they think the bull market will last forever, so when the end comes, they won't sell in time. Even the people planning an early exit might not make it out. If we were trying to build the ultimate bull market rider, they’d need to act like Silvercorp and San Francisco for the first 90% of the run, then suddenly transform into completely different people for the last 10%—selling everything instantly to grab whatever is undervalued at that moment. Personally, I think we're in a bull market unlike anything we'll ever see again. Just getting in early isn't enough; the trick is getting out early—before it's too late.

So, my take is that anyone smart enough to bail before the crash (maybe even 20% before the peak) would likely buckle and sell during a minor correction instead. This applies to any bull market, especially this "my precious" thing that keeps shining.

A winning combo would be: Person A buys gold and holds it, while Person B inherits that gold right at the tail end of the bull market, dumps it immediately, and pivots into something else.

As for the idea that silver will outperform gold—that's a shallow argument just because silver is an industrial metal. The idea that it has more upside simply because it's much cheaper than gold sounds a lot more convincing to me.

We might eventually hit a point where there simply isn't anything left worth buying... 😲

Edit: It seems I'm not the only one with this specific anxiety weighing on my mind:
''The world is entering circumstances unlike anything we've ever seen before, largely because Homo sapiens has developed weapons capable of wiping out 50 billion people.''

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/news/world/us/758214.html

I guess hard facts actually carry more weight than those mindless, politically correct video games:

http://reuters.com/business/us-economy-gender-pay-gap-billions

So, after weighing all the variables, the bottom line is this: precious metals aren't some magic bullet. They might never hit that $100,000 per ounce milestone we see in the wildest fever dreams, but they remain some of the sharpest plays available in the current market... 🙂

crimsonranger38 said:Warren Buffett

Your opening sentence is pure nonsense. If you actually believe that, you seriously need to go back to school and re-indoctrinate yourself. Gold and silver aren't money—period. You can’t walk into a store and buy a gallon of milk or pay your barber with a hunk of bullion. To get anything done, you have to sell those metals first just to get the actual cash required for a transaction. As for your claim that these two metals can't be overvalued? That's just your opinion. The market—meaning the vast majority of people—clearly disagrees, which is exactly why prices have tanked by at least 20%.

The market overvalued it. Period. That’s the bottom line. Second, just because you personally believe money needs to be some permanent, unchanging thing doesn't mean that's how reality works. End of story. In that light, money could just as easily be platinum, iridium, palladium, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, mercury, copper, or any other precious metal. Honestly, it’s almost unnecessary to point out that most of those metals are far more useful in a practical sense than gold. Gold has virtually zero utility compared to something like copper or rhodium. At the end of the day, people decide what counts as money for them. It’s entirely possible that most Americans might wake up tomorrow, decide the USD isn't worth their time anymore, and start trading goods and services in something else entirely.

Let’s go over this one more time: gold and silver aren't money. In their current physical state, they’re about as useful as an onion or a piece of real estate. However, unlike gold, silver and copper actually offer some sort of net benefit to society. They are productive assets. Gold? For the most part, it just ends up being used to plate microchips to make them look pretty. 😍

You’ve reached that stage where you claim nothing in this world can be truly measured against gold and silver—as if those metals are the only real currency in existence, some kind of divine standard held sacred only by you and your ilk. That’s nonsense. Of course everything can be compared. If you want proof, head down to the local farmers market and ask the vendor how much a pound of onions costs. Then, walk over to a jeweler and ask them to calculate exactly how much gold you’d need to trade for that same pound of onions. That jeweler doesn't know the price of an ounce of gold because they simply decided it was worth $10,000; they know it because the market dictated it. If the market suddenly decided an ounce of gold was worth $100,000, then that’s what it would be. Period. The price of gold, just like the price of anything else, is driven by supply and demand. And we all know the deal here: global gold supply is stagnating while demand keeps climbing—mostly fueled by speculators—which is exactly why the price keeps climbing. Simple math.

Look, there are properties out there with market values exceeding $10,000 per square foot. Ask the average person what they’d pick: a 1,000-square-foot home in the heart of NYC, Chicago, or Los Angeles, or maybe 770 ounces of gold. I suspect most people would choose the house they can actually live in. You can't exactly move into a bar of gold. Sorry, but you can stare at it and admire how shiny it is, but it's perishable and useless for shelter.

I wasn't aware that fiat currency had absolutely no value. If that's the case, I assume you won't mind handing over all that worthless paper in your wallet or sitting in your bank account to me. I'd be quite grateful, and honestly, I'd be doing you a favor by taking that trash off your hands—just scraps of paper that serve no purpose. Any system, current or future, means nothing without the people participating in it. The issue here is the human element. We aren't going to fix today's crisis simply by swapping out the system. At the end of the day, despite its flaws, this system helped build the standard of living we enjoy today—which is undoubtedly the highest in human history. If the political elites would just stop trying to micromanage market processes, things might actually improve for everyone.

As far as I'm concerned, that's just plain old demagoguery, the kind of stuff you hear on the news every single day. We cannot describe an era of unprecedented standards of living for Americans, alongside hundreds of millions of people being lifted out of poverty, as "benefiting a few while harming everyone else."

Warren Buffett says:

Mary Asks: The beauty of this whole setup for a select few is that most people will fight tooth and nail to defend and maintain it. They cling to it desperately. That works right up until the moment the system starts cracking—which, if you ask me, actually began the very day Nixon signed his name on the dotted line.

Ha, sure. Let’s just pivot back to that glorious gold standard you’re obsessed with, because that would obviously make your net worth skyrocket overnight. How incredibly convenient for you, right? Honestly, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that movie to start playing. You’ll probably just stick to your usual routine: daydreaming about the total collapse of the global financial system. Hey, nobody can take your fantasies away from you.

And another thing; if you honestly believe everything went south on August 15, 1971, then you clearly haven't done your homework. You’re missing the most basic facts. That whole "Gold Standard" era following World War II was essentially an illusion, and the money supply proves it. During the 26 years of BWS's life, the money supply surged from $107 billion to $720 billion—that's nearly a sevenfold increase. We're looking at an average annual growth rate of 7.7%, which actually outpaces the 5.4% we've seen over the last 27 years. Even inflation rates back then were higher than what we've dealt with recently. Honestly, even a kid in elementary school could see that there wasn't really a Gold Standard in play.

And here’s another crucial point for the record: I can’t for the life of me remember a single time the United States or the UK actually maintained 100% gold backing for their entire money supply. If memory serves—and I try to be precise about these things—the last time we saw anything resembling a legitimate gold standard was back in the mid-19th century, and even then, coverage only hovered around 30%.

If the United States actually wanted to go back to being 100% gold-backed—I can’t even remember the last time we did that—we’d have to revalue gold from its current price of $1,600 all the way up to $60,000 per ounce. Just to hit a 30% coverage level? You’re looking at roughly $17,900 an ounce. It’s the same math for the Eurozone; you’d be looking at $59,000 and $17,600 respectively to hit those targets. For anyone currently hoarding gold, that would be the ultimate jackpot. That’s exactly why the last few holdouts are screaming for a return to the gold standard. They want the payday, but they clearly haven't done the math on the absolute chaos they'd be inviting.

Don't get me wrong—I'm not suggesting the United States and the Eurozone are just printing money like there’s no tomorrow. But let's look at the math. If China were backed 100% by gold, an ounce would need to hit $432,000. Even with a more modest 30% coverage, we're looking at $130,000. It’s all about the ratios. For Russia, those numbers jump to $315,000 and $95,000 respectively. Japan sits at $466,000 and $140,000. And then you have Brazil, where things get truly absurd: $1,520,000 or $456,000 depending on how much skin you have in the game. Numbers don't lie; they just reveal how thin the ice really is. 😍

It would be absolutely bloody marvelous if someone holding $10,000 worth of gold today could just flip it tomorrow for $375,000 or maybe $112,000. A total windfall. But let’s be real—that isn't going to happen, no matter how many doomsday scenarios certain folks in this thread try to conjure up. 😍

I’ve always had a certain level of skepticism toward people who believe that repeating a lie a hundred times will somehow turn it into an undeniable truth on the hundred-and-first attempt. It’s a special kind of delusion. Think about it this way: imagine you walk up to a local farmer's market vendor and try to settle your tab for some organic produce by offering them a handful of gold or silver coins. You might be convinced of their intrinsic value, but that doesn't matter. What matters is how the crowd perceives them. Most Americans don't view gold as "money" in the everyday sense—just like they wouldn't try to pay for a latte with Danish Krone or British Pounds. The reality is simple, if a bit cynical: that vendor is going to take your US dollars long before they ever touch your scrap metal. At the end of the day, consensus beats conviction every single time.

Money, much like anything else in this universe, carries a price tag—a value. That value is ultimately defined by the goods and services you can actually grab with it. In certain corners of the globe, its purchasing power is climbing, whereas out here in the West, we’re seeing a more moderate slide. Then again, if you look at it through the lens of real estate, the dollar's strength tells a different story in many Western nations. It’s been much the same since last summer regarding gold and silver; the dollar has gained ground against those metals, and even against some of the more obscure currencies you might encounter.

It’s a total cult, really. You’ve already gone and said it three times—even went through the trouble of bolding it—that gold and silver are fundamentally different from every other form of currency out there. 😍

Warren Buffett

In that light, money starts looking less like paper and more like copper or some other chemical element on the periodic table.

There are countless ways to define money. Every single school of economic thought seems to have its own specific take on what it actually is.
Look, there’s a fundamental consensus among all the major schools of thought on what money actually needs to be: it has to be easily divisible, non-perishable, universally accepted, and—most importantly—it has to serve as a store of value. It’s that last requirement that really exposes the flaw in the system. Because they fail to act as a true store of value, fiat currencies simply aren't real money. 😉

crimsonranger38 said:Warren Buffett

Your opening sentence is pure nonsense. If you actually believe that, you seriously need to go back to school and re-indoctrinate yourself. Gold and silver aren't money—period. You can’t walk into a store and buy a gallon of milk or pay your barber with a hunk of bullion. To get anything done, you have to sell those metals first just to get the actual cash required for a transaction. As for your claim that these two metals can't be overvalued? That's just your opinion. The market—meaning the vast majority of people—clearly disagrees, which is exactly why prices have tanked by at least 20%.

The market overvalued it. Period. That’s the bottom line. Second, just because you personally believe money needs to be some permanent, unchanging thing doesn't mean that's how reality works. End of story. In that light, money could just as easily be platinum, iridium, palladium, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, mercury, copper, or any other precious metal. Honestly, it’s almost unnecessary to point out that most of those metals are far more useful in a practical sense than gold. Gold has virtually zero utility compared to something like copper or rhodium. At the end of the day, people decide what counts as money for them. It’s entirely possible that most Americans might wake up tomorrow, decide the USD isn't worth their time anymore, and start trading goods and services in something else entirely.

Let’s go over this one more time: gold and silver aren't money. In their current physical state, they’re about as useful as an onion or a piece of real estate. However, unlike gold, silver and copper actually offer some sort of net benefit to society. They are productive assets. Gold? For the most part, it just ends up being used to plate microchips to make them look pretty. 😍

You’ve reached that stage where you claim nothing in this world can be truly measured against gold and silver—as if those metals are the only real currency in existence, some kind of divine standard held sacred only by you and your ilk. That’s nonsense. Of course everything can be compared. If you want proof, head down to the local farmers market and ask the vendor how much a pound of onions costs. Then, walk over to a jeweler and ask them to calculate exactly how much gold you’d need to trade for that same pound of onions. That jeweler doesn't know the price of an ounce of gold because they simply decided it was worth $10,000; they know it because the market dictated it. If the market suddenly decided an ounce of gold was worth $100,000, then that’s what it would be. Period. The price of gold, just like the price of anything else, is driven by supply and demand. And we all know the deal here: global gold supply is stagnating while demand keeps climbing—mostly fueled by speculators—which is exactly why the price keeps climbing. Simple math.

Look, there are properties out there with market values exceeding $10,000 per square foot. Ask the average person what they’d pick: a 1,000-square-foot home in the heart of NYC, Chicago, or Los Angeles, or maybe 770 ounces of gold. I suspect most people would choose the house they can actually live in. You can't exactly move into a bar of gold. Sorry, but you can stare at it and admire how shiny it is, but it's perishable and useless for shelter.

I wasn't aware that fiat currency had absolutely no value. If that's the case, I assume you won't mind handing over all that worthless paper in your wallet or sitting in your bank account to me. I'd be quite grateful, and honestly, I'd be doing you a favor by taking that trash off your hands—just scraps of paper that serve no purpose. Any system, current or future, means nothing without the people participating in it. The issue here is the human element. We aren't going to fix today's crisis simply by swapping out the system. At the end of the day, despite its flaws, this system helped build the standard of living we enjoy today—which is undoubtedly the highest in human history. If the political elites would just stop trying to micromanage market processes, things might actually improve for everyone.

As far as I'm concerned, that's just plain old demagoguery, the kind of stuff you hear on the news every single day. We cannot describe an era of unprecedented standards of living for Americans, alongside hundreds of millions of people being lifted out of poverty, as "benefiting a few while harming everyone else."

Warren Buffett says:

Mary Asks: The beauty of this whole setup for a select few is that most people will fight tooth and nail to defend and maintain it. They cling to it desperately. That works right up until the moment the system starts cracking—which, if you ask me, actually began the very day Nixon signed his name on the dotted line.

Ha, sure. Let’s just pivot back to that glorious gold standard you’re obsessed with, because that would obviously make your net worth skyrocket overnight. How incredibly convenient for you, right? Honestly, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that movie to start playing. You’ll probably just stick to your usual routine: daydreaming about the total collapse of the global financial system. Hey, nobody can take your fantasies away from you.

And another thing; if you honestly believe everything went south on August 15, 1971, then you clearly haven't done your homework. You’re missing the most basic facts. That whole "Gold Standard" era following World War II was essentially an illusion, and the money supply proves it. During the 26 years of BWS's life, the money supply surged from $107 billion to $720 billion—that's nearly a sevenfold increase. We're looking at an average annual growth rate of 7.7%, which actually outpaces the 5.4% we've seen over the last 27 years. Even inflation rates back then were higher than what we've dealt with recently. Honestly, even a kid in elementary school could see that there wasn't really a Gold Standard in play.

And here’s another crucial point for the record: I can’t for the life of me remember a single time the United States or the UK actually maintained 100% gold backing for their entire money supply. If memory serves—and I try to be precise about these things—the last time we saw anything resembling a legitimate gold standard was back in the mid-19th century, and even then, coverage only hovered around 30%.

If the United States actually wanted to go back to being 100% gold-backed—I can’t even remember the last time we did that—we’d have to revalue gold from its current price of $1,600 all the way up to $60,000 per ounce. Just to hit a 30% coverage level? You’re looking at roughly $17,900 an ounce. It’s the same math for the Eurozone; you’d be looking at $59,000 and $17,600 respectively to hit those targets. For anyone currently hoarding gold, that would be the ultimate jackpot. That’s exactly why the last few holdouts are screaming for a return to the gold standard. They want the payday, but they clearly haven't done the math on the absolute chaos they'd be inviting.

Don't get me wrong—I'm not suggesting the United States and the Eurozone are just printing money like there’s no tomorrow. But let's look at the math. If China were backed 100% by gold, an ounce would need to hit $432,000. Even with a more modest 30% coverage, we're looking at $130,000. It’s all about the ratios. For Russia, those numbers jump to $315,000 and $95,000 respectively. Japan sits at $466,000 and $140,000. And then you have Brazil, where things get truly absurd: $1,520,000 or $456,000 depending on how much skin you have in the game. Numbers don't lie; they just reveal how thin the ice really is. 😍

It would be absolutely bloody marvelous if someone holding $10,000 worth of gold today could just flip it tomorrow for $375,000 or maybe $112,000. A total windfall. But let’s be real—that isn't going to happen, no matter how many doomsday scenarios certain folks in this thread try to conjure up. 😍

I’ve always had a certain level of skepticism toward people who believe that repeating a lie a hundred times will somehow turn it into an undeniable truth on the hundred-and-first attempt. It’s a special kind of delusion. Think about it this way: imagine you walk up to a local farmer's market vendor and try to settle your tab for some organic produce by offering them a handful of gold or silver coins. You might be convinced of their intrinsic value, but that doesn't matter. What matters is how the crowd perceives them. Most Americans don't view gold as "money" in the everyday sense—just like they wouldn't try to pay for a latte with Danish Krone or British Pounds. The reality is simple, if a bit cynical: that vendor is going to take your US dollars long before they ever touch your scrap metal. At the end of the day, consensus beats conviction every single time.

Money, much like anything else in this universe, carries a price tag—a value. That value is ultimately defined by the goods and services you can actually grab with it. In certain corners of the globe, its purchasing power is climbing, whereas out here in the West, we’re seeing a more moderate slide. Then again, if you look at it through the lens of real estate, the dollar's strength tells a different story in many Western nations. It’s been much the same since last summer regarding gold and silver; the dollar has gained ground against those metals, and even against some of the more obscure currencies you might encounter.

It’s a total cult, really. You’ve already gone and said it three times—even went through the trouble of bolding it—that gold and silver are fundamentally different from every other form of currency out there. 😍

Warren Buffett

In that light, money starts looking less like paper and more like copper or some other chemical element on the periodic table.

It’s clear that 99.9% of people haven't even begun to consider gold as a serious investment vehicle. Because of that, you can't exactly blame a mass sell-off by the public for any price drops we see. If the numbers are sliding, it isn't because people are jumping ship; it’s more likely the work of some Terminator algorithms or those relentless Bot-ov programs running the show behind the scenes. 😁

Shadow Asks:
It’s entirely possible that tomorrow, the majority of Americans just stop recognizing the USD as the primary medium of exchange. Imagine a scenario where people simply lose faith in the local currency as a functional tool for trade, and instead, they start settling all goods and services in gold, Bitcoin, or some other stable alternative. It wouldn't take much—just a collective shift in perception to turn the current system upside down.

It’s just not happening. Since the USD is the official legal tender, any transaction involving goods or services that isn't happening under the table or in some gray market shadow economy has to be priced in dollars. That creates an automatic, built-in demand which keeps the currency afloat. It’s actually illegal to offer or accept Euros at a local shop here, because all the receipts have to be issued in USD, and the tax man expects his cut in dollars too.

crimsonranger38 said:Warren Buffett

Your opening sentence is pure nonsense. If you actually believe that, you seriously need to go back to school and re-indoctrinate yourself. Gold and silver aren't money—period. You can’t walk into a store and buy a gallon of milk or pay your barber with a hunk of bullion. To get anything done, you have to sell those metals first just to get the actual cash required for a transaction. As for your claim that these two metals can't be overvalued? That's just your opinion. The market—meaning the vast majority of people—clearly disagrees, which is exactly why prices have tanked by at least 20%.

The market overvalued it. Period. That’s the bottom line. Second, just because you personally believe money needs to be some permanent, unchanging thing doesn't mean that's how reality works. End of story. In that light, money could just as easily be platinum, iridium, palladium, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, mercury, copper, or any other precious metal. Honestly, it’s almost unnecessary to point out that most of those metals are far more useful in a practical sense than gold. Gold has virtually zero utility compared to something like copper or rhodium. At the end of the day, people decide what counts as money for them. It’s entirely possible that most Americans might wake up tomorrow, decide the USD isn't worth their time anymore, and start trading goods and services in something else entirely.

Let’s go over this one more time: gold and silver aren't money. In their current physical state, they’re about as useful as an onion or a piece of real estate. However, unlike gold, silver and copper actually offer some sort of net benefit to society. They are productive assets. Gold? For the most part, it just ends up being used to plate microchips to make them look pretty. 😍

You’ve reached that stage where you claim nothing in this world can be truly measured against gold and silver—as if those metals are the only real currency in existence, some kind of divine standard held sacred only by you and your ilk. That’s nonsense. Of course everything can be compared. If you want proof, head down to the local farmers market and ask the vendor how much a pound of onions costs. Then, walk over to a jeweler and ask them to calculate exactly how much gold you’d need to trade for that same pound of onions. That jeweler doesn't know the price of an ounce of gold because they simply decided it was worth $10,000; they know it because the market dictated it. If the market suddenly decided an ounce of gold was worth $100,000, then that’s what it would be. Period. The price of gold, just like the price of anything else, is driven by supply and demand. And we all know the deal here: global gold supply is stagnating while demand keeps climbing—mostly fueled by speculators—which is exactly why the price keeps climbing. Simple math.

Look, there are properties out there with market values exceeding $10,000 per square foot. Ask the average person what they’d pick: a 1,000-square-foot home in the heart of NYC, Chicago, or Los Angeles, or maybe 770 ounces of gold. I suspect most people would choose the house they can actually live in. You can't exactly move into a bar of gold. Sorry, but you can stare at it and admire how shiny it is, but it's perishable and useless for shelter.

I wasn't aware that fiat currency had absolutely no value. If that's the case, I assume you won't mind handing over all that worthless paper in your wallet or sitting in your bank account to me. I'd be quite grateful, and honestly, I'd be doing you a favor by taking that trash off your hands—just scraps of paper that serve no purpose. Any system, current or future, means nothing without the people participating in it. The issue here is the human element. We aren't going to fix today's crisis simply by swapping out the system. At the end of the day, despite its flaws, this system helped build the standard of living we enjoy today—which is undoubtedly the highest in human history. If the political elites would just stop trying to micromanage market processes, things might actually improve for everyone.

As far as I'm concerned, that's just plain old demagoguery, the kind of stuff you hear on the news every single day. We cannot describe an era of unprecedented standards of living for Americans, alongside hundreds of millions of people being lifted out of poverty, as "benefiting a few while harming everyone else."

Warren Buffett says:

Mary Asks: The beauty of this whole setup for a select few is that most people will fight tooth and nail to defend and maintain it. They cling to it desperately. That works right up until the moment the system starts cracking—which, if you ask me, actually began the very day Nixon signed his name on the dotted line.

Ha, sure. Let’s just pivot back to that glorious gold standard you’re obsessed with, because that would obviously make your net worth skyrocket overnight. How incredibly convenient for you, right? Honestly, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that movie to start playing. You’ll probably just stick to your usual routine: daydreaming about the total collapse of the global financial system. Hey, nobody can take your fantasies away from you.

And another thing; if you honestly believe everything went south on August 15, 1971, then you clearly haven't done your homework. You’re missing the most basic facts. That whole "Gold Standard" era following World War II was essentially an illusion, and the money supply proves it. During the 26 years of BWS's life, the money supply surged from $107 billion to $720 billion—that's nearly a sevenfold increase. We're looking at an average annual growth rate of 7.7%, which actually outpaces the 5.4% we've seen over the last 27 years. Even inflation rates back then were higher than what we've dealt with recently. Honestly, even a kid in elementary school could see that there wasn't really a Gold Standard in play.

And here’s another crucial point for the record: I can’t for the life of me remember a single time the United States or the UK actually maintained 100% gold backing for their entire money supply. If memory serves—and I try to be precise about these things—the last time we saw anything resembling a legitimate gold standard was back in the mid-19th century, and even then, coverage only hovered around 30%.

If the United States actually wanted to go back to being 100% gold-backed—I can’t even remember the last time we did that—we’d have to revalue gold from its current price of $1,600 all the way up to $60,000 per ounce. Just to hit a 30% coverage level? You’re looking at roughly $17,900 an ounce. It’s the same math for the Eurozone; you’d be looking at $59,000 and $17,600 respectively to hit those targets. For anyone currently hoarding gold, that would be the ultimate jackpot. That’s exactly why the last few holdouts are screaming for a return to the gold standard. They want the payday, but they clearly haven't done the math on the absolute chaos they'd be inviting.

Don't get me wrong—I'm not suggesting the United States and the Eurozone are just printing money like there’s no tomorrow. But let's look at the math. If China were backed 100% by gold, an ounce would need to hit $432,000. Even with a more modest 30% coverage, we're looking at $130,000. It’s all about the ratios. For Russia, those numbers jump to $315,000 and $95,000 respectively. Japan sits at $466,000 and $140,000. And then you have Brazil, where things get truly absurd: $1,520,000 or $456,000 depending on how much skin you have in the game. Numbers don't lie; they just reveal how thin the ice really is. 😍

It would be absolutely bloody marvelous if someone holding $10,000 worth of gold today could just flip it tomorrow for $375,000 or maybe $112,000. A total windfall. But let’s be real—that isn't going to happen, no matter how many doomsday scenarios certain folks in this thread try to conjure up. 😍

I’ve always had a certain level of skepticism toward people who believe that repeating a lie a hundred times will somehow turn it into an undeniable truth on the hundred-and-first attempt. It’s a special kind of delusion. Think about it this way: imagine you walk up to a local farmer's market vendor and try to settle your tab for some organic produce by offering them a handful of gold or silver coins. You might be convinced of their intrinsic value, but that doesn't matter. What matters is how the crowd perceives them. Most Americans don't view gold as "money" in the everyday sense—just like they wouldn't try to pay for a latte with Danish Krone or British Pounds. The reality is simple, if a bit cynical: that vendor is going to take your US dollars long before they ever touch your scrap metal. At the end of the day, consensus beats conviction every single time.

Money, much like anything else in this universe, carries a price tag—a value. That value is ultimately defined by the goods and services you can actually grab with it. In certain corners of the globe, its purchasing power is climbing, whereas out here in the West, we’re seeing a more moderate slide. Then again, if you look at it through the lens of real estate, the dollar's strength tells a different story in many Western nations. It’s been much the same since last summer regarding gold and silver; the dollar has gained ground against those metals, and even against some of the more obscure currencies you might encounter.

It’s a total cult, really. You’ve already gone and said it three times—even went through the trouble of bolding it—that gold and silver are fundamentally different from every other form of currency out there. 😍

Warren Buffett

In that light, money starts looking less like paper and more like copper or some other chemical element on the periodic table.

The supply is climbing...

crimsonranger38 said:Warren Buffett

Your opening sentence is pure nonsense. If you actually believe that, you seriously need to go back to school and re-indoctrinate yourself. Gold and silver aren't money—period. You can’t walk into a store and buy a gallon of milk or pay your barber with a hunk of bullion. To get anything done, you have to sell those metals first just to get the actual cash required for a transaction. As for your claim that these two metals can't be overvalued? That's just your opinion. The market—meaning the vast majority of people—clearly disagrees, which is exactly why prices have tanked by at least 20%.

The market overvalued it. Period. That’s the bottom line. Second, just because you personally believe money needs to be some permanent, unchanging thing doesn't mean that's how reality works. End of story. In that light, money could just as easily be platinum, iridium, palladium, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, mercury, copper, or any other precious metal. Honestly, it’s almost unnecessary to point out that most of those metals are far more useful in a practical sense than gold. Gold has virtually zero utility compared to something like copper or rhodium. At the end of the day, people decide what counts as money for them. It’s entirely possible that most Americans might wake up tomorrow, decide the USD isn't worth their time anymore, and start trading goods and services in something else entirely.

Let’s go over this one more time: gold and silver aren't money. In their current physical state, they’re about as useful as an onion or a piece of real estate. However, unlike gold, silver and copper actually offer some sort of net benefit to society. They are productive assets. Gold? For the most part, it just ends up being used to plate microchips to make them look pretty. 😍

You’ve reached that stage where you claim nothing in this world can be truly measured against gold and silver—as if those metals are the only real currency in existence, some kind of divine standard held sacred only by you and your ilk. That’s nonsense. Of course everything can be compared. If you want proof, head down to the local farmers market and ask the vendor how much a pound of onions costs. Then, walk over to a jeweler and ask them to calculate exactly how much gold you’d need to trade for that same pound of onions. That jeweler doesn't know the price of an ounce of gold because they simply decided it was worth $10,000; they know it because the market dictated it. If the market suddenly decided an ounce of gold was worth $100,000, then that’s what it would be. Period. The price of gold, just like the price of anything else, is driven by supply and demand. And we all know the deal here: global gold supply is stagnating while demand keeps climbing—mostly fueled by speculators—which is exactly why the price keeps climbing. Simple math.

Look, there are properties out there with market values exceeding $10,000 per square foot. Ask the average person what they’d pick: a 1,000-square-foot home in the heart of NYC, Chicago, or Los Angeles, or maybe 770 ounces of gold. I suspect most people would choose the house they can actually live in. You can't exactly move into a bar of gold. Sorry, but you can stare at it and admire how shiny it is, but it's perishable and useless for shelter.

I wasn't aware that fiat currency had absolutely no value. If that's the case, I assume you won't mind handing over all that worthless paper in your wallet or sitting in your bank account to me. I'd be quite grateful, and honestly, I'd be doing you a favor by taking that trash off your hands—just scraps of paper that serve no purpose. Any system, current or future, means nothing without the people participating in it. The issue here is the human element. We aren't going to fix today's crisis simply by swapping out the system. At the end of the day, despite its flaws, this system helped build the standard of living we enjoy today—which is undoubtedly the highest in human history. If the political elites would just stop trying to micromanage market processes, things might actually improve for everyone.

As far as I'm concerned, that's just plain old demagoguery, the kind of stuff you hear on the news every single day. We cannot describe an era of unprecedented standards of living for Americans, alongside hundreds of millions of people being lifted out of poverty, as "benefiting a few while harming everyone else."

Warren Buffett says:

Mary Asks: The beauty of this whole setup for a select few is that most people will fight tooth and nail to defend and maintain it. They cling to it desperately. That works right up until the moment the system starts cracking—which, if you ask me, actually began the very day Nixon signed his name on the dotted line.

Ha, sure. Let’s just pivot back to that glorious gold standard you’re obsessed with, because that would obviously make your net worth skyrocket overnight. How incredibly convenient for you, right? Honestly, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that movie to start playing. You’ll probably just stick to your usual routine: daydreaming about the total collapse of the global financial system. Hey, nobody can take your fantasies away from you.

And another thing; if you honestly believe everything went south on August 15, 1971, then you clearly haven't done your homework. You’re missing the most basic facts. That whole "Gold Standard" era following World War II was essentially an illusion, and the money supply proves it. During the 26 years of BWS's life, the money supply surged from $107 billion to $720 billion—that's nearly a sevenfold increase. We're looking at an average annual growth rate of 7.7%, which actually outpaces the 5.4% we've seen over the last 27 years. Even inflation rates back then were higher than what we've dealt with recently. Honestly, even a kid in elementary school could see that there wasn't really a Gold Standard in play.

And here’s another crucial point for the record: I can’t for the life of me remember a single time the United States or the UK actually maintained 100% gold backing for their entire money supply. If memory serves—and I try to be precise about these things—the last time we saw anything resembling a legitimate gold standard was back in the mid-19th century, and even then, coverage only hovered around 30%.

If the United States actually wanted to go back to being 100% gold-backed—I can’t even remember the last time we did that—we’d have to revalue gold from its current price of $1,600 all the way up to $60,000 per ounce. Just to hit a 30% coverage level? You’re looking at roughly $17,900 an ounce. It’s the same math for the Eurozone; you’d be looking at $59,000 and $17,600 respectively to hit those targets. For anyone currently hoarding gold, that would be the ultimate jackpot. That’s exactly why the last few holdouts are screaming for a return to the gold standard. They want the payday, but they clearly haven't done the math on the absolute chaos they'd be inviting.

Don't get me wrong—I'm not suggesting the United States and the Eurozone are just printing money like there’s no tomorrow. But let's look at the math. If China were backed 100% by gold, an ounce would need to hit $432,000. Even with a more modest 30% coverage, we're looking at $130,000. It’s all about the ratios. For Russia, those numbers jump to $315,000 and $95,000 respectively. Japan sits at $466,000 and $140,000. And then you have Brazil, where things get truly absurd: $1,520,000 or $456,000 depending on how much skin you have in the game. Numbers don't lie; they just reveal how thin the ice really is. 😍

It would be absolutely bloody marvelous if someone holding $10,000 worth of gold today could just flip it tomorrow for $375,000 or maybe $112,000. A total windfall. But let’s be real—that isn't going to happen, no matter how many doomsday scenarios certain folks in this thread try to conjure up. 😍

I’ve always had a certain level of skepticism toward people who believe that repeating a lie a hundred times will somehow turn it into an undeniable truth on the hundred-and-first attempt. It’s a special kind of delusion. Think about it this way: imagine you walk up to a local farmer's market vendor and try to settle your tab for some organic produce by offering them a handful of gold or silver coins. You might be convinced of their intrinsic value, but that doesn't matter. What matters is how the crowd perceives them. Most Americans don't view gold as "money" in the everyday sense—just like they wouldn't try to pay for a latte with Danish Krone or British Pounds. The reality is simple, if a bit cynical: that vendor is going to take your US dollars long before they ever touch your scrap metal. At the end of the day, consensus beats conviction every single time.

Money, much like anything else in this universe, carries a price tag—a value. That value is ultimately defined by the goods and services you can actually grab with it. In certain corners of the globe, its purchasing power is climbing, whereas out here in the West, we’re seeing a more moderate slide. Then again, if you look at it through the lens of real estate, the dollar's strength tells a different story in many Western nations. It’s been much the same since last summer regarding gold and silver; the dollar has gained ground against those metals, and even against some of the more obscure currencies you might encounter.

It’s a total cult, really. You’ve already gone and said it three times—even went through the trouble of bolding it—that gold and silver are fundamentally different from every other form of currency out there. 😍

Warren Buffett

In that light, money starts looking less like paper and more like copper or some other chemical element on the periodic table.

Real estate is a bit of a trap if you look at it closely. You can get hit with property taxes whenever the government feels like squeezing you, the structure itself can crumble, or some legal technicality could see it confiscated entirely. Then there’s the constant drain of utilities and maintenance, not to mention depreciation eating away at your equity. If you aren't actually using the space, all that "growth" in market value is just paper profit—it gets swallowed whole by the overhead. At the end of the day, if there's no utility, you're just paying to own a liability.
Rental income is fine, I guess, but let's be honest—it just accelerates the depreciation.

crimsonranger38 said:Warren Buffett

Your opening sentence is pure nonsense. If you actually believe that, you seriously need to go back to school and re-indoctrinate yourself. Gold and silver aren't money—period. You can’t walk into a store and buy a gallon of milk or pay your barber with a hunk of bullion. To get anything done, you have to sell those metals first just to get the actual cash required for a transaction. As for your claim that these two metals can't be overvalued? That's just your opinion. The market—meaning the vast majority of people—clearly disagrees, which is exactly why prices have tanked by at least 20%.

The market overvalued it. Period. That’s the bottom line. Second, just because you personally believe money needs to be some permanent, unchanging thing doesn't mean that's how reality works. End of story. In that light, money could just as easily be platinum, iridium, palladium, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, mercury, copper, or any other precious metal. Honestly, it’s almost unnecessary to point out that most of those metals are far more useful in a practical sense than gold. Gold has virtually zero utility compared to something like copper or rhodium. At the end of the day, people decide what counts as money for them. It’s entirely possible that most Americans might wake up tomorrow, decide the USD isn't worth their time anymore, and start trading goods and services in something else entirely.

Let’s go over this one more time: gold and silver aren't money. In their current physical state, they’re about as useful as an onion or a piece of real estate. However, unlike gold, silver and copper actually offer some sort of net benefit to society. They are productive assets. Gold? For the most part, it just ends up being used to plate microchips to make them look pretty. 😍

You’ve reached that stage where you claim nothing in this world can be truly measured against gold and silver—as if those metals are the only real currency in existence, some kind of divine standard held sacred only by you and your ilk. That’s nonsense. Of course everything can be compared. If you want proof, head down to the local farmers market and ask the vendor how much a pound of onions costs. Then, walk over to a jeweler and ask them to calculate exactly how much gold you’d need to trade for that same pound of onions. That jeweler doesn't know the price of an ounce of gold because they simply decided it was worth $10,000; they know it because the market dictated it. If the market suddenly decided an ounce of gold was worth $100,000, then that’s what it would be. Period. The price of gold, just like the price of anything else, is driven by supply and demand. And we all know the deal here: global gold supply is stagnating while demand keeps climbing—mostly fueled by speculators—which is exactly why the price keeps climbing. Simple math.

Look, there are properties out there with market values exceeding $10,000 per square foot. Ask the average person what they’d pick: a 1,000-square-foot home in the heart of NYC, Chicago, or Los Angeles, or maybe 770 ounces of gold. I suspect most people would choose the house they can actually live in. You can't exactly move into a bar of gold. Sorry, but you can stare at it and admire how shiny it is, but it's perishable and useless for shelter.

I wasn't aware that fiat currency had absolutely no value. If that's the case, I assume you won't mind handing over all that worthless paper in your wallet or sitting in your bank account to me. I'd be quite grateful, and honestly, I'd be doing you a favor by taking that trash off your hands—just scraps of paper that serve no purpose. Any system, current or future, means nothing without the people participating in it. The issue here is the human element. We aren't going to fix today's crisis simply by swapping out the system. At the end of the day, despite its flaws, this system helped build the standard of living we enjoy today—which is undoubtedly the highest in human history. If the political elites would just stop trying to micromanage market processes, things might actually improve for everyone.

As far as I'm concerned, that's just plain old demagoguery, the kind of stuff you hear on the news every single day. We cannot describe an era of unprecedented standards of living for Americans, alongside hundreds of millions of people being lifted out of poverty, as "benefiting a few while harming everyone else."

Warren Buffett says:

Mary Asks: The beauty of this whole setup for a select few is that most people will fight tooth and nail to defend and maintain it. They cling to it desperately. That works right up until the moment the system starts cracking—which, if you ask me, actually began the very day Nixon signed his name on the dotted line.

Ha, sure. Let’s just pivot back to that glorious gold standard you’re obsessed with, because that would obviously make your net worth skyrocket overnight. How incredibly convenient for you, right? Honestly, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that movie to start playing. You’ll probably just stick to your usual routine: daydreaming about the total collapse of the global financial system. Hey, nobody can take your fantasies away from you.

And another thing; if you honestly believe everything went south on August 15, 1971, then you clearly haven't done your homework. You’re missing the most basic facts. That whole "Gold Standard" era following World War II was essentially an illusion, and the money supply proves it. During the 26 years of BWS's life, the money supply surged from $107 billion to $720 billion—that's nearly a sevenfold increase. We're looking at an average annual growth rate of 7.7%, which actually outpaces the 5.4% we've seen over the last 27 years. Even inflation rates back then were higher than what we've dealt with recently. Honestly, even a kid in elementary school could see that there wasn't really a Gold Standard in play.

And here’s another crucial point for the record: I can’t for the life of me remember a single time the United States or the UK actually maintained 100% gold backing for their entire money supply. If memory serves—and I try to be precise about these things—the last time we saw anything resembling a legitimate gold standard was back in the mid-19th century, and even then, coverage only hovered around 30%.

If the United States actually wanted to go back to being 100% gold-backed—I can’t even remember the last time we did that—we’d have to revalue gold from its current price of $1,600 all the way up to $60,000 per ounce. Just to hit a 30% coverage level? You’re looking at roughly $17,900 an ounce. It’s the same math for the Eurozone; you’d be looking at $59,000 and $17,600 respectively to hit those targets. For anyone currently hoarding gold, that would be the ultimate jackpot. That’s exactly why the last few holdouts are screaming for a return to the gold standard. They want the payday, but they clearly haven't done the math on the absolute chaos they'd be inviting.

Don't get me wrong—I'm not suggesting the United States and the Eurozone are just printing money like there’s no tomorrow. But let's look at the math. If China were backed 100% by gold, an ounce would need to hit $432,000. Even with a more modest 30% coverage, we're looking at $130,000. It’s all about the ratios. For Russia, those numbers jump to $315,000 and $95,000 respectively. Japan sits at $466,000 and $140,000. And then you have Brazil, where things get truly absurd: $1,520,000 or $456,000 depending on how much skin you have in the game. Numbers don't lie; they just reveal how thin the ice really is. 😍

It would be absolutely bloody marvelous if someone holding $10,000 worth of gold today could just flip it tomorrow for $375,000 or maybe $112,000. A total windfall. But let’s be real—that isn't going to happen, no matter how many doomsday scenarios certain folks in this thread try to conjure up. 😍

I’ve always had a certain level of skepticism toward people who believe that repeating a lie a hundred times will somehow turn it into an undeniable truth on the hundred-and-first attempt. It’s a special kind of delusion. Think about it this way: imagine you walk up to a local farmer's market vendor and try to settle your tab for some organic produce by offering them a handful of gold or silver coins. You might be convinced of their intrinsic value, but that doesn't matter. What matters is how the crowd perceives them. Most Americans don't view gold as "money" in the everyday sense—just like they wouldn't try to pay for a latte with Danish Krone or British Pounds. The reality is simple, if a bit cynical: that vendor is going to take your US dollars long before they ever touch your scrap metal. At the end of the day, consensus beats conviction every single time.

Money, much like anything else in this universe, carries a price tag—a value. That value is ultimately defined by the goods and services you can actually grab with it. In certain corners of the globe, its purchasing power is climbing, whereas out here in the West, we’re seeing a more moderate slide. Then again, if you look at it through the lens of real estate, the dollar's strength tells a different story in many Western nations. It’s been much the same since last summer regarding gold and silver; the dollar has gained ground against those metals, and even against some of the more obscure currencies you might encounter.

It’s a total cult, really. You’ve already gone and said it three times—even went through the trouble of bolding it—that gold and silver are fundamentally different from every other form of currency out there. 😍

Warren Buffett

In that light, money starts looking less like paper and more like copper or some other chemical element on the periodic table.

The response to this is provided below.

Shadow As stated by:
As far as I'm concerned, this is just more of that run-of-the-mill demagoguery we’re forced to swallow from the mainstream media every single day. They love to spin the narrative: they claim the standard of living for the average American has never been higher, and meanwhile, hundreds of millions of people are being lifted out of poverty. Somehow, they expect us to believe that this isn't a net benefit for the individual, but rather some kind of collective loss for everyone else. It's just more noise.

The West has been sliding into decline for quite some time now—actually, lately, it’s just gone downhill fast. We’re seeing record numbers of people struggling with hunger and poverty, hitting percentages we haven't seen in generations. If there’s one silver lining to this whole mess, it’s that the system is still churning out technological breakthroughs at an insane pace. I suppose you could call it the accidental, positive collateral damage of pure, unadulterated greed.

crimsonranger38 said:Warren Buffett

Your opening sentence is pure nonsense. If you actually believe that, you seriously need to go back to school and re-indoctrinate yourself. Gold and silver aren't money—period. You can’t walk into a store and buy a gallon of milk or pay your barber with a hunk of bullion. To get anything done, you have to sell those metals first just to get the actual cash required for a transaction. As for your claim that these two metals can't be overvalued? That's just your opinion. The market—meaning the vast majority of people—clearly disagrees, which is exactly why prices have tanked by at least 20%.

The market overvalued it. Period. That’s the bottom line. Second, just because you personally believe money needs to be some permanent, unchanging thing doesn't mean that's how reality works. End of story. In that light, money could just as easily be platinum, iridium, palladium, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, mercury, copper, or any other precious metal. Honestly, it’s almost unnecessary to point out that most of those metals are far more useful in a practical sense than gold. Gold has virtually zero utility compared to something like copper or rhodium. At the end of the day, people decide what counts as money for them. It’s entirely possible that most Americans might wake up tomorrow, decide the USD isn't worth their time anymore, and start trading goods and services in something else entirely.

Let’s go over this one more time: gold and silver aren't money. In their current physical state, they’re about as useful as an onion or a piece of real estate. However, unlike gold, silver and copper actually offer some sort of net benefit to society. They are productive assets. Gold? For the most part, it just ends up being used to plate microchips to make them look pretty. 😍

You’ve reached that stage where you claim nothing in this world can be truly measured against gold and silver—as if those metals are the only real currency in existence, some kind of divine standard held sacred only by you and your ilk. That’s nonsense. Of course everything can be compared. If you want proof, head down to the local farmers market and ask the vendor how much a pound of onions costs. Then, walk over to a jeweler and ask them to calculate exactly how much gold you’d need to trade for that same pound of onions. That jeweler doesn't know the price of an ounce of gold because they simply decided it was worth $10,000; they know it because the market dictated it. If the market suddenly decided an ounce of gold was worth $100,000, then that’s what it would be. Period. The price of gold, just like the price of anything else, is driven by supply and demand. And we all know the deal here: global gold supply is stagnating while demand keeps climbing—mostly fueled by speculators—which is exactly why the price keeps climbing. Simple math.

Look, there are properties out there with market values exceeding $10,000 per square foot. Ask the average person what they’d pick: a 1,000-square-foot home in the heart of NYC, Chicago, or Los Angeles, or maybe 770 ounces of gold. I suspect most people would choose the house they can actually live in. You can't exactly move into a bar of gold. Sorry, but you can stare at it and admire how shiny it is, but it's perishable and useless for shelter.

I wasn't aware that fiat currency had absolutely no value. If that's the case, I assume you won't mind handing over all that worthless paper in your wallet or sitting in your bank account to me. I'd be quite grateful, and honestly, I'd be doing you a favor by taking that trash off your hands—just scraps of paper that serve no purpose. Any system, current or future, means nothing without the people participating in it. The issue here is the human element. We aren't going to fix today's crisis simply by swapping out the system. At the end of the day, despite its flaws, this system helped build the standard of living we enjoy today—which is undoubtedly the highest in human history. If the political elites would just stop trying to micromanage market processes, things might actually improve for everyone.

As far as I'm concerned, that's just plain old demagoguery, the kind of stuff you hear on the news every single day. We cannot describe an era of unprecedented standards of living for Americans, alongside hundreds of millions of people being lifted out of poverty, as "benefiting a few while harming everyone else."

Warren Buffett says:

Mary Asks: The beauty of this whole setup for a select few is that most people will fight tooth and nail to defend and maintain it. They cling to it desperately. That works right up until the moment the system starts cracking—which, if you ask me, actually began the very day Nixon signed his name on the dotted line.

Ha, sure. Let’s just pivot back to that glorious gold standard you’re obsessed with, because that would obviously make your net worth skyrocket overnight. How incredibly convenient for you, right? Honestly, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that movie to start playing. You’ll probably just stick to your usual routine: daydreaming about the total collapse of the global financial system. Hey, nobody can take your fantasies away from you.

And another thing; if you honestly believe everything went south on August 15, 1971, then you clearly haven't done your homework. You’re missing the most basic facts. That whole "Gold Standard" era following World War II was essentially an illusion, and the money supply proves it. During the 26 years of BWS's life, the money supply surged from $107 billion to $720 billion—that's nearly a sevenfold increase. We're looking at an average annual growth rate of 7.7%, which actually outpaces the 5.4% we've seen over the last 27 years. Even inflation rates back then were higher than what we've dealt with recently. Honestly, even a kid in elementary school could see that there wasn't really a Gold Standard in play.

And here’s another crucial point for the record: I can’t for the life of me remember a single time the United States or the UK actually maintained 100% gold backing for their entire money supply. If memory serves—and I try to be precise about these things—the last time we saw anything resembling a legitimate gold standard was back in the mid-19th century, and even then, coverage only hovered around 30%.

If the United States actually wanted to go back to being 100% gold-backed—I can’t even remember the last time we did that—we’d have to revalue gold from its current price of $1,600 all the way up to $60,000 per ounce. Just to hit a 30% coverage level? You’re looking at roughly $17,900 an ounce. It’s the same math for the Eurozone; you’d be looking at $59,000 and $17,600 respectively to hit those targets. For anyone currently hoarding gold, that would be the ultimate jackpot. That’s exactly why the last few holdouts are screaming for a return to the gold standard. They want the payday, but they clearly haven't done the math on the absolute chaos they'd be inviting.

Don't get me wrong—I'm not suggesting the United States and the Eurozone are just printing money like there’s no tomorrow. But let's look at the math. If China were backed 100% by gold, an ounce would need to hit $432,000. Even with a more modest 30% coverage, we're looking at $130,000. It’s all about the ratios. For Russia, those numbers jump to $315,000 and $95,000 respectively. Japan sits at $466,000 and $140,000. And then you have Brazil, where things get truly absurd: $1,520,000 or $456,000 depending on how much skin you have in the game. Numbers don't lie; they just reveal how thin the ice really is. 😍

It would be absolutely bloody marvelous if someone holding $10,000 worth of gold today could just flip it tomorrow for $375,000 or maybe $112,000. A total windfall. But let’s be real—that isn't going to happen, no matter how many doomsday scenarios certain folks in this thread try to conjure up. 😍

I’ve always had a certain level of skepticism toward people who believe that repeating a lie a hundred times will somehow turn it into an undeniable truth on the hundred-and-first attempt. It’s a special kind of delusion. Think about it this way: imagine you walk up to a local farmer's market vendor and try to settle your tab for some organic produce by offering them a handful of gold or silver coins. You might be convinced of their intrinsic value, but that doesn't matter. What matters is how the crowd perceives them. Most Americans don't view gold as "money" in the everyday sense—just like they wouldn't try to pay for a latte with Danish Krone or British Pounds. The reality is simple, if a bit cynical: that vendor is going to take your US dollars long before they ever touch your scrap metal. At the end of the day, consensus beats conviction every single time.

Money, much like anything else in this universe, carries a price tag—a value. That value is ultimately defined by the goods and services you can actually grab with it. In certain corners of the globe, its purchasing power is climbing, whereas out here in the West, we’re seeing a more moderate slide. Then again, if you look at it through the lens of real estate, the dollar's strength tells a different story in many Western nations. It’s been much the same since last summer regarding gold and silver; the dollar has gained ground against those metals, and even against some of the more obscure currencies you might encounter.

It’s a total cult, really. You’ve already gone and said it three times—even went through the trouble of bolding it—that gold and silver are fundamentally different from every other form of currency out there. 😍

Warren Buffett

In that light, money starts looking less like paper and more like copper or some other chemical element on the periodic table.

It’s happening. Those once-steady linear slopes are starting to curve upward into pure exponential madness. We're looking at a perfect storm: skyrocketing national debt, exploding private debt, massive budget deficits, trade imbalances, and that relentless, grinding inflationary pressure. It's all converging at once. Back in the day, gold acted as a stabilizer for the balance of payments, keeping everything in a state of maximum equilibrium. That stability was the bedrock for domestic manufacturing, maintaining a predictable exchange rate, and ensuring debt sustainability actually meant something. Now? The math just isn't adding up anymore.

They’re going to lure everyone out of dollars and into euros, just so they can pull the trigger on Quantitative Easing later. It’s a calculated move—they know the spread on swapping those euros back into dollars is going to sting, and then there's the cost of converting back again. For them, playing the Foreign Exchange market is cheap, easy, and predictable. It’s just another way to make sure the sheep get sheared once more. 😠

Frank Walker7 said:Wait, what?
Aren't gold prices actually the same all over the world when you look at them in dollars?

If you're looking at it through the lens of the dollar—sure, it’s the same. But don't expect to walk into a jewelry shop in Europe and pay with a stack of greenbacks.
The sticker prices you see in those shops are inevitably
adjusted for the EUR/USD exchange rate, meaning everything is priced in Euros...