Every Fools' Gold

I’m going out on a limb, so here goes:

A massive fraud has been perpetuated for centuries by those who claim gold to be so fabulously valuable.

Now I’ll go out on a bigger limb: Gold is worthless. It is, in fact, costly in a very negative way. That is, since so many people have been brainwashed into thinking gold is so valuable, it can’t occur to them to seek a more valid bedrock.

Can you believe that anybody would actually pay over $1,300 for one ounce of totally worthless metal? One ounce of gold is about the size of half your thumb. I’m going to pay $1,300 for that? I know people do this, mostly because they’re afraid the “value” of their paper currency will plummet. So based on this fear, they hedge. Or they hope to sell their gold for more than they paid for it – looking for a bigger fool.

To be sure, gold has some value as a conductor but it’s not irreplaceable even in that function. And for that it certainly isn’t worth $1,300 bucks an ounce. Tell you what: When the shit hits the fan and society collapses, if I have the only loaf of bread in town, I’m not going to sell it a couple of ounces of gold. That bread will be worth more than that gold, and in fact will become the newest, most reasonable unit of exchange. [You can’t eat gold.]

Imagine: Someone gets lucky enough to find a massive gold deposit, which transforms him into an instant millionaire. Why should that be? He didn’t work for those millions. He didn’t invent anything useful to justify such a reward. He just found something in the ground that “everybody” claims to be extraordinarily valuable. As a result of this, he gets to go to the head of the line, transformed into a VIP? The hell, you say?

What about our paper currency?

If I believe gold is worthless (which I do), what about our paper currency? I’d love to be paid for my work, knowing those paper bills will have the same purchasing power over time. But that’s not really reasonable. A lot can happen, especially over a long period of time, to affect the value of my paper. However, I think societies can actually increase the value of their currency over time by becoming more honest.

Yes, that’s it. The key to everything: Integrity. Instead of arbitrarily declaring that some exotic substance is “valuable” simply because it is rare and simply because the Powers-that-Be say so; instead, we should think about how to transform our society so that our paper currency becomes a true reflection of our best possible selves. Of course, which of our trading partners would want our paper if our policies only work to degrade its value over time?

However, if our partners saw certain changes, then their confidence in our paper would grow. And those changes can only happen if we become better people – more caring, less self-centered, less concerned with the profits of our elites. And the biggest change I’m calling for is to establish the value of our word. Giving our word should be more valuable than gold and should serve as the basis of our economy. And restoring the value of our word is my goal – which is the reason I’m running for US President on the basis of a written contract.

I will lead the way by making promises (as an aspiring politician? Oh, the irony!). These promises I put in writing, basically saying, “If elected this is what I’ll do and if I don’t, I lose my office.” Examples of my contractual promises appear elsewhere on this blog (earlier postings). So I say this: “If the words of a country’s leader can come to mean something, you’ll get more than a trickle-down effect in terms of boosting that country’s currency.”

But a new leadership style would only be a beginning. The country as a whole would have to seize back the power stolen by the elites and the transnational corporations. The country would have to stop policing the world and reduce the size of its military – “the country,” in this case, being the USA. The country would have to decide what is so valuable that it must tax its citizens to obtain – and then get rid of what isn’t so valuable.

Oh, did I mention that one of the elements of my contract is a promise not to sign any bill into law that would raise taxes or authorize increased levels of debt? For sure, Congress could decide to pass such bills without my signature. But, equally for sure, I would make it plenty uncomfortable for them to do that. We’ve got to slam the brakes on this runaway spending by examining what we need and what we don’t. [And this “examining” should be done by We-the-People leading a Congress consisting of independents – not Dem/Pubs.]

But we’re so far from even starting on the path of fiscal responsibility. Look at how easy it was for Obama to tell Big Pharma that government would not be permitted to negotiate down the prices of their drugs. Look at how easy it was for Obama to allow for pork barrel spending. And now look at me: The only candidate who doesn’t care what the elites and the vested interests have to protect.

With independent candidates who aren’t beholden to the deeply-pocketed, our country can become golden. Truly golden. So golden, that no one will ever care again about exalting gold to such an artificially high standard. [Remember: “artificially” means “man-made” – and that’s the only claim that can be made in support of $1,300 per ounce.]

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“Let’s start a new Gold Rush – toward a new color in a previously unimagined rainbow.”