Trump has GOT to change the way he speaks if he want to win. [from this afternoon]

[Sparks]

On 8/3/2024 at 5:01 PM, Neighbor said:

Not quite so. That USA dollar is backed by faith that there are  reserves of gold and silver held by the USA. One cannot turn a dollar note in fo reither , but faith that it is there has been sufficient faith, especially so since gold's value has been allow to float in the open marketplace. The value of the gold held in reserve has been one heck of a grand investment. A  "Nixon" era  once of gold bought at $35 to $185 is worth what today?  $2454. Not bad. Andso the gold reserves held by the USA which gives faith to the USA dollar is pretty strong.

Sorry, but that is incorrect.  There is nothing backing the US dollar, and technically it is no longer a dollar, but is instead a Federal Reserve Note.  We went off the gold standard starting around 1971, allowing unlimited amounts of money to be printed backed by nothing.  That is what fiat currency is; a currency backed by nothing but faith.

You seem to miss your own inflation illustration of the dollar.  An ounce of gold has just about the same value it did in the Nixon era; it is the dollar that has changed.  The dollar has lost so much value that it now takes $2454 to buy an ounce of gold, where as the dollar was once so strong it costed just $35 for an ounce.  That is inflation at work.

In 1913, what you could buy with one US dollar would cost us $31.73 today, because the dollar lost value in all those years. With one dollar in 1913, you could buy a meal for two, some blue jeans, and some nice coffee drinks.  You see, items like gold and bread have not changed much in value.  It is the dollar that has lost purchasing power due to over printing.

[Inquiring Mind]

11 hours ago, In the Clouds said:

I am not going to follow Cesar and march with the Romans.  I have to pay what is due to Cesar; but, that's as far as I go.  Man cannot serve two masters.  Man sells his soul when he doesn't do what is right.  I, too, will vote for a person who does not give in to worldly ways or I don't vote at all.  Will I become a martyr?  I don't know.  I've been a victim before by both dominant parties; but, I refuse to sacrifice my good side by walking in step with man's greed or sin.  Unrealistic for this plain?  Probably.  But I won't have to answer for going against my conscience.

Sometimes we also have to answer for doing nothing.  The next four years (and arguably America's existence as we have known it)  depend upon people putting someone in place who will lead us out of the dump burn we're in now.  More of the same and doing nothing are not options for me.

[Inquiring Mind]

4 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Oh I enjoyed $1.87 gasoline over $2.90  to $3.40 I pay today. Sure enough; but I hated the near negative interest on savings accounts, the  tariffs, and the overall Pacific rim business difficulties of the Trump era more.

Where are the continual wars popping up with the frequency of a cheap ham radio on your list?

[In the Clouds]

To Inquiring Mind:

Doing nothing is not an option.  That would be just waiting to die.  I used to get much more passionate about politics and then I realized it's not by my will but God's.  I have more peace, do what I can, and trust the Lord for the rest.   Been through too many hardships and know better what is of value.  

I feel sorry for those who try to get what they want by grandstanding or throwing tantrums.

[Inquiring Mind]

2 minutes ago, In the Clouds said:

To Inquiring Mind:

Doing nothing is not an option.  That would be just waiting to die.  I used to get much more passionate about politics and then I realized it's not by my will but God's.  I have more peace, do what I can, and trust the Lord for the rest.   Been through too many hardships and know better what is of value.  

I feel sorry for those who try to get what they want by grandstanding or throwing tantrums.

I wish you the best.

[In the Clouds]

And you!

[Dennis1209]

3 hours ago, Sparks said:

Bitcoin, specifically, cannot be inflated.  It is a fiat currency that will top out at 21 million coins harvested, and no more, because that is all there is to harvest.  No one can 'print' extra copies of a coin because of block chain.  Bitcoin is inflation proof.

Evening Sparks, here are my thoughts:

Proverbs 20:10 Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.

Too much of anything decreases its value and drives prices down. All nations participate in trade capitalism. Fiat and crypto are intangible and have nothing backing them; they are blips on a computer. Perhaps another good faith and credit clause is appropriate here.

Fiat money and cryptocurrency are both gambling, fraud, and Ponzi schemes. You can bet your bottom Bitcoin governments; central and global banks will not allow it unless they regulate and control it. However, the New World Order may operate a system such as Bitcoin.

Money and wealth are seldom destroyed; they are transferred. Inflation and Ponzi schemes are mechanisms, hidden taxes, and intentionally regulated wealth transfers. The fractional reserve banking system is a hoax. Defined: Money is loaned from a bank, and most borrowed money is credited as assets on the ledger. From that ledger, money is created out of thin air that did not exist before and loaned out, and they charge usuary on money backed by nothing that never existed.

I will spare everyone the greed, need, and history of money, from the king (government) shaving off the edges of gold and silver coinage for his own to finance his projects and debasing the currency of the precious metals in them to eventually zero. Sound familiar post-1964 silver coinage, post-1981 copper cents, silver, gold certificates, etc. Copper cents take four cents to produce a one-cent coin.

I can define biblical electrum and explain what a one-ounce gold coin was worth in 1909 and what it would purchase then and now. Since we came off the gold standard, who can define a dollar bill and what it will buy? Fortunately, we have good faith and credit clauses, notwithstanding trillions in debt.

A crafty merchant could use weights that were lighter or heavier than their stated amounts as it worked to their advantage. Verse 10, a fairly common proverb on Yahweh’s hatred of corrupt practices, takes on new meaning in this context. False weights and measures are not what they seem. Hence the proverb here goes beyond an isolated type of fraud and bespeaks God’s ability to recognize and his hatred of all pretense.^[1]

 

---

^[1] Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 176.

[Sower]

1 hour ago, Inquiring Mind said:

Where are the continual wars popping up with the frequency of a cheap ham radio on your list?

When I was saved, born again, I was issued the Holy Ghost, WiFi straight to God. Won't need a Heathkit ham radio....

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, Inquiring Mind said:

Where are the continual wars popping up with the frequency of a cheap ham radio on your list?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations

[Neighbor]

3 hours ago, Debp said:

But as I said in my post....now interest on savings is higher but groceries and other things are sky-high!!!

So even though interest rates were low under Trump, the lower priced groceries must have evened things out.

Hi, Do you think they are going to go  down again?

Cheer up the Social Security Retirement Benefit  Cola exceeds official inflation rate  by statute does it not? (Humor button is on). Compounded each year we are getting rich  on SS benefits!

Automatic Cost-Of-Living Adjustments received since Jan 2000

January 2000 -- 2.5% 

January 2001 -- 3.5%

January 2002 -- 2.6%

January 2003 -- 1.4%

January 2004 -- 2.1%

January 2005 -- 2.7%

January 2006 -- 4.1%

January 2007 -- 3.3%

January 2008 -- 2.3%

January 2009 -- 5.8%

January 2010 -- 0.0%

January 2011 -- 0.0%

January 2012 -- 3.6%

January 2013 -- 1.7%

January 2014 -- 1.5%

January 2015 -- 1.7%

January 2016 -- 0.0%

January 2017 -- 0.3%

January 2018 -- 2.0%

January 2019 -- 2.8%

January 2020 -- 1.6%

January 2021 -- 1.3%

January 2022 -- 5.9%

January 2023 -- 8.7%

January 2024 -- 3.2%