QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; you said that socialism is collapsing and the West is most vulnerable because it changed the social structure and the family unit. Spanish families from Mexico seem to be much tighter groups than Americans. Is this what you are talking about? Did the ancient Greeks save money for retirement? Is that why hoards of coins are found?
Thank you for making my brain work again
LY
ANSWER: Yes, socialism’s goal was to replace the family unit and make people dependent upon the state. Even under communism in Russia, you were instructed that the State was your real parents, and if your biological parents spoke against the State you were supposed to turn them in. I went behind the Berlin Wall before it fell. The system was paranoid to the point you trusted no one.
I have friends in Ukraine. They never trusted the State and retained a strong family bond. They provided for each other, and this is what you see among Mexican families as well. When there is no trust in government, we turn back toward almost a tribal heritage, but band together in family structures.
Coin hoards are not found as savings, or else they would be far more common. They tend to reflect savings but from periods of political-economic instability. So, we have far more hoards from the 3rd century AD than any other period.
As for the ancient Greeks, they did not save money. To them, economic security took the form of an amphorae of olive oil. Olive oil was very nutritious and could be stored for relatively long periods of time. To provide for themselves in times of need the Greeks stockpiled olive oil and this was their form of economic security. It provided substance during crop failures and had a value that would always rise against the value of money during economic crisis. So the hoards you find in ancient homes are that of amphorae rather than coin.
I have stated plenty of times, that if you go too far in the economic downturn, not even gold will retain its value. You move all the way back down the evolution of value to food where it all began.
