"Substance Over Symbolism"

During the Clinton years the phrase "Symbolism over Substance" was made popular by Rush Limbaugh. Rush did the world a service by illustrating that the political (and economic) world are driven much more by image than by content.

The recent PR campaign by the mass media to convince America that a rally on Wall Street is right around the corner smacks of symbolism rather than substance.

Today the Federal Reserve is clearly backed up against the wall. If they raise rates to shore up the dollar, the stock market and housing will take a hit. If they lower or keep rates at current levels, inflation will continue to show up.

Government statistics on U.S. economic conditions offer very little substantive proof that a new bull market in stocks has a solid foundation. That is not what the market makers want to hear so Washington has enlisted some help from a secretive group called the "Working Group on Financial Markets."

This "Working Group on Financial Markets" is made up of investment industry and government people that are in just the right positions to help rescue the stock market during times of crisis -- or bolster confidence to buy stocks during times of uncertainty. Informally, the folks on Wall Street call this the "Plunge Protection Team".

It appears that the so-called "Plunge Protection Team" is determined to prove that stocks are lighter than air, and that they can suck out all of the market bearishness, even if the fundamentals of a new bull market are absent.

Our financial markets and money system today are based on symbolism, pure and simple, without any valuable substance to them. For this reason alone I feel that every American should diversify a portion of their assets into real money - gold and silver coins. As an added bonus, many historic U.S. gold and silver coins have maintained an above-average track record since the late 1960s.

For example, United States gold and silver rare coins are facing strong demand and shrinking supply this year. Kevin Lipton, of Kevin Lipton Rare Coins, reports that record prices are being paid for U.S. rare coins - not only from dealers, but also from private investors and collectors.

Hope vs. Hype

Meanwhile, investors seem blinded by the Wall Street hype of a "summer rally" in stocks based on the hope that the worst is over. I say we must define our terms carefully. Faith and hope are often confused - but they are both based on substance!

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for" - we are told in Scripture - not the "symbol" of things hoped for! To create a lasting hope requires much more than hype. The only way to protect against hype is to do the opposite of what is being hyped.

In my book, "Rediscovering Gold in the 21st Century: The Complete Guide to the Next Gold Rush", I devoted a whole chapter to explaining why, in the long run, substance will always triumph over symbolism! The following is an excerpt ....

The Folding, Spindling & Mutilating of America's Money System

Imagine for a moment that you have the ability to create any amount of money without ever having to produce anything.

Is there anyone or anything you couldn't buy? Probably not.

Sound impossible? It should be, but it isn't. Just ask your local Federal Reserve banker - they do it every day.

The folding, spindling and mutilating of America's monetary system became legitimized in 1913, when the Federal Reserve was formed. Long ago bankers discovered a nasty little secret referred to as "fractional-reserve banking" which is fueled by credit and debt creation out of thin air.

The modern American monetary system is the result of an incestuous relationship between the federal government and the private banking cartel, deceptively called The Federal Reserve System (a.k.a. "The Fed").

But don't expect the mainstream press or prominent political figures to ever discuss this relationship publicly. Sadly, few Americans understand the process, or even challenge the Fed's attempt to manipulate the money system.

In the two centuries prior to the creation of the Fed, unredeemable paper currencies were judged as unethical and immoral. As of 1792, they were deemed unconstitutional as well.

The fundamental misconception today is that America's paper or electronic currency, denominated in Federal Reserve Notes, has any intrinsic value.

In the words of former Fed economist John Exter, "Today’s U.S. dollar is nothing more than an IOU-nothing." Paper money retains only the symbol, or form, of its original substance - gold and silver.