Thank you for the suggestions.

Imo, the reality to come will far surpass anyone's imagination.  What we will need to know and do is not in a book - except perhaps Holy Writ.  Some skills will certainly be handy, but skills without composure/trust in divine providence will avail little.

Ahahaha, I should have known that I'd get such a recommendation at CathInfo!

Thanks guys!  Anyone else?  =P

Pinoy Monk

Carolus Magnus,

Relax!  I said I "should have known," but that doesn't mean that I had considered every single thing when I was half asleep last night.

No, I don't think Our Lord (nor that which spoke) is a joke.

Please relax!

Honestly now...

Pinoy Monk

You are meant to use money as a means of exchange not hoard it, do not store it up put it to good use, buying gold and then keeping it in the safe is not a good use, if you buy gold you should make something from it, take only what you need for your family or what you can make use of nothing more.  If you find you have more than you need then use it to relieve the poor.  The only thing I can think of as justifiable to store is food, due to it's necessity for the life of those under your charge.

You can be a good father without playing at been an investment banker, in fact I would say pursuing more riches than you need is detrimental to been a good father, I know this advice goes against the American Dream but maybe that dream isn't all it's cracked up to be.

If you are over anxious about the future as this obsession with what will be the crisis of the future seems to show then it suggests you are not placing enough trust in the goodness, wisdom and power of God.  We must work, but we must also pray; for all our efforts will be quite useless without the blessing of God.

The right use of wordly possessions consists in using them for God and in the practice of good works not increasing them for the sake of increasing them or because we have an inordinate fear of what the future may bring.  Let us not mistake prudence with been over cautious which is a vice.

But, what about other means of using income to prepare for the unexpected?

You cannot prepare for the unexpected, the very fact that you have prepared for it shows that you expected it please do not be offended by what at first might seem to be a rude answer, we must think logically if we are to discover the answers we seek which is why I have brought it to your attention.

Is it simply prudence to own both electric and non-electric appliances even if the non-electric ones are seldom used presently, or would you see this as being over cautious?

Do you trust the person responsible for supplying your electrcity?  Do you even know him?  If you answer no to either of these questions it would be foolish to rely on him don't you think.

Many homeowners have one and use it on occassion, but if they were suddenly dependent on it for obtaining wood to cook with and had no means of replacing or sharpening it, would they not have welcomed owning three or four axes before the downturn? Would having such be prudence or a waste of resources?

The truly prudent man would have provided himself with a means of replacing and sharpening it would he not?  In this way he and the axe mutually assist each other in better fulfilling their purpose.  

The real question that you need to ask is do you trust the people who are currently supplying your needs?

It would seem the majority of people on this board do not and the fear and uncertainty this brings into their lifes can serve to hamper them both in worldy concerns and also in the spiritual realm, I have searched for an answer to this predicament and believe there is a remedy to this terrible situation though it would require much sacrifice in the beginning though al things worthwhile do, when I have more time I will post it and my reasoning for suggesting it so you may judge it's worth

I just want to clarify a few points regarding the goodness of "investing" in gold.

It is true that most "goldbugs" are greedy -- I would know since I've been to Kitco's gold message board plenty of times. In fact, most "investors" of any kind have capital gain as their motive. I agree that it's dubious (at best) to hope to make money off your money. How does an "investor" contribute to society? What happened to the punishment God inflicted on Adam and all future males: "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth"?

Investors do different things to make money -- whether they want to buy and hold (to watch it go up in price), do "day-trading" where they buy at the troughs and sell at the peaks, or even be "short" something which means to bet on a decrease in price. The material they deal in varies widely: cattle, hogs, wheat, corn, gas, oil, copper, nickel, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, real estate, stocks, bonds, t-bills -- the list is endless.

Now here is something you need to realize (and admit): we are in an unprecedented period of monetary inflation. Our money supply is FIAT which means it comes out of nothing. There is nothing to back it up, and so the more they print the more worthless the existing money supply becomes. It is almost common knowledge that the total money supply (known as "M3") has been increasing at a rate of 13% a year. Do you realize what that means? 13% inflation on everything! Your savings account has 13% less buying power every year -- so even if you make 4% a year in interest, you suffer a 9% net loss! I call that unjust -- and if there is any way I can avoid being robbed thus, I will. Is it lawful to put a lock on your front door so people won't steal from you?

And this 13% inflation will likely get MUCH WORSE in the near future, by the way. Look at Zimbabwe's economy, where inflation is 500%, 700%, every month! (The exact figures aren't important in this case) And their dollar was worth ROUGHLY THE SAME AS OURS only a number of years ago. Hyper-inflation is how ALL fiat currencies die -- and death is just as inevitable for fiat currencies as it is for Men.

Infinite growth isn't possible in a finite world. Any sane person knows that. But how many people realize the exponential manner in which our money supply is growing? Let's be optimistic and assume that the money supply is only growing at 5% a year. Could you picture that on a chart? I'll give you a hint: it wouldn't be a nice, straight diagonal line. It would be a parabolic curve! Every year, the bankers have to print MORE money than the year before, or the economy would crash. But eventually you get to Weimar Germany where you need a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread.

You have to understand the way the American Empire works. To afford the massive bureaucracy that is our Government, as well as the huge standing army we have stationed all over the Empire, they simply print more money instead of raising taxes. Printing more money is like a hidden tax, since everyone can buy LESS than they did before the new "tax" -- but it's a tax that everyone, even a tax evader, has to pay! Imagine if Bush had to sell the Iraq war to the American people...because he had to raise everyone's taxes by 25%. The war would be MUCH MORE UNPOPULAR than it is today! But few people notice the declining value of the dollar, and so the war in Iraq goes on. In fact, most people think they are getting richer because their stock portfolio is going up in value (even though it is going DOWN in purchasing power.) Inflating the money supply is a more clever and subtle form of taxation.

Now why should a good Catholic care about inflation?

Well, if you have at least 13% inflation per year, it means that you can't use cash as a reliable store of wealth (and I use that term loosely -- a devout Catholic is permitted to have savings) like you could in many other ages. It means that when you need to buy that van for your growing family in 5 years, it will cost you $36,848 instead of today's $20,000. Meanwhile, if you had $20,000 in your savings account making 4% a year, you'd have $24,333! See what I mean about cash being unfit for long-term wealth preservation?

Now gold historically has been a good storehouse of value -- which is why I would recommend it to anyone with more than $1,000 in savings. It won't make you rich, but *it won't make you poor* either. You can't say that for keeping your wealth in US Dollars. You can buy the same thing(s) with an ounce of gold today that you could buy 2,000 years ago (or at least the modern equivalent e.g., a nice suit instead of a nice robe.)

But gold isn't the only way to escape inflation -- there's also garden tools and equipment, canned goods, solar panels, rain barrels, pay off the house/car/student loan early -- pretty much anything that fills a future NEED, reduces future expenses, and/or lasts a while.

I think Catholics today have to be "wise as serpents and simple as doves" and avoid, as much as possible, becoming the debt-slaves of the Bankers. Being a slave seems fine at first glance -- but what if it forces your wife to work? What if you can't home school your kids? You can't leave them home alone; you'd get arrested. This is why I won't go down without a fight.

The Jєωs are clever, I'll give them that. But they (the higher-up ones) work for Lucifer now, and they want to bring the world to chaos and misery so that everyone will be SO EXHAUSTED physically, mentally, emotionally, politically, economically, socially, etc. that they will embrace Lucifer! That is their goal for World War III (see 'Albert Pike').

But although they are diabolically clever (designing economic systems to transfer all wealth to themselves, etc.) I'd like to think that I'm a match for them, with God and the Catholic Church on my side. There is only ONE PEOPLE they have to fear -- the traditional Catholics, who have all the answers, and the Truth. Only a traditional Catholic knows the dangers of their TV, materialism, greed, etc. Just look around you -- what other religion equips its followers to avoid the "status quo" of buying lots of stuff, watching TV, getting rich on the Stock Market/real estate, etc.? Plus the Catholic has the warnings of the Popes against Fɾҽҽmαsσɳɾყ, Communism, the machinations of the Jєωs, as well as prophecies like the 3rd Secret of Fatima. Also, a Catholic will not be distracted by things like UFOs, the "paranormal", mind control, population control, "technology will free us from our bodies", New Age nonsense, etc. which lead so many other (smart, thinking) people to waste their time. Just read the Protocols of Zion -- they speak truly when they say that most people are clueless. But they don't mention explicitly that God's new chosen people (Catholics) are more than a match for God's old chosen people. Catholics are the prime recipients of God's blessings now, until the day when the Jєωs convert and share in God's bounty.

Just as a neo-pagan will be miserable both here AND hereafter, so also a devout (traditional) Catholic can be happy (at least in his soul) both here AND hereafter. I don't mean we will be blessed with earthly possessions, but we will be happy because of our freedom from TV and desire for useless materal things -- which in turn leads to a better family life, etc. A good Catholic shouldn't get stressed out, as others do who aim to retire at 50 (or get rich). They should never be filled with angst or despair. By having the kids God sends, a man can be happily married since he didn't reduce his wife to the status of a whore. His (probably more than 2) children learn to share, which makes them more pleasant to be around. All of that sounds, to me, like a blessing even in this life.

In Christ,

Matthew

I do not believe there is such a thing as a high enough degree of 'financial health' so as to be capable of riding out the coming storm.

Even a stockpile of gold and silver will not get us through this one.  Eventually, the gold itself will be largely useless, as people will want real, usable goods in exchange for other such goods.

"Can't eat gold, boy!"