Before I let him rip, I offer the below comments on his note:
1) I do not think that .gov will seize the gold. They only got some 10% in 1933... FOFOA believes they will not even try either. In one of his articles he explains why (fofoa.blogspot.com). After Freegold arrives, our .gov will actually welcome private holdings of gold as an important step in re-capitalizing America. That said, it certainly IS possible they will try to seize or otherwise smother gold. Having gold and/or other assets outside your home country is a good thing. We have assets in Peru (our bearing business).
2) Land is not liquid and they tax it. If you live on it or work it (farm it, grow trees, pasture for livestock, etc.), well then OK. Farming will not work for me and my wife, we're too old...
3) His comment re capital controls is SPOT ON! If you want to have a nest outside the country, NOW is the time to do it. Do not wait until you think you see storm clouds. By then, it may be too late. Remember what the Nazis did to the Jews. The smart ones left early. THE textbook example.
Robert,
Given the increasing fascist tendencies of your government - with your rights and constitution being obliterated and it not eliciting any response from the people - and seeing it did so during the previous depression, why do you think there is only a low probablility they will interefere with private gold holdings?
TPTB will clearly see the gold price rising like crazy in the final stages of TSHTF. I'm reasoning they are pretty savvy types and therefore they will not be willing to let everyone that opted out of their fiat/fractional reserve system benefit. So to me it's only logical they almost certainly will interfere with private gold holdings in one way or another.
I think that with the chaos that will likely be occuring they will implement a set of rules in the name of stabilizing things and maintaining order and congress will not say a word (not that they do these days anyway!).
They don't have to go so far as confiscating it: they could limit transactions by price or weight, introduce huge taxes on sales, or ban private gold sales all together.
Despite being a PM enthusiast this is my primary concern about gold, particularly if I lived in the US.
Incidentally just prior/after TSHTF I am sure there will be capital controls and halts to foreign exchange transactions implemented to force people to keep using the $; I also think they could limit cash with drawls and transactions in cash and force people to use their ATM cards to prevent bank runs, which would suit TBTB as they allegedly want everyone to use ATM cards so their purchases and whereabouts can be monitored at all times.
I recall reading a very good article about the similarities to the US now and France just prior to the French revolution. It is worth reading to see how the government reacted and to demonstrate the extaordinary measures a government will take to try to prevent its ruin.http://goldnews.bullionvault.
For instance in the UK gold sovereigns are exempt from capital gains tax because they are still considered legal tender. I am sure that loop hole will be closed in the near future.
Seeing as readers of this blog want to be ready for anything, surely it makes sense to factor this in to their planning? To me it is necessary to either sell out prior to controls being implemented (which would be pretty tricky to get the timing right) or hang on to the gold until (hopefully!) the law is retracted.
Obviously if you intend to sell your gold holdings how do you then choose to hold your wealth? Buy land?
Please post this as I would welcome people's comments.
My opinion is that trying to ban or somehow control PM sales would drive people into the black market and we would end up with a PM market just like the current marijuana market in the US. Millions of people grow, sell and buy marijuana, openly in some parts of the country, even though it remains illegal federally. A few unlucky people go to jail but mostly the market just chugs along. There are just too many people and not enough law enforcement for the govt to successfuly ban a market in something people want. My opinion for what it's worth.
ReplyDeleteI wish we had as many PM buyers/savers as we have peole who smoke weed. I bet at least 1 in 4 people under 30 smoke at least occasionally.
ReplyDeleteI have heavy silver holdings, with only a 1/10 button of gold just acquired. Hoping silver will be overlooked or scoffed at by the authorities. Strangely enough, my ATM was recently canceled, supposedly because a vendor I patronized had a security breach. BoA did not tell me who it was, and I have yet to receive my new card, about 2 weeks later. Very odd.
ReplyDeleteIf the feds try to meddle in our daily purchases, I am confident bartering/black market dynamics will emerge spontaneously faster than you might guess.
Johnny & Robert
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great subject post - you are both right, if you have any hope of controlling your money/wealth, you need to have some income method/assets outside of this country.
As the Empire fails, the middle and lower classes will lose their ability to pay for anything (let alone taxes, due to inflation and no wage increases) and the need to grab any asset/cash flow for our Crumbling Rome will accelerate.
As for land, I'm not crazy about this illiquid asset that pins you down to a specific location. A boat, with a huge bank of batteries and a couple of cats on board, in a port city next to Canada makes more sense to me.
Johnny & Robert
ReplyDeleteFurther to my post on having a boat, a 2nd passport is also useful.
Semper Peratus, The Navigator