Lester

Independence Day: Decoupling Gold and Silver from the Dollar

Dear Mr.Conrad and Other Readers!

I am not an economist, but I study von Mises. I was born after the Great Depression. Would someone kindly explain to me why the govt was "forced to expropriate gold from the people"? What role did gold play in the declared "national emergency"?

Did gold somehow mismanage the economy? Or was it someone else?
Was gold ownership an obstacle to production, i.e. feeding the people? Or was it an obstacle to govt control of the economy?
Did gold in govt vaults become harmless to the economy? Or did it become harmless to govt policy-makers?

The reason why I pose these questions is because watching history repeat itself, I concluded that gold ownership renders the individual a little bit sovereign. Not wholly, but some. An economically independent individual is more than likely politically independent as well. At least by using gold-enforced accountability of govt, a sovereign individual can extort valid political rights from govt.

I say "extort", because rights are not granted by the goodwill of govt, but by threat of forcible removal from office. I trust most of you would agree with that process. Any thoughts on that?