Occasionally, I receive an email from a reader who questions my ability to be impartial when I recommend gold and silver because I own a precious metals firm. I have seen an email or two where Andy Hoffman, Miles Franklin’s Director of Marketing, has been accused of selling out because he recommends gold and silver (physicals only) and now works for a company that sells gold and silver physicals. Well, nothing could be further from the truth – in both cases. I have over 75% of my total net worth in physical gold and silver and over 90% when I take into account my holdings of mining shares. Does that sound as if my motivation to move my readers into gold and silver is profit oriented? Really now! Andy Hoffman doesn’t need anyone to defend his “honor.” Trust me, he is more than capable of doing it himself. I hired Andy because his views paralleled mine and his passion for helping people was honest and sincere. Andy was “Ranting” that people should buy physical gold and silver many years before he ever came to work for a firm that sold gold and silver. Do not confuse Andy’s and my passion and conviction with the view that we are self-serving. We have our strong beliefs and we both do as we say. We both have most of, if not all of our financial resources in exactly the things that we suggest to you.
Our desire to help out as many people as possible is SINCERE. Those of you who have followed the Miles Franklin Report over the years know that I am open, honest and sincere – perhaps to a fault. Those of you who have followed Ranting Andy know that he is passionate in his beliefs and pulls no punches in attacking those who are destroying the very system that supports our economy and well-being. I think of Ranting Andy as me on steroids. Where Andy is furious, I am simply mad. Where he sees black and white, I see an occasional shade of gray. When it comes to the end game, his timetable is somewhat shorter than mine, yet we both see the same end game. The reason for our differing views on “when” everything comes crashing down is probably because I have been involved, heavily involved for nearly 30 years and Andy has been at it for less than a decade. I have witnessed, first hand, how the powers that be have been able to push off the inevitable demise of the dollar and hyperinflation/depression using every trick in the book. And just when I think they have used them all up, they find another one to keep the game going for another year or two. I do not underestimate the wealth, power and brilliance of the people who are behind the screen, pulling the strings. They always seem to be a step ahead of the masses. I say “Thank God,” because the longer they keep the system afloat, the better it is for all of us. It has given me many extra years to accumulate the hard assets, at low, subsidized prices, that I will need when things finally do implode. Yes, the end is not far off, but the boyz’ may be able to keep the collapse at bay for a few more years and I say “the longer the better.” Andy would disagree. He is convinced the end is right around the corner. So whose views are correct? We will find out soon enough, but the saying “better early than late” does apply and to prepare for the worst now, when the end game is unavoidable, makes perfect sense to me.
Rant-on Andy, Rant-on. Most people still need to be smacked in the head a few times before they come around. The realities are not pleasant. Our middle class is vanishing. Our standard of living is falling. The future of our kids and grandchildren is less than what we had. Our freedoms are slowly being taken away from us. Every day seems to move us closer to another war in the Middle East. It is so obvious, yet the world is full of Backwoods Jacks who refuse to see the truth and mock those of us who make a career of shining the light on the issues, a responsibility long ago vacated by the media (see Bill Holter’s Rant on this subject in today’s daily). Most people will never “get it” until it is too late, but do try and help your close friends and family to see where things are heading – before it is too late.
Meanwhile, I am going to enjoy MY life to the fullest here in warm and sunny South Florida. This is the first winter I have ever spent away from the snow and cold in Minneapolis. I love Minneapolis, but I must say, this lifestyle if awfully good. And about the time it gets hot and humid here, I will head back to Minneapolis and enjoy another glorious spring, summer and fall where I grew up. I am just too “existential” to let the problems I write about every day keep me from enjoying life to the fullest. My advice to you, dear readers, is to treat every day as if it were your last, and enjoy them to the fullest. At the same time, prepare for what the future has to offer by accumulating as much gold and silver as you possibly can. That’s all we can do. That’s what I do.