We need to go back to the gold standard.

Of course in the US this was characterized as a brutal invasion. What has been said above by certain posters is true, the Soviets could not allow more Islamic fundamentalist states to appear on their border because there were over 50 million Muslims in the USSR’s Central Asian regions. The Civil Wars that hit those regions in the 1990’s were predicted in the 1970’s. This is why the USSR supported Saddam Hussein’s secular government against Iran and sought to undermine Islamic movements in Afghanistan.

The US government had other ideas and Charlie Wilson supported those ideas. In the movie they try to characterize the Mujahideen as Refugees turned soldiers headed by Ahmed Shah Massoud, which is not true. Massoud was a Tajik tribal chief that did fight the Soviet Army initially, but over time began cooperating with pro-Soviet forces against his enemies in the Pashtun minority. Massoud received virtually no support from the US. Many Tajiks and Uzbeks backed the Soviet moves(and joined the Soviet Afghan Army) and had connections to the Soviet citizens of the same ethnic background. The Northern Alliance that brought down the Taliban is made up of these 2 ethnic groups. The actual US allies were people like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who was/is an anti-social bloodthirsty Warlord who has likely killed more innocent Afghans than the Soviet invasion. He likely had drug-running and weapons smuggling on his resume when he and his buddies were leveling Kabul several times in a row during the 1990’s. And these are the kind of people that received CIA aid and Stinger missiles. People who were obviously absent from “Charlie Wilson’s War”.

The principle to understand here is that money must be something of value. It must also be homogenous, portable, scarce and durable. So in spending money to buy something, one is in reality exchanging one thing of value for something else of value. Over the eons, silver and gold, already valued in Jewelry, had evolved globally as the premier money because of their physical properties and relative scarcity.

You’re right that gold is so scarce that if all the above ground gold estimated to exist were apportioned equally amongst the world’s population, each person would receive about 0.4 ounce and probably not much more silver. There is also an industrial and jewelry demand for the two metals that would further reduce their availability as money.

However it’s not important that we can jingle some gold or silver coins in our pockets. We can continue to use paper and other familiar forms of money so long as they are backed by something of value and that these money substitutes can be converted by their issuers into something of value upon demand. Perhaps money substitutes for large commercial transactions can be backed by some other commodity or a basket of commodities. The important thing is to prevent counterfeiting and to punish it as fraud. Competing moneys, convertibility on demand and the threat of bank runs as well as treating counterfeiting as a serious crime would all act as a deterrent to over issuance of money substitutes. The volume of commodity based money would then increase as the world’s volume of commodity wealth backing it also increased.

Compare a stable commodity based money to today’s worldwide fiat currencies backed by nothing and the bias of governments everywhere to inflate their currencies and thus rob savers. With a commodity based money, those who don’t feel comfortable speculating in the various “investment” casinos can simply stuff their savings under a mattress confident that they will retain their value over the years.

Of course commodity based currencies are unlikely to be voluntarily adopted anywhere until the maximum plunder through fiat currencies has transpired and they then disappear in a global bonfire of hyperinflation.

You can’t defeat them without wiping out the Pashtun population, which is about 40% of the population in Afghanistan and is strongest in the southern and eastern regions.

Lincoln, in his first inaugural address even offered to support a constitutional amendment which would forever protect slavery if only the South would remain in the Union. During his presidency Lincoln even seriously considered deporting all Blacks to either Central America or Africa. What the history books fail to acknowledge, is that Lincoln was a white supremacist.

The sentiment in the North was virulently racist. Except for a handful of abolitionists there was no popular support to fight a war to free the slaves in the South. For example Blacks were allowed to vote in only 4 Northern states. It was even illegal for Blacks in Lincoln’s home state of Illinois to move there to work. Lincoln’s armies were equal opportunity war criminals as they rampaged through the South indiscriminately killing both black and white civilians.

Slavery throughout the Western world was abolished during the 19th century without resorting to war to do so. If Lincoln was really interested in abolishing slavery, he could have used his considerable political skills to do so. Instead he chose to go to war to destroy the autonomy of the states in order to erect an almighty central government whose powers have been escalating ever since. We are still reaping the toxic legacy of this monster.

Perhaps, as you argue, stock prices are more a function of speculation than of economic fundamentals. But then in an era of global unbacked fiat currencies, where can working people safely park their savings?

In saving accounts or money market funds paying almost no interest, their nest egg will be savaged by inflation and taxes. Witness the 97% loss of purchasing power of the dollar since 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created. The current rapid collapse of the dollar via foreign currencies and in particular gold is a creature of fractional reserve banking.

Real estate is a possibility, but prices have advanced far beyond people’s incomes and all other fundamentals. The ongoing price correction is going to be very painful. Besides, real estate is by its nature illiquid. How does one withdraw, say $5,000 of equity, without a home equity loan and the accompanying unwanted interest payment?

The only viable liquid alternative for most is the stock market. Yet very few “investors” understand what they are doing, and speculative waves generated by the Fed’s credit creation will certainly roil the markets. Even professional money managers can rarely outperform the indexes for more than a few years.

What is rarely acknowledged in the financial world is that historically gold and silver are the working man’s best friend. They hold their value. In 1964 a gallon of gas cost $0.25. One can still purchase a gallon of gas with a 1964 silver quarter! The price of oil hasn’t gone up. The dollar has gone down. Inflation, in reality a hidden tax on the poor and middle class, has eroded the purchasing power of the dollar and all other currencies. In the gold dollar era century prior to 1913, consumer prices had actually declined.

The entire purpose of central banks and fiat currencies is to avoid overt tax increase by allowing unlimited credit creation to finance modern out of control government spending including wars and perpetual preparation for war all of which would not be tolerated by taxpayers under a gold standard.

Their intention was irrelevant. Their effect though was irrefutable. One can argue the merits or evils of the Soviet Union, but that they seriously inhibited the ambitions of the western powers is undeniable. The proof is simply what we have today. Iraq and Yugoslavia must surely regret its demise. As George Bush The First said in his address to Congress in 1991 as the Soviet Union was crumbling: “From now on, what America says goes!”. More infamous words have never been spoken.

To ascribe whatever motive to the actions of the Soviets is theory. The effect they had is reality. As Thomas Moore told the kangaroo court assembled to condemn him by interpreting his intentions: “The world may judge me according to its wits, but you must judge according to the law!”

Unlike what americans have been brainwashed in relation to Russia – over here the Govt. is controlled by the people to a greater extent :-) but not with a formal procedure. That was the main reason for Communist’s tyrany – not the lack of love of freedom, but the excess. People in the West and in the US are allowing to their Govts much more then I have seen in my life since 1972 (which is the time I started to think about politics – i.e. my first naive child political question – “Why there is no King or Tsar in our country any more?” – and my mother was not able to answer, just told me – “You will understand later, but it’s a sad story”)

So – the monent the “moral capital” gained in 2nd World War by Soviet Govt. was completely wasted in Afgan War – the country collaped.

So – one very popular movie in Russia – “Brother-2″, the main character comes to the US to do justice to an american oligarh, which is of course is in concert with his oligarh friends in Russia. The dialoge (monologue) goes as follows:

“Tell me American – who has the Power? You think – Money is Power? Well, my brother (his brother decided to migrate to the US) also thinks that Money is Power. But I think that the ultimate Power is Truth – and the one that acts in accordance with Truth – Wins in the end” – having said that he instantly kills him by a precise shot from his automatic weapon with a silencer. No noise, no sadistic “last moments”.

Then he has enough time to get to the airplane and get out of the US as quickly as possible, being assisted from couple non-oligarh american friends.

So – the final moment of Truth as approaching. Russia would win in a nuclear conflict – there is not enough time for the US to build the SDI system before the bancrupcy happens. Therefore, we have some chance of not taking part in the WW-III.

Need I to remind you that the reason why Germany got into WW-II was a choice they had – either war on bancrupcy in 2 years. BUT – this is a lesson from history that does not teach US elite – wars started to avoid bancrupcy are not won. They are not JUST. There is no Truth behind them. Therefore there is no Power.

Indeed – bona fide external threat does unite the Nation – the vote for Medvedev was indeed 70%. I have looked at the elections. People were coming and calmly casting their votes. Not the Putin or Medvedev are ideal. But this time is no time to get into petty political disputes when mortal threat is that close.

Very soon we’ll see if the USA would be able to exist into the 21st century. But I doubt – both elite and the people in the US have totally lost the contact with the reality. They have lost the Truth and that is one thing that this world does not excuse for.

Well – I knew that perfectly well in 2003… I just did not knwo that it is THAT bad, and that Iraq war would mean an and to the US as we have known for last 200 years. Bye bye US dollar bill – soon they would be only a collectable item. Sad. USSR, then USA. Sad.

All this garbage about ultra militants, they are protecting their homes. What would you do if I rammed my way into your home and told you to leave?