After skimming through a few of the great posts that have been submitted today, particularly the one by TQ discussing the importance of maintaining the proper outlook on life, I decided to make the following item Point # 6.

One of the questions asked of Jim was something to the effect of  “how to find a place of sunshine and safety” as financial turmoils and transitions take place. Jim’s answer was that he has given us the information we need to create that “place of sunshine” for ourselves and our families. He said that it was not a geographic place. Such a place does not exist. We can, however, do our best to make the choices that will provide as much as humanly possible for a safe and prosperous future. He said that the point of his website and this conference was to help as many people as possible  through this difficult time with our families. He wants us to look back on it from a perspective of being safe and financially secure.

A related question was, “Shouldn’t we be concerned about food?” and be storing food in case of social upheaval. Jim’s answer was that “If you have gold, you’ll have food.” He said he didn’t mean to make light of the issue, but in every period of financial distress, people with real money have always been able to buy food and whatever they needed, and it would be no different this time. Of course, putting aside a store of basic necessities isn’t a bad idea, but he believed it wasn’t mandatory. Naturally, the follow-through question was, “What about the people who don’t have gold, and don’t have food?” This is where we got into the issue that the economy would be stabilized before the situation degenerated into utter chaos, and that social unrest over food, money, or whatever would be put down with an unfortunate Kent-State type action if the situation got far enough out of hand to require such extreme measures.

I’ll close this segment by saying that one of the attendees who stepped up to the microphone was a young Vietnamese fellow who told a very moving tale. He said that as he grew up, his mother often told him with a smile that he owed her eight ounces of gold. This was the price she had paid for herself and each member of the family, to buy passage on the boat that brought them to safety and a new life. He said that he had not fully understood until he grew up, and in recent years began learning about gold, and reading Jim’s website. Now he understands the importance of the timeless wealth-holding: gold, and the freedom and security it has provided to others in similar circumstances.

Let’s hope that none of us ever needs to make use of gold in the same way that this young man’s mother did, but it is a reminder of the perils of paper “money” and the difference between gold and the fiat currencies that are here today and gone tomorrow.