(Conspiracy Nation, 1/26/05)
-- Aluminum, used in tinfoil, used to be quite valuable. It is
naturally plentiful, but until processes were developed for extracting
it, it could not be used. Until about 1855, it was only made "in
pinhead quantities." Then a new process using liquid sodium improved
production capabilities, to an extent. Still, aluminum cost much more
than gold. Napoleon III took pride in his new aluminum cutlery used
only at state banquets. ("Aluminum Versus Aluminium",
www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm)
Alchemists such as Paracelsus, Raymond Lully, and Nicholas Flammel
tried to transmute base metals into gold. If you are a
pseudo-intellectual, you will scoff at the idea. If you are a bit
smarter than that, you will say, "Ah hah. It is just allegorical. The
transmutation of base metals into gold was coded language for spiritual
transformation." Hardly seriously considered is that the Alchemists not
only sought to make gold, but that they succeeded in doing so. Manly P.
Hall, in an obscure book on symbolical philosophy, notes that for
thousands of years "alchemists have asserted (and not without
substantiating evidence) that they could manufacture gold... That the
galaxy of brilliant philosophic and scientific minds who, over a
period of two thousand years, affirmed the actuality of metallic
transmutation and multiplication, could be completely sane and rational
on all other problems of philosophy and science, yet hopelessly
mistaken on this one point, is untenable." (Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic
& Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy)
Among students of various conspiracy "theories," the idea of
suppression of new technologies is not foreign. Technological advances
involving cold fusion, conversion of water into hydrogen fuel, and
advances connected with the under-appreciated work of Nikolai Tesla are
some examples of advancing technologies whispered about as "waiting in
the wings." These technologies are suppressed, it is said, because they
would devastate the profits of established purveyors of current
technologies. For example, suppose it had been already discovered how
to efficiently convert water into hydrogen fuel: do you suppose the oil
companies would be happy about that? Now suppose that it had long-since
become known how to transmute base metals into gold: what would such a
discovery have done to gold prices?
There is one person on the Internet who endlessly sends e-mails to Conspiracy Nation about the "evil
money power" and how money "is information" and that money as it now
exists can be abolished in favor of unlimited Internet Information
Money (IIM). This line of reasoning occured over 100 years ago, when
William Jennings Bryan led the movement for "free silver." At least the
free silver movement had the built-in safeguard that the supply of the
metal was not infinite. The IIM believers, to the contrary, miss the
basic supply and demand element: Were Internet Information Money to
become unlimited, its infinite supply would lower its value to almost
nothing. Ditto for gold: were gold to have become abundantly plentiful
due to alchemical techniques, it would have become as valuable as
aluminum foil. Centuries ago, when the wealthy and powerful owned most
of the gold, would they have been pleased with the success of the
alchemists?
A new sort of alchemy began to ascend with the creation of the
"Federal" Reserve, in 1913. In 1914, the original Federal Reserve Notes
(dollars) stated clearly that they were "Redeemable in Gold on Demand
At
the Treasury Department of the United States in the City of Washington,
District of Columbia or in Gold or Lawful Money At Any Federal Reserve
Bank." (qtd. in Everything
Is Under Control by Robert Anton Wilson) At the time, the
newly-born "Federal" Reserve did not yet have a monopoly on the U.S.
dollar. According to an article in the September 24, 1923 Time magazine ("New Currency"),
there were, in 1923, "six different kinds of paper currency with
various designs":
In order to supposedly thwart counterfeiters, the above various
currencies began to be replaced by new issues of paper currency with a
uniform appearance. This effectively strengthened the monopoly of money.
As time passed, the dollar grew less pegged to gold, until all
connection was lost. The supply of dollars in circulation determined
how much the currency was worth. Fans of Internet Information Money
(IIM, see above) grumble about the "evil money power" which could,
except for their "wickedness," print unlimited paper money -- as if
thereby we would all be millionaires! Of course, as with aluminum,
increased supply merely means the currency would be worth less
(inflation).
Constant alarms are raised about the dollar. Such alarms are
promoted
by sensationalists wanting to sell newspapers or to keep luring people
into tuning in to their "news" broadcasts. Also profiting by
never-ending dollar alarms are gold merchants, who sometimes subsidize
Internet alarmists and their reports. Guess what? Gold is not immune.
The price of gold can go down and you can lose money on such an
investment.
For the past month, Conspiracy
Nation
has tracked, on a daily basis, the exchange ratios between the dollar,
the yen, and the euro. (See www.xe.com for constant updates.) The
dollar has actually been strengthening against the euro, going from
1.00/1.37 to 1.00/1.30 in the past month or so. But that's no way to
sell newspapers or gold, so the slightest of temporary retreats gets
churned into SCREAMING HEADLINES!!!
Nonetheless, it is prudent to be wary of inflation. A good place to
park some of your money for those with such concerns is U.S. Savings
Bonds. They offer an I Bond (Inflation Bond) which returns a base rate
(currently 1 percent) plus the rate of inflation. So, for example, if
inflation is 3 percent, the annual return would be 4 percent -- not
spectacular, but backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
government. (See www.treasurydirect.gov for further information. Also
recommended for research is www.savings-bond-alert.com
DISCLAIMER: Invest at your own risk.)
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Conspiracy Nation
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html