Edit to add: people rob people all the time without knowing what they’re going to get. When things get bad, everyone’s a target whether you’re a braggart or not. The more value you possess, the more dangerous you have to be to maintain that value.
You assume that people desperate enough to rob others would have the skill sets to succeed, and that resistance would be useless regardless of one’s prior training- does that about sum up your position?
So is your argument to not have anything of value otherwise people will eventually kill your family for it?
To your point, long-term hobbyist self-sufficiency isn't a viable option in a societal collapse. That said, to assume people would keep behaving as they did pre-collapse is a bit unrealistic, especially over any reasonably time frame. People adapt to survive, and the people already putting in the work to understand survival stand a much better chance than ill-prepared opportunists, especially if you pit the two against each other.
Your scenario still makes the assumption that these half-ass bandit gangs make all of the right decisions, which doesn't happen when people lack training, nutrition, and rest. All they have to do is make one mistake and they're out of the game forever. Hungry, unskilled bandits will be far more prone to making mistakes when attacking people who are well-armed and well-fed. Casing a potential target takes time-- at least weeks if done correctly. Time is a precious resource when you're desperate and starving. I'd be far more concerned with an angry mob than I would be a team of novices who think they're operators.
Your scenario also seems to assume targets are islands. I can't speak for anyone else, but I know all of my neighbors and more than half of them are legitimately capable people- we're all one SOS text away from surrounding any given house. I realize that's not a typical situation, but this is America and it's not as rare as one might think.
All of this to circle back to my original point- if you're going to have anything of value, it behooves you to have enough firepower to defend it. Keeping valuables isn't an automatic death sentence.
If you're going to stock up on gold, you'd be wise to have enough lead to defend it.
Who brags about having gold? Do people do that?
Edit to add: people rob people all the time without knowing what they’re going to get. When things get bad, everyone’s a target whether you’re a braggart or not. The more value you possess, the more dangerous you have to be to maintain that value.
Excellent point. Damn.
The only fighting chance one has against bandits is guns. I don’t keep gold.
Username no check out.
You assume that people desperate enough to rob others would have the skill sets to succeed, and that resistance would be useless regardless of one’s prior training- does that about sum up your position?
So is your argument to not have anything of value otherwise people will eventually kill your family for it?
To your point, long-term hobbyist self-sufficiency isn't a viable option in a societal collapse. That said, to assume people would keep behaving as they did pre-collapse is a bit unrealistic, especially over any reasonably time frame. People adapt to survive, and the people already putting in the work to understand survival stand a much better chance than ill-prepared opportunists, especially if you pit the two against each other.
Your scenario still makes the assumption that these half-ass bandit gangs make all of the right decisions, which doesn't happen when people lack training, nutrition, and rest. All they have to do is make one mistake and they're out of the game forever. Hungry, unskilled bandits will be far more prone to making mistakes when attacking people who are well-armed and well-fed. Casing a potential target takes time-- at least weeks if done correctly. Time is a precious resource when you're desperate and starving. I'd be far more concerned with an angry mob than I would be a team of novices who think they're operators.
Your scenario also seems to assume targets are islands. I can't speak for anyone else, but I know all of my neighbors and more than half of them are legitimately capable people- we're all one SOS text away from surrounding any given house. I realize that's not a typical situation, but this is America and it's not as rare as one might think.
All of this to circle back to my original point- if you're going to have anything of value, it behooves you to have enough firepower to defend it. Keeping valuables isn't an automatic death sentence.
Meanwhile, a major mint (Perth) was recently found to be selling diluted gold to China. Surely they wouldn’t sell fake gold to us though, right?
Right, guys?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11825737/amp/Perth-Mint-sold-doped-gold-China-allegedly-tried-cover-up.html
Fake news it wasn't diluted. It was still a pure as advertised (0.999) so China was upset it wasn't 100% which is really their own fault
The .999 wasnt in dispute.
The whole issue was about the remaining .001, which had the wrong metal content and did not meet good delivery requirements.
They were mad that it was silver? 🤦♂️ I'm not going to feel sorry for them
If it is paper gold, it is worth nothing when SHTF.
I'm guessing Black Rock is selling their gold so they can hold a cash position for a stock market correction buy
Are they betting against the companies they're forcing to go woke?
Oh well if Blackrock sez to do it....
What if they know most non-NPCs do the opposite of what they say, and this is a ploy to stop them buying precious metals?
They don't cite any sources. Only links go back to what is clearly a marketing scheme splash page. Very sus