for the irrational goldbug sorts, page-8

Your history is irrelevant. The world has never run short of energy before. It has never shouldered 6.6 billion people after 2 millenia of resource depletion. Hence the world has never been forced to value those commodities (read real stores of wealth) that are INvaluable. So don't look back in history as though it is relevant today ... it ain't!

Reality is there are many more truly valuable stores of wealth out there if you believe some sort of financial/political armageddon is about to arrive. As a farmer I know what is useful and what is not - gold can't help me grow food, nor would I trade food for gold in the future. My needs are simple fuel, fertilizer and water! And since you have to eat, your needs are indirectly very similar to mine in any world.