Put Your Money Into Gold

Every time I tune into Fox, or wander into a conservative website, it seems I am seeing two things economically: 1. The end is coming. 2. Buy Gold.

Libertarians even lecture that we should go BACK to the gold standard, that somehow that would cure our economic ills.

I am reminded of the Great Depression, when hoarding gold, silver, and money, was the "smart thing to do". The more people hoarded, the worst it got!

Today our financial advisor suggested we invest in "foreign investments" and gold, because "the economy will be unstable for the next few years".

In short, hoard, send our money overseas, watch out for number one.

"Its a Wonderful LIfe" is STILL the top Christmas video rented or watched. Still, after many years.

We root for the poor savings and loan guy, who wishes he was not born, and then gets a preview from his guardian angel. Along the way, we learn that Mr. Potter, the villain, is doing everything he can to destroy the savings and loan so he own the entire town.

Mr. Potter is a mean, greedy, ambitious old man. He is in it for himself, and is hoarding wealth at every opportunity. If he gets the savings and loan, he will control all the money in town, and it appears this will not be good for anybody.

Indeed, Potterville, the name of the town if George (the savings and loan hero) is not born, is a bad place, of cheap bars and agony.

I postulate that Potterville is what conservatives are unwittingly working us toward today. Hoarding, buying gold, is exactly what Mr. Potter was doing. Looking out for number one, praising the crooked, fast buck artist, is Potterville all over again.

A critical scene in the movie, is when George encounters a mob who want their money back. George confronts a "run on the bank" with the common sense, that everybody is supporting everybody else through the savings and loan. One person's savings is another person's loan. All combine to drive investment up in the small town, for the betterment of all.

When I was little, we all got a bank book, and actually started an account in local bank. Every week we were encouraged to put money in a small deposit envelope. During the year we actually took a class trip to the bank, it was within walking distance, lined up at the teller window, and were told our saving's balance. We also learned that our money was not necessarily in the bank, but was out in the town, helping others through loans to build businesses, buy homes; etc.

That used to the be guiding principle of savings and loans and banks.

But now, that has changed. Banks and savings and loans are places to make big money (for the bankers). Investment is a sidelight, derivatives and other fancy finance terms are used, especially by Big Banks (too rich to fail), to produce huge profits, and make the bankers very rich.

And so, my finance guy blandly suggested that we consider investing in foreign stock or buy gold and hoard it.

Which is exactly what Mr. Potter was saying to George. Look out for number one. Give up on the town (America), hoard, invest somewhere else, there is no American Dream.


At the core of our economic trouble is this basic greed, fear, hoarding phenomenon.

It is the same thing FDR was talking about, when he said, "The only thing to fear is fear itself". It is the same thing President Obama was talking about, when he stated "We the People" over an over again in his second inaugural address.

We are all like George, trying to survive, trying to provide for our children. But, if we listen to Mr. Potter, and only look out for ourselves, we all are doomed to live in Potterville, not in America.

So, stop being afraid. Invest in America, even if you don't get as good a return. Do not buy gold or silver, but pay your taxes, all your taxes, then insist the money be spend here, not on foreign wars. Insist that your tax money be invested in America, in our schools, in clean energy, in what benefits us all.

Follow leaders like the President, who must have said WE, NOT ME, a dozen times in his recent speech, and the Potters of Fox News called him a socialist for it.

There is not fear in the village that George finally saves in the movie, there is only hope,and teamwork, and reliance on each other for the common good.

And, finally, George's story, in "Its a Wonderful Life" is eternal, in that the sum of all is never greater than in what we all provide for the "least of me"...according to the gospel of Jesus Christ.