Tag Archives: Invisible Hand

a pound of feathers : finding security in uncertain times

backyard chickens sussex

I spent some time this morning with CBC Radio, chatting about two different approaches to security – those who horde gold in their bunkers and those who keep backyard chickens. It was a fun, light-hearted look at a serious subject.

CBC asked:

Which is worth more? A pound of gold or a pound of feathers?

It’s got me thinking.

Of course, the obvious answer (to me) is simple:

You can’t eat gold.

And really, if everything is about to go to pot like these folks believe it might (and I’m not saying it might not – you never know!), what use would gold be, really?

Gold has some uses, but is helpful primarily as a means of trade in a developed economic system. If the world ends tomorrow, safe to say most hungry folks wouldn’t be too keen to trade egg-laying chickens for a useless block of metal.

Maybe that’s just me.

So if gold’s not the answer to security in troubled times, what is?

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