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Resistance See other Resistance Articles Title: Time Is Money Pardon me while I reminisce. I remember many years ago, sometime around 1965, when my mother asked me to go to a pop machine and buy her a cola. ( I remember that day because I lost the dime that she gave me - I was very young) I had a dime because that was the price of the bottle of cola. That's right - ten cents. Eariler today when I went to one of those machines I had to pay a dollar. A dollar? Why so much more than what I paid 40 years ago? Did the quality of the cola increase by ten times? Was it worth that much more today than what is what back then? I took a little time to compare some other prices as well, you know, just for the fun of it, and here's what I found. According to the US Census Department the average price of a home in 1965 was $21,500, In 1975 it was $42,600, in 1985 it was 110,800, in 1995 it was $158,700 while the average cost of a new home today is $304,700. And according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas the average cost of a home was $4,700 in 1920 and $14,500 in 1956. The Average Cost of a Home By Year 1956 1965 1975 1985 1995 1998 $14,500 $21,500 $42,600 $110,800 $158,700 $274,500 As you know, the cost of new homes is not the only thing that keeps going up. Here is a price comparison of a Large Pepperoni Pizza. You can find this information, and much more, by visiting this web page. Average Cost of a Large Pepperoni Pizza 1958 1970 1980 1997 $1.99 $3.99 $7.99 $10.99 Was a large pepperoni pizza really worth six time more in 1997 than it was in 1958? Probably not. Then it must be that a dollar was worth six time more in 1958 than it was in 1987. According to the Consumer Price Index put out by the U. S. Department of Labor, in 1913 the purchasing power of a dollar was about 20 times more than it was in 2005 - 2006. Try out their inflation caulculator and you'll see I tell the truth. The following chart shows how much it cost to purchase one dollar's worth of goods based on 2003 prices. Conversion Factor Table: 2003 Dollar 1915 1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 $0.05 $0.10 $0.08 $0.10 $0.15 $0.18 $0.30 $0.58 $0.80 $1.00 As you can see, the value of the dollar was fairly stable until around 1945. In fact, as this chart shows, the dollar had the same purchasing power since the 1600's. So, what I want to know is... What happened to my money?!! WHO STOLE YOUR MONEY?!! So, your thought that your "money" was worth something, right? I'm sorry to tell you that right now your "money" isn't even worth the paper it's printed on - or so I've been told. Actually, the green stuff that you carry around with you isn't really "money" at all. What? Your don't believe me? Then take a couple of minutes and take a look at one of those green pieces of paper. See what it says at the top? Federal Reserve Note. Note? Isn't that an instrument of debt? The sad part is that at one time money was very valuable. However a few things have happened over the years. 1964: The year that they minted the last silver coin 1968: The year that a dollar could no longer be converted into silver. 1971: The year when President Nixon made it so that our Federal Reserve Notes were no longer backed by gold. At this time, so called "money" could now be printed at will. And,of course, the more paper currency there is in circulation, the less it's worth. Money becomes worth less and less over time until one day it will just be worthless. At one time coins were made out of silver and gold. Before 1968, Federal Reserve Notes could be redeemed for silver. The United States used to own most of the world's gold, now many think that Ft. Knox may be empty. It used to be against the law to place currency into circulation without any gold or silver to back it. The Coinage Act of 1792 specified the amount of gold and silver that each coin must have. Section 19 states: "...if any of the gold or silver coins which shall be struck or coined at the said mint shall be debased or made worse as to the proportion of fine gold or fine silver therein contained, or shall be of less weight or value than the same ought to be...every such officer or person who shall commit any or either of the said offences, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall suffer death." The Coinage Act of 1792 is still in effect as it has never been repealed. Therefore, not only is our money now worthless, the people who are responsible are to be considered felons and even suffer death. As you saw earlier, the value of the U S dollar is now worth one-twentieth of what it was in 1945. If you're not making twenty times more money than a person did in 1945, then, even though your paycheck may look bigger, you're actually losing a lot of purchasing power. Have you ever wondered why it now takes two incomes to bring in the same amount of money that one income did back in the 1950's? Now you know why.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 6.
#6. To: intotheabyss (#0)
Actually, the US Mint continued making silver coins well into the 70s. Ike dollars.
#7. To: Indrid Cold (#6)
Yeah, but the 40 percent silver Ikes were only struck in SF, and were sold at a hefty premium (proof sets and mint sets). At least the 40% Kennedys could be purchased at face value at a bank.
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