What Would Happen if….?

We all wonder what would happen if certain things take place, just as we wonder what our life would be like if we had done so and so, married that gal we still think about occasionally, or had bought IBM 50 years ago. It is fun to imagine the world if Chamberlain hadn't come back from his visit to Hitler with that stupid umbrella and said 'all will be fine.' Or what if FDR hadn't started the welfare state and Social Security? Suppose automatic transmissions, power steering, and power brakes hadn't been invented? How many female drivers would there be now? Suppose the Beetles or Martin Luther King Jr. had never been born?

It's fun to imagine what would have happened as well as what would happen...if. Example: What would happen if, in a very short period of time, the entire world realized that their currencies and every one else's, were simply pieces of paper with ink on them, and had no value of any kind? What would happen if, the world realized that Monopoly "money" was the equivalent of dollars, francs, pesos, or yen, as far as value is concerned. What would happen if, everyone, in a short period of time, found out that there was nothing backing their currencies other than "The full faith and credit of the (take your pick) government?"

What would happen if, all the world's governments finally had sold all their gold, and their treasuries were empty except for gobs of paper "money" and empty promises? What would happen if, an honest inventory was taken at Ft. Knox, and it was discovered that all those big trucks seen leaving over the years had the US gold in them, and it was all gone? After all, the last inventory was taken in Eisenhower's time, and many of the readers of this screen weren't even born then. What would happen if, all the world realized they had been conducting their business with printing press "money," and that the presses were running ever faster to keep the whole thing from crumbling into a total economic collapse? What would happen, if the world realized that prices keep going "up" but the value of the things they buy remain the same? What would happen if, the whole world realized, that fiat can apply to "money" as well as cars, and they all at once struggled to get out of paper and into tangible things?

When the stock market begins to tumble, people either sell, exacerbating the situation, or go short. When the Y2K thing came up, everyone bought generators and caused a shortage of them as well as higher prices. When a hurricane threatens, everyone cleans out the supply of plywood, bottled water and flashlight batteries. What would happen if, the whole world realized, that the entire funny money thing is a total scam? Not just you and me, but the whole world. Can it be even dimly imagined the mad scramble for everything tangible, before the "money" lost even more purchasing power? Think of the rush to buy gas, wood, generators, food, machinery, guns, and protections of any kind, if the entire world realized the simple truth that not a single currency anywhere is backed by anything, convertible into anything, or literally worth anything, other than the strength "legal tender laws" give the currencies. "Drug laws" haven't stopped drugs, and prohibition didn't stop drinking. Can "legal tender laws" prevent discovery of a basic truth? "You can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Remember that little ditty? Maybe I'll compose a song with those words, and make it catchy, like "Mares eat oats, and does eat oats, but little lambs eat ivy." Of course one has to be an old geezer like me to remember that one. But this geezer remembers when the coins were made of silver, gas was 20 cents a gallon, a Coke was a nickel, and a trolley ride in Washington DC, where I was born and raised, was a silver dime. There aren't any more trolleys in DC, (boy were they fun!) a Coke is a little under a buck at most places, and gas is now pushing $2. It's the same stuff, it's just that the "money" has gone down in purchasing power like a lead sinker on a fishing line. What would happen if, A lot of Americans suddenly realized that their paper dollar would only buy 2% as much as it did when Grandad was a kid? What would happen if, through some shocking newspaper story, important happening, expose', or whatever, it was suddenly thrust upon the entire world that they had been living in a dreamscape that consisted of fraudulent government pronunciations, fake "money," and lies by the bushel? (Money is supposed to be valuable!) Know what everyone would do? They'd take their fiat "money" and attempt to get rid of it as quickly as possible, just like the masses decided all at once to sell their over inflated stocks, on the NASDAQ.

I cannot explain why, but at some strange time unknown to anyone, masses of people seem to suddenly all act the same way. This explains "fads" and the sudden popularity of certain TV shows, foods, SUV's, and neighborhoods. For some strange reason, millions of people suddenly do particular things, begin to like specific films cars, foods, clothing, styles, or music. No one can explain this phenomena, but it happens constantly, and we all know it. Why can't everyone suddenly lose faith in their "money?" They fairly quickly lost faith in other things such as Jimmy Swaggert, Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker, and CNN. The stopped loving Studebakers, Packards, Hudsons, and Oldsmobiles. They stopped loving the NASDAQ because it was overpriced. Is the dollar "overpriced," being it is worth nothing? At least a stock on the NASDAQ signified ownership in something! The buck says it is a "note," but for what?

You need to realize that when a worldwide fraud is being practiced, (funny money) it simply cannot last forever. Eventually more and more people will seize on the fact that those hundred dollar bills cost the same to print as do the one dollar bills, and all are future insulation in your ceiling. When the realization spreads that most governments are selling their gold as fast as they can, without killing the price further, and have already sold all their silver, ever more people will say to themselves, "You know, I think I'd better close that savings account and get some gold and silver." Or, "Gee, the money becomes worth less all the time. I think I'll mortgage my house for thirty years with payments at a fixed rate in dollars. By the time the thirty years is up, a payment may be the same amount of dollars as a cup of coffee. I'll lock up my payments for thirty years at the same number of dollars each month, and no matter how worthless the dollar becomes, I'll still have the same amount in dollars to pay each month. 30 years ago, the dollar would buy 20 times what it buys now. I remember Mom and Dad did this, and by the time their 30 years was up, the payments were so small in today's dollars that it was absurd, and their house was worth 20 times what they paid for it."

What would happen if, millions of people did just as is stated above? For every mortgage, the money supply is increased by that much, causing it to be worth less. The more of anything there is, the less they are worth, be it model T Fords or lemons. Did you really think that Fanny Mae was a savings institution, and that their mortgage money was taken from saver's accounts? Did you think that Freddie Mac had millions of investors that were earning interest from the mortgages placed? Ha!

So once again, what would happen if, through some strange fluke, which happens every day in other fields, masses of the world's populace decided their currencies were worthless, which they are, and decided to get out? Gold, silver and everything else would go through the roof in those currencies, but of course not increase in actual value. When prices of anything go up, it's the money going down, not intrinsic values going up. I can see it all now! Everyone trading with gold and silver because they have actual value, and cost time, effort and capital to produce. Millions suddenly deciding to get out of their currencies, mortgaging their homes to the hilt for 30 years at a fixed repayment schedule, and using the resulting "money" to stock up on everything they might need to keep them comfortable and safe. A lot of canned goods, solar heating system, new economy car, some acreage maybe, a lot of gold and silver, guns, ammo, a strong safe, no other debts, etc. is what I would do. Did you ever stop to think that the majority has never been right? Think about that one. Whatever you do…protect yourself.