Advantage 3 – No gold standard

Excerpt from the book »Gradido – Natural Economy of Life«

»The meek will inherit the earth – but not the mining rights.«

–      Jean Paul Getty

American oil industrialist and billionaire

In turbulent times the call for the allegedly good old gold standard becomes loud again. The gold standard prevents wars, it is claimed, because the existing amount of gold is not sufficient to fund the immense costs of war. A far-fetched argument, for there have been wars since the beginning of history – in spite of the gold standard. When Columbus persuaded his Spanish masters to finance the fleet with which he wanted to reach India in a westward direction he promised them gold. The sad truth was that he and his successors kept their promise and the Incas were exterminated for their gold – and not only the Incas but almost the entire indigenous population of America.

Greed for hoards of gold in other countries has often been the cause of wars, maybe not the officially stated reason for war but a decisive motive. It is simply absurd to claim that gold assures peace.

Today there are still gold mines for wresting the last gold treasures from the earth. The modern form of gold mining leaves disastrous environmental damage behind it. What is the point of this insane destruction? Why do we need gold at all? We do not need it for jewellery since only fakes are usually worn for security reasons. We seldom need it as a raw material for industry and medicine, maybe for high-quality electronic gold contacts or dental prostheses. There are many other possibilities for means of exchange and value storage, for example computer figures.

Besides that, the gold reserves are distributed in the same way as the other ownership conditions. By reintroducing the gold standard we would only further cement the existing ownership conditions. Anyone who has a lot of gold would then have a lot of money. A gold standard is certainly not the tool of choice for achieving worldwide prosperity in peace and in harmony with nature. The Natural Economy of Life does not need a gold standard. The gradido is covered by the most valuable good we have – life itself.

Advantage 34 – Protection of private assets

Excerpt from the book »Gradido – Natural Economy of Life«

»We tell people their savings deposits are safe.

And the government vouches for this as well.«

– Angela Merkel

German Chancellor, 5 October 2008

Anyone who goes around with their eyes open will have heard that our present monetary system will not long remain as it is. A financial crash is in store for us sooner or later. Some clever citizens are quickly buying some gold and others are hoarding food supplies for several months in their cellars. These may be sensible precautions for the moment when the crash happens.

But what about people who have invested their hard-earned money at a bank, in a building society, in life assurance, securities and so on? In the case of a financial crash their money will in all probability be gone. Perhaps they had saved it so as to be able spend a pleasant retirement. Perhaps they wanted to set up a business with their savings. Maybe they have saved for a new car or wanted to renovate their house. Hard luck! After the financial crash their savings are gone. Hopefully people are clever enough after the crash at least to introduce the Natural Economy of Life everywhere!

Then the second part of the asset exchange will take effect: people who declare their assets honestly and have changed the prescribed percentage into gradidos will get all their lost assets paid out after the changeover to the gradido. Their money is put into an annuity scheme to prevent it vanishing after a short time because of decay. Somebody who, for example, has lost 100,000 euros in the financial crash, will be paid out 5,000 gradidos a year for 20 years, thus saving their private assets.