Life is full of measurements. Life may exist without measurements, but without them, life and civilizations even, would not be healthy, friendly, or in way convenient. Just imagine a life without temperature degrees for the weather, cooking, baking, boiling, car engine, or even body temperature, to determine one’s health or whether one has recovered from sickness. Temperatures high enough to kill germs, or cold enough to freeze water. I have missed many, but knowing the temperature of things, is very important.
Measurements for pressures in all things from blood, air, oil, water, gas, tire, pipeline, and others. How about weight measurements for food, capacities, blood, groceries with meat, produce, butter, flour, and sugar, plus capacities of vehicles, elevators, airplanes, trucks, and the like. Various weight measurements, can be in ounces, pounds, grams, per square inch, and more endless lists.
Areas in square feet, yards, acres, miles, and even volumes things in cubics, about as many as squares. Electrical things, are measured in volts, amps, watts, resistance in ohms, and micro and mega in both. Insulation in numbers. The more I think about, the absolute necessity of measurements, sort of boggles the mind.
Various nations have values in their respective currencies, such as our dollars, British pounds, Euros, and others around the world. The dollar, is a way of measuring a price, but as prices go up or down, it’s the same as the dollar’s value changing, as opposed to every other measurement I can think of. Basic measurements have to be stable, or nothing could be built. If miles, inches, yards, pounds, ounces, volumes, volts, pressures, capacities, etc., varied, our civilization would be lost. Dollars, euros, or pounds, are not stable measurements.
We all know that precious metals are the same, year in and year out, and are measured by their purity in percentages of purity, plus their weight. A silver bar may weigh 10 troy ounces, and be .999 pure. Precious metals, and every other commodity around the world, are always measured in weight, purity, and contents. Gold and stones in karats and purity in numbers
We’re taking a chance if we use currencies for anything but instant purchases. If we have a surplus or dollars, we usually save the remainder in something for quick future use. If you have a thousand dollars, and spend $750 of them for your immediate needs, you will place the remainder in your checking account for quick future use, For un-expected expenses, it is nice to be able to write a check, or present a credit card to pay for them. Many save in antiques, rare stamps, old cars, real estate, and the like, but few of them can be sold immediately, because their values vary from year to year, price, condition, or certification. Not like bitcoins, which are not physical, and even are impossible to hold and admire. People are beginning to realize that, and bitcoins have gone from $67,800 down to $21,000 in just a couple of weeks. I have never heard of a physical thing doing that, because things such as real estate, cars, antiques, etc., are things you can use, hold, measure, admire, and enjoy. On May 22, 2012, 10,000 bitcoins bought two pizzas, and on February 21, 2013, bitcoins were $22. Some experts say they will go to zero. They should. “What fools, we mortals be.”
I have often said that a gallon of gas, can be purchased for three silver dimes. Each silver dime, until they stopped making them in 1964, had .7234 oz. of pure silver in it. If silver is $22 per ounce X. 7234 = $15.91, times 3 = $477.30, and that’s about the current price of gas. Imagine a silver dime, having $15.91 worth of silver in it, or a bitcoin, having any value at all. Just do not save in anything that is not physical, and if you need a currency quickly, gold and silver can be sold virtually instantly, as opposed to a rare item. Antiques of anything are fun, as is my 82 year old truck, which sold new for $400, and is now worth $30,000, but I couldn’t get that for it quickly. My gold and silver just sit there. Installment free insurance against most everything. Beautiful, compact, no registration or government knowledge, and can be left to your kids with no inheritance taxes. Boring.
Don Stott – don@coloradogold.com