My First Coin Shop Visit

I visited my first coin shop this past Saturday. We have a little extra cash, and not knowing much about coin investment, we decided to stop at a local shop.

I don’t know if this is typical of every coin shop, but the owner had a variety of collectibles along with coins, such as baseball cards, Americana memorabilia and random toy trinkets.

I was hoping the owner would be able to engage in economics, but he stared at me blankly when I explained myself as a new member of the Austrian School. So, while the shop was interesting, and he seemed to have some interesting and rare coins, he did not give me much hope as a future investor.

Fine, I explained to my wife. We are so new at this, that it will take sometime for us to get our gearing, so to speak. While we didn’t purchase any coins, we did become just a little bit more informed regarding the collection and investment of metals.

We can’t afford gold. What with the price of gold nearing $1,000.00 an ounce, but we may be able to invest in some silver. We would like gold, though. Had I known 7 years ago what I know now, we’d have a good collection of gold bullion coins.

In the meantime, I’ll try my best to learn more about this form of investment. While it is the metal boom time, it is because our fiat currency is finally dying. That is a simple statement with serious repercussions.

While we left the shop without even purchasing a Silver American Eagle, we did begin to think about preparation. We are in the process of obtaining a chest freezer so that we can bulk up on meats and other necessities. We have an area in our basement reserved for canned goods, and household necessities, so if the economy has a true crash, we’ll at least be fine for a few months.

This is not me being a paranoid libertarian. This is just sensible thinking. Our cost of living is lower right now, then it will be in a few months. Plus, it pays off to buy in bulk in the long run, as you spend less time going to and fro the grocery store, which uses gas.

I think I’m starting to become frugal. We are trying to make it a game to see how frugal we can get. While I am riding my bicycle to work, my wife has grown plenty of vegetables in the garden. Instead of buying coffee at Dunkin Donuts, I use the cheap free stuff at work. We switched from disposable diapers to cloth. Believe me, this is a huge savings. And my wife is determined to breastfeed as long as possible, so this saves money on formula (which is horribly expensive).

To end, I think it is time we all lived more sensibly. I personally have a history of living above my means. I think my family will be better off if we live under our means.

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A Letter From Ron Paul

I have a small voice, but I cannot, in good conscience, support the Federal Reserve’s bail out of the mess they created.  I will be contacting all of my representatives (house and senate) and informing them of my disdain of this.  We should not be burdened with the irresponsibility of the fatcats in Wall Street (and the Fed).

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Dear Friends,

Whenever a Great Bipartisan Consensus is announced, and a compliant media assures everyone that the wondrous actions of our wise leaders are being taken for our own good, you can know with absolute certainty that disaster is about to strike.

The events of the past week are no exception.

The bailout package that is about to be rammed down Congress’ throat is not just economically foolish.  It is downright sinister.  It makes a mockery of our Constitution, which our leaders should never again bother pretending is still in effect.  It promises the American people a never-ending nightmare of ever-greater debt liabilities they will have to shoulder.  Two weeks ago, financial analyst Jim Rogers said the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made America more communist than China!  “This is welfare for the rich,” he said. “This is socialism for the rich. It’s bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters.”

That describes the current bailout package to a T.  And we’re being told it’s unavoidable.

The claim that the market caused all this is so staggeringly foolish that only politicians and the media could pretend to believe it.  But that has become the conventional wisdom, with the desired result that those responsible for the credit bubble and its predictable consequences – predictable, that is, to those who understand sound, Austrian economics – are being let off the hook.  The Federal Reserve System is actually positioning itself as the savior, rather than the culprit, in this mess!

•    The Treasury Secretary is authorized to purchase up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets at any one time.  That means $700 billion is only the very beginning of what will hit us.

•    Financial institutions are “designated as financial agents of the Government.”  This is the New Deal to end all New Deals.

•    Then there’s this: “Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”  Translation: the Secretary can buy up whatever junk debt he wants to, burden the American people with it, and be subject to no one in the process.

There goes your country.

Even some so-called free-market economists are calling all this “sadly necessary.”  Sad, yes.  Necessary?  Don’t make me laugh.

Our one-party system is complicit in yet another crime against the American people.  The two major party candidates for president themselves initially indicated their strong support for bailouts of this kind – another example of the big choice we’re supposedly presented with this November: yes or yes.  Now, with a backlash brewing, they’re not quite sure what their views are.  A sad display, really.

Although the present bailout package is almost certainly not the end of the political atrocities we’ll witness in connection with the crisis, time is short.  Congress may vote as soon as tomorrow.  With a Rasmussen poll finding support for the bailout at an anemic seven percent, some members of Congress are afraid to vote for it.  Call them!  Let them hear from you!  Tell them you will never vote for anyone who supports this atrocity.

The issue boils down to this: do we care about freedom?  Do we care about responsibility and accountability?  Do we care that our government and media have been bought and paid for?  Do we care that average Americans are about to be looted in order to subsidize the fattest of cats on Wall Street and in government?  Do we care?

When the chips are down, will we stand up and fight, even if it means standing up against every stripe of fashionable opinion in politics and the media?

Times like these have a way of telling us what kind of a people we are, and what kind of country we shall be.

In liberty,

Ron Paul