TXRogers wrote: Asia (inclusive of Japan which is really not a democracy either) is leading the West in some aspects, and lagging in others. But the most critical mandate in Eastern government systems is the tight control of billions of people. It is a project under constant refinement. Gold holds favor for governments in the Far East and Eurasia not so much as legal tender, but as the physical backstop to legitimize a much more powerful control system.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-trends/Credit-cards-fall-behind-in-Asia-s-race-to-go-cashless
Our recent gang of Western politicians also love the idea of e-money for the same obvious reasons. They dream and seek the same control aspirations. But the Western politicians face some more serious problems. Western societies lack both homogeneous societies, and autocracy flies against concepts of individual freedoms and fundamental individual rights.
The objective is not to give value to fiat paper. It is to build faith in a more advanced control structure. The digits of the e-structure. Once it becomes complete and fully deployed, there is no more need for discussion or to question the banking system. It would be as futile as refusing to eat because you disagree with food prices.
Read it again, folks. The governments of our bankrupt technological societies are all racing towards The Conundrum - the Gold Bug zapper. The elimination of contraband physical via complete systemic control of the digital.
It's already dawning on some people the costs of such conveniences:
https://www.techinasia.com/shenzhen-hard-pay-without-app-raising-privacy-concerns/amp/
In these places, the port hole to all things physical: food, utilities, medicine, entertainment, etc. is your handheld electronic device - for now. Physical fiat and gold not accepted. And one even wonders how long it all remains efficient to keep it "hand held".
Your digital signature and active network status determines your ability to interact with the physical needs of life. Your wealth. They unplug you, then you die. Even with gold in pocket.
That's how I view gold investment at this point. As an enabler to the next phase, and a destroyer of the previous phase. It will soon become extremely valuable during this transition. But I think it will be temporary and then disappear into something that has no more utility for the masses (who will be denied access).
How's that for one big mother-f__king black swan? We're moving closer and closer to this nasty bird with each passing year.
Tx