Socialism
Gold is hated by governments around the world because it reveals their deceitful actions in totally destroying the economy. It is not an accident that gold is the only money which has survived for 6,000 years. Gold is the only money that tells the truth. And gold is nature’s money which means it cannot be destroyed and it cannot be manufactured.
This is why governments cannot live with gold as money for more than short periods. Because over time governments always spend more than the country earns. At that point their survival can only be assured by buying votes. And printing money is a very cheap way of buying votes. It costs nothing when you own the printing presses (or computers) and it is very effective short term. The problem is when that little boy shouts out: “The emperor has no clothes”. At that point everybody will realise that we all live in a world based on lies and debt.
In the next few years, country after country will find a naked emperor and empty coffers. The irresponsibility and incompetence of regimes know no borders. Take a country like Venezuela which hit the jackpot by sitting on free oil reserves of massive quantities. Venezuela has the biggest oil reserves in the world. But in spite of that, Venezuela has today reached economic misery.
This is what Charles Dickens wrote in David Copperfield:
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen, nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”
SOCIALISM ONLY WORKS WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY
But that simple rule for happiness seems impossible to follow for any nation today. Almost every country in the world is on the side of misery with the deficit being made up by debt or printed money. Margaret Thatcher said it better than anyone: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” And that is exactly what the world is doing. By borrowing more and printing more, socialism is not creeping but flooding into most Western countries as well as the rest of the world.
The table below shows total government spending as a percentage of GDP. In ten countries the government spends 50% or more of total GDP. These include all the Nordic countries with Finland the worst at almost 60%, as well as France, Greece, Belgium, Italy, Austria and Hungary. The US is just under 40% but is likely to increase substantially in the next few years as the economy falters and the government opens up the money spigots. When a government spends 40%-60% of total GDP, this is not just socialism. No, it is a total waste of a country’s resources. It means stealing 40% to 60% of what the people produces and then wasting it on bureaucracy and irresponsible spending.One hundred years ago, there were minimal or no income taxes in most Western countries and today the government burdens the people with 50% or more in many countries.
THE WORLD WILL FOLLOW VENEZUELA TO HYPERINFLATION
Venezuela is an excellent example of a prosperous country, with natural resources (oil), that is severely mismanaged and eventually turns socialistic leading to a total collapse of the economy. In 1935, Venezuela had the highest per capita GDP in South America. After a number of economic crises and corruption in the 1980s and 1990s, Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1999 and remained in that position until his death in 2013 when Maduro took over. Gradually the country’s economy deteriorated. In spite of its massive oil reserves, corruption, mismanagement, inflation, collapsing currency, big debts and socialism drove Venezuela to ruin. There are exchange controls, major shortages of most food products and even shortages of fuel. And Caracas has the highest murder rate of any capital in the world.
In 2016, the average Venezuelan lost 8.5 kilos in weight due to lack of food. If this had happened in the US or in some European countries, there would have been major health benefits. But the poor Venezuelans were not overweight to start with so this clearly affects the population and especially young children.
Venezuela had 367 tonnes of gold in 2015 and now allegedly still holds 187 tonnes. Sadly, this is not enough to save the country. And the people have not held any gold either. Most people in Venezuela have not had enough money to buy gold for in later years. But if they had just put a fraction of their income into gold, that could have saved them. 13 million Venezuelans are today on minimum wage which is $7 per month. With hyperinflation, that dollar amount collapses fast. Just imagine if 20 years ago some Venezuelans could have saved enough over to buy just one ounce of gold at $300. That ounce of gold would today be enough for 5 years’ minimum salary. But very few, if any did it. This is why I am telling people today who don’t have a lot of money to put aside just a small amount every month and buy gold. One gram of gold is $43. Most people in the West can afford to put that aside. And if you do that for 32 months, you have one ounce of gold. Remember that in Venezuela today, as I mention above, one ounce of gold goes a long way.
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