Skol & rogerdat,There are bound to be some traders/ investors...

Skol & rogerdat,

There are bound to be some traders/ investors taking either side of this current discussion, who are primarily interested in making money and screw everyone else. But to generalise about ‘goldbugs’ is probably as unintelligent as saying all bankers should be regarded as rapacious enemies of the common man . In any event, how do they differ from some of the banking (and securities) fraternity who have no compunction, it seems, in screwing their clients and others (John Corzine of MT Global, for instance)?

Perhaps I’m one of those naïve types who are ‘not the sharpest knives in the drawer’, and maybe I’ve been listening to too many snake oil salesmen. But I do my best to understand what goes on around me .

Yes, I too am interested in making some money, but I assure you that I do not want to see the system crash, or the society in turmoil. I too want a nice world to live in and not a dog-eat-dog one where I’d need to go armed, or live in a gated and guarded community, or see young people marching off to war because of trade or other economic differences.

I think that many of those who see an important role for gold are as concerned about the future of our society as you claim to be. Do you not think your remarks are perhaps a touch arrogant? Would you say that someone like the U.S. congressman, Ron Paul is a snake oil salesman, unprincipled, or a fool? He definitely takes a different stance from yours.

I can’t speak for others, but I do not blame banks generally and I agree that banks definitely play an important and not-easily-dispensible role in the lives of most people. I also think that even those large banks and other financial institutions which have, in one way or another, displayed greedy and deceitful pratices, or institutions which have failed to perform their proper function (e.g., the SEC) of preventing financial abuses – should attract a part only of the blame.

The truth is that we have all been responsible in our own small ways. The recent state of affairs is merely the culmination of a kind of societal madness which seems to recur throughout history. Generally, we all know when a rule or a principle is being broken, but too often we are tempted, where it is in our personal interests, to ignore, or even encourage the fact. In so doing we all, or most of us anyway, contribute.

I’m not schooled or very experienced in financial or economic matters and many who post on this forum could run rings around me, I’m sure, if it comes to arguing about the way such things work. However, it is obvious that certain irresponsible, immoral, or criminal things have occurred in the area of finance over quite a long time and we are now experiencing the inevitable result of these poor practices.

Will this be the last time things go off the rails like this? Hardly. Eventually, we’ll be constrained to put things in order and get off to a fresh start, but let’s not kid ourselves that it will not happen again. However, if we do not want to live in a very harsh dog-eat-dog world, then I think it would be wise for us to try to limit the extent of future harmful temptations or irresponsibilities as much as we can. And I do believe that gold & perhaps some other highly valuable hard commodities can assist greatly in constraining such excesses.

In any case, I can assure you that I do not put the acquisition of personal wealth ahead of society’s general well-being. I have loved ones and others that I care about and I want to see them all living in a safe and beautiful world. And a world in which some are hurting is not as safe and beautiful as it might be. The more people hurting, the more dangerous the world for all of us. I feel confident that many others who take this side of the argument feel the same.

Tez