Gold
For whatever the reasons many thousands of years ago, be it originally the colour, the notice of extreme rarity of occurrence in the environment and probably its pliability compared to other solid objects that were tangible in nature and strewn about the lands and rivers, Homo sapiens began a lasting, extremely endearing and convoluted relationship with what would turn out to be the 79th element on Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table.
Chances are gold was probably the genesis for humans delving into metallurgy and the subsequent lineage of metallic feats such as smelting that would follow over the millennia. After all, if done correctly, a campfire is just hot enough to melt gold and with such a feat obtain the knowledge of manipulating natures solids into a liquid and back to a solid with the end result of turning many small specimens into one large specimen which allowed for customization of goods and scaling up in size and function of wares and eventually the bronze tools and weapons that came to be.
An interesting question is: was the relationship with gold begun with one single persons observation and actions which were then passed along for others to refine, enhance and elevate the relationship humans have with gold, or did many make the discovery at separate intervals by happenstance?
The oldest discovered gold artefacts are those of the Varna Necropolis of modern day Bulgaria which date between 4560BC to 4450BC. Though looking at them would make one realize that these artefacts are not prototypes and goldsmithery was in existence before this time but we have just as of yet not found older artefacts. Interestingly, gold flakes have been found in Paleolithic caves dating back 40,000 years, though perhaps they ended up there after getting caught up in the wooly rhinoceros and other now extinct megafauna and other pelts that cavemen used as foot coverings, or by chance, in accidental placements by other means.
Gold, while used as jewelry and other adornments was also a vehicle of trade and exchange due to it being deemed as having value due to extreme rarity, ease of portability, toughness to counterfeit, utilitarian purpose, being easily manipulated into various forms due to its malleability and being highly ductile, as well having a very tight atomic structure which is extremely resistant to tarnishing and corrosion.
It should also be noted that most gold found naturally is a mix of gold and silver called electrum. For this reason to facilitate trade the gold was constantly having to be verified of composition and through weighing in order to come up with a value for trading purposes. In the attempt to simplify and streamline the function of trade the Lydian Empire came up with the idea of the coin around 630BC. The Lydian government certified standardization of precious metal based off the weight of grains of wheat. The Lydian coin was called the stater and was originally a gold silver mix(electrum) but very shortly became a separated and very pure gold and very pure silver coin.
For thousands of years before the first Lydian certified coins became currency, and for around 2500 years after Lydian gold and silver staters brought standardization to human exchange, gold and silver were an integral part of the economic framework of human civilization and the marketplace and the human ingenuity that sprung up with said marketplace. This all changed about 50 years into the current American Empire reign in 1971 when President Nixon closed the gold window, severing the relationship of the US dollar being convertible into gold which was the foundation of the post World War 2 economic system known as the Bretton Woods Economic System.
It should be noted that the American Empire began to take shape after the end of World War 1 as the British Empire began to wain from the debt incurred upon it due the war. American exports nearly tripled during WWI by supplying the allies and allowed America to go from a debtor nation to global creditor nation. As well, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires were eliminated due to their losing the WWI conflict which allowed much power and influence to be absorbed by the US and begin its rise to world dominance. After WWII, along with its infrastructure not being destroyed by war on its soil, America had in its possession up to 75% of the worlds wealth which allowed the US power and influence to implement the Marshall Plan in Europe and construct much of the world that was not smothered by the iron curtain, allowing the US create the framework and dominate its function for many decades, which still exists to this day.
Due to WWII and fears that countries gold supplies may very well fall into the hands Of Hitler and Nazi Germany many European countries shipped their gold to safe havens outside the continent for storage and to pay for armaments and supplies to battle the third reich. Such safe havens included Canada, America and former European colonial countries in Africa. Due to the subsequent Cold War after WWII many European countries again opted to store their respective gold reserves outside of mainland Europe in fear of invasion and theft by Soviet Union military forces.
Post the 2008 financial crisis many countries began the long drawn out process of repatriating gold belonging to them and held in the vaults of other countries, mainly Britain and America, as they are the 2 major western financial centres of global financial importance. Some of the higher profile countries requesting repatriation of gold were Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Turkey and Venezuela. I suspect loss of faith in the international financial system would be a major reason for wanting sovereign control of a universally accepted financial element back on home soil. In European countries the fear might be apprehension of the future collapse of the Euro currency and the possibility that a hoard of gold, a historical form of money, might have a stabilizing factor in the reissuing of sovereign currencies and with the chance of a new monetary system emergence.
The US is purported to own north of 8000 tons of gold in secure vaults including Fort Knox among others. I say purported because there is the rumour that much of the gold has been sold in the attempt to keep the price of gold low in step with seriously decreasing the financial importance of gold to the world economic system. Somehow I doubt this to be the case as it is probably more of a ploy by the goldbugs in an attempt to give credence to the overstated benefit of a strict gold standard and in the process elevating their net worth. I suspect those at the helm of American financial policy are wise enough to see the necessity of a time tested, universally accepted financial asset. Besides the US has many vassal countries that are used as useful idiots to liquidate their gold into strong hands.
In my humble opinion the economy and humanity that comprise the economy are too complex and variable a system to think that a return to a gold standard is by some miracle going to eliminate fluctuation, usher in complete stability and send us down the path to salvation and prosperity for all. Anyone who thinks so must be invested heavily in gold and have some positive bias towards it. It reminds me of a saying, to not put all your eggs in one basket, especially if your eggs are golden and your basket is a basket of currencies. That being said perhaps gold could play a partial role in backing countries currencies, but maybe some new moral elements need to be added to monetary systems? Perhaps a country’s currency could be tied in some way to its fiscal responsibility, more specifically its sovereign debt. Debt goes up and currency depreciates, as who would want to support reckless irresponsible behaviour that in the end just punishes a countries citizens and overall well being. After all, the money used to service debts is in actuality extremely detrimental and an unnecessary punishment to hard working citizens. Think of the extra money individuals, cities, provinces, states, territories and countries would have to spend on productive, positive and life affirming means that actually benefit the populace over bond holder and corporate bank profits! Individuals and business can not endlessly rack up debt, why can countries do it?
One thing that is certain about gold is that it is indeed a tried, tested and true financial asset that nearly all central banks(necessary & indispensable conductors of sovereign countries monetary policies), most of the wealthy, and even billions of average regular people keep in their possession as a tangible asset that will never lose all of its value or be cancelled as most currencies end up being in time. It could be said that gold is a form of insurance against the possibility of extremely negative monetary system happenings as well as mismanagement of commercial bank and government affairs.
The Fool
It should be noted that a central bank is a necessary part of a country’s healthy functioning economy and a lot of the time are left to deal with and set monetary policy according to the financial bungling and consequent mess that politicians left for them to clean up(turd polishing.) However this does not mean that parasites and useful idiots do not come to inhabit positions at the central banks of some countries. Just look at(rhymes with Mark Carney) who went from Goldman Sachs to Deputy Governor and Governor of the Bank of Canada, then on to become Governor of the Bank of England, and now sits on the Board of Trustees at the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum has the balls and vulvas of most western politicians firmly in their grip of death and are busy consolidating their globalist agenda which does not include an increase in personal freedom for most of humanity, in fact the exact opposite. The World Economic Forum is a member of the cabal that are bribing politicians to sell out their populaces by enacting cashless captive control economic systems, and have set up predatory banking scenarios such as covid 19 vaccine loans to poorer countries to name a couple policies. In fact Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister(rhymes with Chrystia Freeland) is also a board member of the WEF. If that is not a conflict of interest I do not know what is! It should also be noted she is now finance minister of Canada, after one would assume our last finance minister resigned after not wanting to continue the childish economic policy our King and his masters laid out to follow. Freeland might be the largest cognizant useful idiot Canada has ever seen(King Truedope is clueless to the fact he is a useful idiot). No doubt her brown nose, willingness to sell out her country and citizens and lack of compassion will put her in line to run for the position of Queen of Canada after our current King moron loses interest or the remaining photos of brown face come to surface.
As stated above on the macro level gold is held by almost all central banks in the world and as a matter of fact many central banks have been repatriating their gold from storage in other countries and have been net buyers over recent years. One could perhaps jump to the conclusion that the reasons for central banks wanting to hold their gold and acquire further reserves would be the increasing deterioration of the global financial system. It is better to have something of value to start over with than to possess a worthless amounts of other countries excess reserve currencies. Even the International Monetary Fund, the institution which is forcing the roll out of digital currency systems owns many tons of gold.
Here are the top gold holders of the world in metric tonnes. Also the bottom holder. Hint: the leader of the lowest gold holding country is the “Fool” in the title of this article Gold-N-Fool!
USA – 8,133.5 tonnes.
Germany – 3,367.9 tonnes.
International Monetary Fund – 2,814.1 tonnes .
Italy – 2,451.8 tonnes.
France – 2,436 tonnes.
Russia – 2,228.2 tonnes.
Canada – 0 tonnes. 0 kilograms. 0 grams.
Yes if you went gold panning in a river and found one tiny fleck of gold you would have a bigger gold reserve than the country of Canada!
Canada did possess over 1000 tonnes of gold in the mid 1960’s but began majorly liquidating their gold holdings starting around 1990 at which point they were around 600 tonnes. There were not more than a few tonnes left once King Truedope acquired the throne to Canada, but before the throne could even become warm the very small truck was backed up to the treasury and in the blink of an eye there was no more gold to be had. It makes one wonder why when most countries are acquiring gold reserves our past and current Kings were shovelling it out the door at a feverish pace?
It seems odd to be the only country to willingly and quietly sell all of its gold. Canada is now the only G7 country to not have at least 100 tonnes of gold. Was there an institution or other entity involved in pressuring Canadian leaders to liquidate our gold? Did our leaders maybe take a few Good Delivery Bars or other gold coins home with them for performing the liquidation? Who did we even sell all our gold to?
Some of you may be thinking, Canada is a big country brimming with natural resources of which there must be tonnes of gold in the ground. Yes, you are right, and I suppose we could just mine more gold if it does become a part of a new monetary system when one emerges. But it would be awfully foolish to sell our in ground resources for another country to extract would it not? I would say yes. Well, King Truedope says no to that question as he and past Kings of Canada have no problem letting foreign governments extract our resources for the benefit of them and not us.
In life there is a saying which came to known as “the golden rule.” In basic tenet it is moral allegory of the meaning that you should treat one as you would want to be treated. Perhaps it is time to further the discussion about taking our countries back from the extremely powerful globalist cabal that own and dictate to our politicians. If we can accomplish this extraordinary task it will become evident that there is a better way of doing things where regular citizens can have a stake and play a participatory role in the countries that our bought and paid for politicians keep saying belong to us.
CR