Guns & Butter

As the weird and wistful innocence of the Aughts fast approaches the grim futurism of the Twenty-whatevers, recent events in the news provide us with the opportunity to revisit a simpler, some would say quainter time of economic and political tomfoolery.

From the New York Times:

Amid a global frenzy fed by multibillion-dollar hedge funds, wealthy speculators and governments [are] all rushing to stock up on the precious yellow metal, the price of gold briefly surpassed $1,100 an ounce on Friday, a record high…. In the United States, ads promising high prices for gold are regular fodder for late-night television spots, while buyers are setting up tables at shopping malls or hosting gold-buying gatherings at private homes—like recession-era Tupperware parties…. “Everyone and their grandmother has a sign out saying, ‘We buy gold,’ ” said Ron Lieberman, the owner of Palisade Jewelers in Englewood, N.J. He estimates that 10 times as many people come into his store to sell gold now as when the metal was selling for $300 an ounce at the beginning of the decade…. “In Europe, people want physical gold to store themselves, with no documents,” said Bernhard Schnellmann, director for precious-metal services at Argor-Heraeus. Often, the company doesn’t know the ultimate destination of the bars it makes, only the identity of the bank in Zurich or London that is handling the order.

Which of course brings to mind another much-related century-trotting fad: Pirates!

“In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present.” ~ John Dos Passos