Financial ignorance from your TV: Gold may not be around next year

By David McElroy · January 7, 2012

If you ever wonder why people today know so little about economics, consider this recent short snippet of video below from Canada’s CTV television network. A reporter is explaining to the audience about the difference between assets backed by gold and assets backed by the U.S. government:

Some investors aren’t confident with what gold is backed by or if it’s backed by anything at all, as compared to something like the U.S. dollar. Investors are comfortable that the U.S. dollar is backed by the American government, so no matter what is happening to the American economy, something like the U.S. dollar is backed by the Federal Reserve. That’s going to be around a year from now. That’s a much more comfortable investment for them.

So does that mean that gold isn’t going to be around a year from now — despite being the world’s reserve of value for centuries and centuries?

This woman is reporting financial news for a major television network, yet she doesn’t understand that the U.S. dollar is backed by absolutely nothing. Whether you’re a fan of investing in gold or not, it has long-term intrinsic worth. The U.S. dollar is only worth as much as the Federal Reserve can snooker you into believing it’s worth.

As long as you believe people such as this woman, you’re going to be surprised when the economy collapses. You’l look at the dollars in your pocket or bank account and wonder why they’re worthless. And you’ll wonder why everyone wants gold or silver as payment instead.

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I’ve never been attracted to skinny women. There’s nothing wrong with someone who’s naturally thin, but it’s never been my preference. What has shocked me, though, is the judgment I’ve heard from women all through my life — about themselves and others — about who’s “fat.” I concluded long ago that most women in our culture have been brainwashed to believe that skinny is attractive — and that anything other than skinny is ugly. I first assumed that I was the oddball — for preferring women with bigger and heavier bodies — but I’m coming to the conclusion that most men naturally feel this way to one extent or another. I just ran across new research by a couple of Northwestern University psychology professors that shows that women seriously overestimate how much a straight man will be attracted to a skinny woman. In a perfect world, we would all be at a healthy weight, but when it comes to attractiveness, too heavy is more attractive than skinny. At least to me — and to a lot of men, too.

Years ago, I heard a question that seemed very insightful at the time. You’ve probably heard it, too. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? The question is intended to help you uncover things you really want to do, but which you’re afraid to try — for fear of failure. In an interview today, I heard the great marketing guru Seth Godin give a different point of view. He said the better question is to ask what you would do even if you knew it would fail. That struck me as far more insightful than the original version. We ought to be doing what we know is right, not what will maximize our success or praise from others. There are some battles that are worth fighting even if you believe you’re doomed to failure. Those battles are often for love or important ideas or our children. Some things are simply worth fighting for — and the truth is that you might win anyway. Do the right thing. Take the chance.

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After I wrote last night about being happy, I thought of an old song that mirrored what I was feeling. After listening to the entire album, I found it remarkable how well the emotions of that music match my own heart at this point in my life. Bob Bennett’s “Matters of the Heart” came out while I was in college. Even after all these years, it holds up really well, and you can listen to the entire album on YouTube. The specific song which matched my feelings last night was “Madness Dancing,” but I still find every song on the album to be strong with the exception of the eighth and ninth. (The song about his parents, called “1951,” is especially poignant.) In fact, the opening and closing songs paint a picture of my heart at its best now in these lines: “A light shining in this heart of darkness, A new beginning and a miracle, Day by day the integration of the concrete and the spiritual.” It’s old music that you’ve probably never heard, but it means a lot to me.

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