Submitted by Ton Chatham via Project Chesapeake, [3]
Gold and silver are good assets to hold to insure the preservation of EXCESS wealth but there are other assets that are even more valuable longterm. Those things that can be used to produce a product are the elements that can be used to leverage your time, resources and talents to produce wealth. The ability to produce excess is the basis of the need for wealth preservation.
Physical goods in the form of equipment that can be used to create or produce goods needed by society are the basis of prosperity and wealth in the world. Gold and silver only become necessary when society begins to produce more products than the producer can use. This excess production is then traded for those things that can preserve the value of this excess production until it is needed by individuals.
Machines to build or repair such as saws and hammers, sewing machines, metal fabricating machines such as lathes and mills and machines to convert raw materials to value added products such as steel to I beams or pots and pans, wheat to flour or pasta, lumber to finished furniture and cotton to cloth are the assets that define how prosperous you are as a nation. A nation derives its wealth from having a product to sell. That will never change. It is true for nations as well as for individuals.
Individuals need to have the ability to produce something in excess of their needs to advance to the need to store that excess. This requires tools and equipment in most cases. You do not necessarily need to process your own resources to generate this excess. A miller can provide the equipment to grind grain for the community taking part of the production for his time and effort. This gives rise to the service economy where individual specialization is traded for other services and resources rendered. In most cases this service will require specialized equipment not possessed by the general population. This specialized equipment is an asset more valuable than gold and silver in many cases.
The goods need to exist before gold and silver can be traded for them and gold and silver need to exist to preserve this excess production for future use. Storing some of your excess production today in equipment that you can use to start a cottage industry will insure gold and silver will have useful value in the future. You cannot have one without the other.
When a person uses their wealth in such a way that allows them to employ several others, it will not only increase their wealth but insure prosperity for others. The ability to earn payment in return for their time and energy allows these employees to utilize these funds to provide income for the butcher, baker and woodsman. This is the basis for the economy small or large. The economy is what ultimately determines the value of any asset.
The ability of individuals to insure a functioning economy will determine the wealth and standard of living of everyone. A safe asset is one that contributes something to the ability of the economy to function properly. Without that, wealth is determined by what each individual can produce themselves for themselves insuring wealth will be limited for many and unequal as ability will determine what that wealth will be. Restricted access to resources and goods eventually leads to war. In war, no asset is completely safe.
When it comes to the next generation, the options are going to be very limited. If parents expect to pass on any of their hard earned wealth it must be done in a way that prevents government from devaluing or stealing it outright. The use of gold, silver, diamonds and some types of land will likely be the best options. If the government cannot find it or get their hands on it, it will make keeping it that much easier. Given the current situation even guns, ammo and reloading equipment might be seen as a good asset to hold for future use. Along these lines, tools and specialized equipment that can be used to produce some type of income will also be an advantage for youngsters that would otherwise have difficulty finding employment in the future. The greatest thing you could do for your children is to develop some type of business that can be handed down to them to give them the chance to make it in the future where government intervention has destroyed the economy and future job prospects.
Add to this a few small cottages that can be rented out for a modest price and maybe even a small industrial plant to process fibers such as cotton, wool or flax. Mini mills are now available that makes this a possibility today. A small store on site that can sell locally produced items such as soap, candles, food, clothing or medicinal herbs will all add to income opportunities to insure a decent standard of living. The number of products that can be locally made and sold are numerous and allows for many such farms in an area without fear of duplication.
To get by in the future people are going to have to learn to be creative once again in order to take care of themselves and their families. The west line has moved meaning Americans will be forced to live in a smaller economy with a lower standard of living than in the past. If you do not adjust to that now you will be forced to later under much more difficult circumstances. The assets you preserve during the coming years will determine how well you will live and how well your children will live. Nothing is guaranteed at this point so the future is entirely on you.
