Ron Paul suggests the outright use of gold and silver could break the Fed

Paul threw out the suggestion of Americans using gold and silver instead of fiat currency as a means to force competition, and perhaps even break the stranglehold of the Fed.

http://www.examiner.com/finance-examiner-in-national/ron-paul-suggests-the-outright-use-of-gold-and-silver-could-break-the-fed

 

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I know this is an old thread but it's right up my alley.

1. I support Ron Paul. I like damn near everything the guy has to say.

2. I wonder what his take is on bitcoins? I hate the little digital critters, but, conceptually, they solve the problem in the OP.

3. HELL NO! There's no way in hell I would hand over my gold or silver to battle the Fed. Lol... I sound kind of hypocritical because I want the Fed abolished. However, that's just not a good choice if you ask me. People would end up hoarding it and sneaking out into the night to spend cash lol.

 

The US Dollar is still quite strong. I don't think it's future will become something similar to the Zimbabwean Dollar (remember those 100 trillion bills). But anything can happen. There are a lot of occasions in history when currency notes became worthless in a few hours or days time. I am not saying that it can happen to the USD, but a lot of that depends on 2012.

 

Despite the fact that I love his idea, getting enough people to actually partake in such an action would be impossible. As Sean said though, people would hoard the gold and silver, and then we would be back to square one with a bunch of different winners and losers. This would actually be something that would have to happen on the federal level in my opinion.

 

It is a radical idea and probably not feasible, but it is the type of thing that we should be discussing. Ron Paul is the only candidate willing to have these types of conversations. All of the others can only repeat their disdain for runaway spending like good little GOP robots. None of them have been as willing as Ron Paul to think outside of the elephant box. And who is the media focused on? SARAH PALIN!!! Its disgusting.

 

One thing that irritates me is that the media spotlights the other GOP candidates who talk the talk, but almost completely ignore Ron Paul, who actually states the details of his plans. The majority of the candidates speak a bunch of 'puff' and say what they're gonna do, what they should do, or what the other isn't doing. If the media covered Ron Paul more, more people would know about him, and then we may actually get around around to seeing his ideas implemented. Until then... I hold little hope for him getting elected.

If he did though, this idea should be a suggestion, it should be attempted to work through the channels of law, and become the law. Imagine the value of the US dollar compared to currencies around the world. Having a currency actually backed by real value. Would be nice.

 

I'm on the fence with this one. While a Free Banking System might be very interesting in theory, I don't see any real advantages to implementing one in real life (this coming from someone who would *love* to do it). I think that limiting the powers of the Fed would be the best way to go about things. I complete agree that they shouldn't be allowed to print money at will and that there probably does need to be more transparency if people can't see where that cash is headed. Although since I believe the Fed is a private bank that one's a little bit touchy.

If you allowed competition between banks with gold and silver being held as the "currencies" you'd eventually end up in the exact same situation that you're in today with one bank monopolising all the others only that one bank probably wouldn't be able to print money. Currency is kind of like energy in that it's more efficient for most people to have a single point of reference. The single currency being used in combination with a fractal reserve banking system is part of what makes it possible for money to circulate the way it does. So I'm not fully sold on this as a viable solution since you can get the same results by placing limits on the Fed.

And yes, the media is leaving Ron Paul out and I don't like that it doesn't seem like people are bothering to ask "why". I never really thought about how manipulative the media was until last election actually. The media selects a candidate that they like and then for some reason people vote in step with what they're seeing. I don't know what irritates me more but it's one of the many reasons why I worry about my future. :/

For the record, I like Ron Paul and I think that he has a talent for reasoning things through. I just think I'd need to see a bit more before I'd be on board with this idea. Even if I wouldn't be willing to part with any gold I got my hands on.

 

Seems like too extreme of an idea to actually have it passed and implemented.

 

The possible outcome of this COULD be very bad as I had stated in an earlier post. However, the idea itself is not extreme at all, and it's actually the reverse case. The extreme idea is having the Fed control the economy and currency which is a relatively new system. The more natural approach is what has occurred for centuries before the Federal Reserve was established, and even more so before paper money. That is the everyday use gold, silver, and in some cases copper as money. The value is already there in the metals; they are all widely accepted to hold value. Much more so than the paper and cheap metals we carry around with us now. Governments used to mint coins to project their presence, authority, and power. They still never controlled the entire economic system and currency. That is the extreme idea in my opinion. Those that beleive reverting back to the original ways is extreme, chaotic, and will never work, have been conditioned by the government to beleive that it is needed the way it is. Just another form of control.

 

We seem to forget that prior to and during the first several years after the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, there were several different types of "currency" in circulation. Research old paper money and you will find that we had "National Currency" backed by US bonds, Silver Certificates backed by silver, Gold Certificates backed by gold, and Federal Reserve Notes, which at that time were redeemable in "lawful" money at most Fed banks or the Treasury. Interestingly, "lawful money" was exactly that, silver or gold coin. These laws are still on the books and stem from provisions in the US Constitution. None of which were ever repealed and therefore remain the "Supreme Law of the Land."

Over time, however, the Federal Reserve System took over (monopolized) our "currency" by eliminating competing currencies. At the same time Congress passed "legal tender" laws that forced us to use and accept the fiat currency in place of Constitutional currency backed by silver and gold. Next they removed us from the Gold standard and finally by eliminating all trace of silver from our coinage and backing of paper "notes."

Another interesting topic to research is the legal definitions of "notes" as in Federal Reserve Notes. The word "note" actually means a "debt obligation." This is what fiat currency is, a debt obligation. Unlike gold and silver, which must be mined, extracted and then turned into "coinage", paper money is no longer backed by anything of value and is thus referred to as "fiat". There actually is a cost to print the stuff and the banking cartel, the Federal Reserve System, then "lends" it to our government at interest. This is why we have a national debt. Before 1913, very little debt. As the Fed grew stronger and eliminated currency competition, our National debt grew, at first slowly and steadily to now reaching exponential growth ratios in regards to the printing of Federal Reserve Notes. In other words, the more Federal Reserve Notes our government borrows from the Fed, the larger our National debt grows. No surprise either that within the same year, same months and just days apart, Congress passed the Federal Income Tax Act. The Fed needed some mechanism to ensure we the people would pay the interest on their money.

 

Do you know where I would find information regarding the U.S. Dollar? I met up with my father last weekend who mentioned there are many countries that refuse to accept it because of its failing value.

Thanks!

 

You can just Google "China not using dollar" it should be the first search result. Your father is right, the US dollar is not a stable currency because it is backed by nothing. I would start looking toward gold and silver as an investment option.

Hope you find what you are looking for...

 

Your dad is absolutely correct when he says this. He is a smart man. The paper dollar has little to no value anymore. Investing in precious metals is the way to go as they will also hold a high value. As each day passes, the value of a paper dollar will continue to decrease.

 

Here's an idea. Since many of us seem to like the way Ron Paul thinks, how about if we give him a bit of help promoting his ideas? Let's start a campaign to actively promote him via the internet. That would be people power in action.