I know people out there who have invested a lot in gold under the belief that in the event of like complete societal collapse or hyperinflation, they could use it for purchasing.
I have the hunch it’s a scam, but I haven’t learned enough monetary theory, business, or economics to understand why.
I’m acquiring a little gold. Not a lot, but enough.
What’s enough? When my family was escaping persecution, they managed to travel under the cover of night and stayed in people’s barns and homes during the day. They planned and managed these arrangements via transactions using gold coins, links or pieces of jewelry, or other relatively universal valuables. They also got away a couple of times using the same goods to bribe authorities.
A small number of generations of my family dealt with being told that their money or credit was devalued due to their religion, profession, or relationship to public figures. In those instances, the family members who fled survived, and most of the ones who didn’t flee died.
I don’t know that I have much faith in my ability to flee anything, so I’m not investing that much time or money into acquiring gold things. Found some old watches from my grandparents/great-grandparents that claim to have gold in them. Have a couple of my own little things and jewelry I’ve given my wife. All just things when the time to survive arrives. Which it might not ever.
I hope this somewhat answered your question.
If it’s not too personal, I’m curious where your family escaped from?
Different parts of the family tree, but pre-Soviet Ukraine and Poland.
The Ukrainian family was erased over a period spanning from pre-WWI to pre-WWII. Around the time of the Bolshevik Revolution, a large portion was killed for having too close of ties with the Romanov family, and for taking advantage of the commoners. They incorrectly assumed that their social status would keep them safe. By the time that bolshevism fell out of style, anyone who remained was killed off for their radical support for empowering the commoners. Over just a couple of decades, a relatively vast family name was completely wiped out from a vast number of cities and villages. The only thing they all seemed to have in common with each other and those miles alongside them was their religion.
The Polish family either snuck out of Poland around the time that Nazism was becoming more popular, or died. One family member survived after their parents left them with some Catholic friends, and another two family members shockingly survived the concentration camps. My memories of one of them was how hard they’d cry when they’d see any portion of their numeric tattoo.
Now the living parts of the Ukrainian family live throughout the Americas, and believe that fascist leaders have redeeming qualities. Meanwhile, the Polish family is mostly in Israel and is mostly super-cool with Palestinian genocide. Imagine struggling so hard to survive, just for your offspring to perpetuate or promote the same shit that you escaped from.
You should really schedule a discussion praising Hitler and his buddies at your next family gathering…
My family gets upset when I reference Hitler and his buddies as the creative source material for our current sequel/reboot. The fact that our president had previously bragged about studying books by and about Hitler isn’t a problem, instead, it’s a problem that I bring it up.