so why do people think gold is valuable?
Nov. 26th, 2025 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wychwoodI saw another article today that mentioned something in passing about libertarians wanting to go back on the gold standard, preppers hoarding gold, etc, and the thing that I don't understand is - why do people think that gold will be valuable in an apocalyptic / post-apocalyptic scenario?
The idea seems to be that paper money is a fiat currency and therefore won't be worth anything when society collapses (not to mention that hardly anyone carries any paper money these days!), which is probably true, or close enough. Therefore you should put your money into gold, which will still be valuable.
But it seems to me that gold in this context is effectively just another form of currency, a medium of exchange - gold itself doesn't have any real use that I know of beyond a) looking pretty and b) being exchangeable for things of value. Maybe c) there's some electrical stuff that uses tiny amounts of gold I think? So it's only valuable because other people agree that it's valuable, because other people will take it in exchange for other goods or services, because we have culturally agreed that gold is valuable.
I just feel like, you know, after the apocalypse when the survivors are starving and everyone's trying to grow crops or whatever, to quote what is probably Revelations 6:6 (via Larry Norman) "a piece of bread will buy a bag of gold". Or as Peter Blegvad (via Fairport Convention) says, "gold is the lowliest of metals - too soft for serious use; pretty, of course, warm to the touch..."
On the other hand, a lot of different cultures from many parts of the world appear to have agreed that gold is valuable. So what am I missing? Why are you better to put your savings into gold than, I don't know, aluminium or seed stocks or liquid nitrogen or something - anything - that would have actual use-value?
The idea seems to be that paper money is a fiat currency and therefore won't be worth anything when society collapses (not to mention that hardly anyone carries any paper money these days!), which is probably true, or close enough. Therefore you should put your money into gold, which will still be valuable.
But it seems to me that gold in this context is effectively just another form of currency, a medium of exchange - gold itself doesn't have any real use that I know of beyond a) looking pretty and b) being exchangeable for things of value. Maybe c) there's some electrical stuff that uses tiny amounts of gold I think? So it's only valuable because other people agree that it's valuable, because other people will take it in exchange for other goods or services, because we have culturally agreed that gold is valuable.
I just feel like, you know, after the apocalypse when the survivors are starving and everyone's trying to grow crops or whatever, to quote what is probably Revelations 6:6 (via Larry Norman) "a piece of bread will buy a bag of gold". Or as Peter Blegvad (via Fairport Convention) says, "gold is the lowliest of metals - too soft for serious use; pretty, of course, warm to the touch..."
On the other hand, a lot of different cultures from many parts of the world appear to have agreed that gold is valuable. So what am I missing? Why are you better to put your savings into gold than, I don't know, aluminium or seed stocks or liquid nitrogen or something - anything - that would have actual use-value?
2559 / Fic - Fire Country
Nov. 24th, 2025 01:08 pmsiriaHomeward Bound
Fire Country | Brett/OMC | ~1000 words | Inspired by Shawn Hatosy's guest star stint on this show, where he's basically playing his character from The Pitt, just with a different name.
(Also on AO3)
( Brett is glad for home, and for light in the darkness. )
Fire Country | Brett/OMC | ~1000 words | Inspired by Shawn Hatosy's guest star stint on this show, where he's basically playing his character from The Pitt, just with a different name.
(Also on AO3)
( Brett is glad for home, and for light in the darkness. )
october booklog
Nov. 20th, 2025 09:21 pmwychwoodPro-tip: reading two books called "The Seven [nouns] of Evelyn [surname]" at the same time is a bad idea and will lead to confusion.
( The Commonweal books 2-5 - Graydon Saunders ) A very satisfying series; I look forward to the next book when it comes out!
( 114. A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine ) I loved the first book, but found this one a slog for slightly inexplicable reasons.
( 115. The Trials of Life - David Attenborough ) Entertaining as ever.
( 117. Nettle and Bone - T Kingfisher ) I don't know if it's me or Kingfisher who has changed, but I don't enjoy these as much as I did. This is fine! But I used to find her books better than fine.
( 120. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid ) This was so much better than I had anticipated; I'm definitely looking out for her Fleetwood Mac book now.
( 121. DallerGut Dream Department Store - Miye Lee ) I enjoyed it enough that I kept reading, but I was glad it wasn't longer.
( 122. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - Sangu Mandanna ) This was very fluffy and pleasant, but had just enough depth that I enjoyed it instead of getting annoyed.
( 123. Rivers of London: Deadly Ever After - Ben Aaronovitch, Celeste Bronfman, Andrew Cartmel, Jose Maria Beroy, and Jordi Escuin Llorach ) Not especially memorable, but fun enough.
( 124. The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society - CM Waggoner ) I really enjoyed this, and the way it's messing around with genre; I think I'd like to re-read it, and see how it feels when I know where it's going.
( 125. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton ) I suppose this is cleverly done, but it was all so loathsome I really had to drag myself through it, and by the time we found out all the answers I didn't even really care.
( 126. Translation State - Ann Leckie ) I liked this more on re-read, and I liked it quite a bit the first time! Just so many nice people doing their best, and complicated politics, and it's so good.
( 127. England - John Lewis-Stempel ) A generally solid nature writer; I don't know if I'll read more by him, but I did enjoy the English focus.
( 128. Leviathan Wakes - James SA Corey ) Much less space-opera-y than I had osmosed, but this was pretty gripping, and I'll definitely be reading the next book.
( 129. The Feud in the Chalet School - Elinor M Brent-Dyer ) this is solid as ever.
( 130. Phonogram vol 1: Rue Britannia - Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie ) This is clearly well done, despite my somewhat mixed feelings; I feel like it's probably a must-read for actual Britpop fans, but even outside that there's still something good in there.
( 131. Testimony of Mute Things - Lois McMaster Bujold ) If you like this series, you'll enjoy this; I did. And it was nice to see baby Penric again!
( 132. Deeds of Youth - Elizabeth Moon ) I enjoy this world, and the stories she tells in it, but ultimately I think I mostly want more about the specific characters I already know and love! But I enjoyed these anyway.
( 133. Batgirls: One Way or Another - Becky Cloonan, Michael W Conrad, Jorge Corona, and Sarah Stern ) I have less patience for the actual High Stakes Superheroing than I used to, but I loved watching the three Batgirls working together. Delightful.
( 134. Stress in the Workplace - Howard Edwards ) The failure mode of satire is dull, as this book demonstrates capably.
( The Commonweal books 2-5 - Graydon Saunders ) A very satisfying series; I look forward to the next book when it comes out!
( 114. A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine ) I loved the first book, but found this one a slog for slightly inexplicable reasons.
( 115. The Trials of Life - David Attenborough ) Entertaining as ever.
( 117. Nettle and Bone - T Kingfisher ) I don't know if it's me or Kingfisher who has changed, but I don't enjoy these as much as I did. This is fine! But I used to find her books better than fine.
( 120. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid ) This was so much better than I had anticipated; I'm definitely looking out for her Fleetwood Mac book now.
( 121. DallerGut Dream Department Store - Miye Lee ) I enjoyed it enough that I kept reading, but I was glad it wasn't longer.
( 122. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - Sangu Mandanna ) This was very fluffy and pleasant, but had just enough depth that I enjoyed it instead of getting annoyed.
( 123. Rivers of London: Deadly Ever After - Ben Aaronovitch, Celeste Bronfman, Andrew Cartmel, Jose Maria Beroy, and Jordi Escuin Llorach ) Not especially memorable, but fun enough.
( 124. The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society - CM Waggoner ) I really enjoyed this, and the way it's messing around with genre; I think I'd like to re-read it, and see how it feels when I know where it's going.
( 125. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton ) I suppose this is cleverly done, but it was all so loathsome I really had to drag myself through it, and by the time we found out all the answers I didn't even really care.
( 126. Translation State - Ann Leckie ) I liked this more on re-read, and I liked it quite a bit the first time! Just so many nice people doing their best, and complicated politics, and it's so good.
( 127. England - John Lewis-Stempel ) A generally solid nature writer; I don't know if I'll read more by him, but I did enjoy the English focus.
( 128. Leviathan Wakes - James SA Corey ) Much less space-opera-y than I had osmosed, but this was pretty gripping, and I'll definitely be reading the next book.
( 129. The Feud in the Chalet School - Elinor M Brent-Dyer ) this is solid as ever.
( 130. Phonogram vol 1: Rue Britannia - Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie ) This is clearly well done, despite my somewhat mixed feelings; I feel like it's probably a must-read for actual Britpop fans, but even outside that there's still something good in there.
( 131. Testimony of Mute Things - Lois McMaster Bujold ) If you like this series, you'll enjoy this; I did. And it was nice to see baby Penric again!
( 132. Deeds of Youth - Elizabeth Moon ) I enjoy this world, and the stories she tells in it, but ultimately I think I mostly want more about the specific characters I already know and love! But I enjoyed these anyway.
( 133. Batgirls: One Way or Another - Becky Cloonan, Michael W Conrad, Jorge Corona, and Sarah Stern ) I have less patience for the actual High Stakes Superheroing than I used to, but I loved watching the three Batgirls working together. Delightful.
( 134. Stress in the Workplace - Howard Edwards ) The failure mode of satire is dull, as this book demonstrates capably.
Fandom Trees!
Nov. 20th, 2025 09:19 pmtrobadora![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomtrees posts have been going up, and mine was in the most recent batch, yay! This is one of my favourite events of the season (next to Yuletide) - I loved ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
fandom_stocking back in the day, and this is still just as much fun. Here's my tree, and this is what I'm requesting this year:
- Grimm
- 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
- Grimm/Guardian crossover
- 镇魂 | Guardian RPF
- Legend of the Seeker
- Sherlock (BBC)
- 绅探 | Detective L
- 山河令 | Word of Honor, 天涯客 | Faraway Wanderers
- Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
- Chinese fic recs
- food or cooking icons
ETA: Sign-ups here!
New Stargate?!
Nov. 19th, 2025 10:23 pmtrobadoraAccording to Gateworld, Amazon (which owns the franchise now *sighs*) has greenlighted a new Stargate series! And it's not a reboot!
I was never into SG-1, and I still resent Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi for the way they ditched SGA in favour of SGU, dumped on SGA's female fans, and then were offended when SGA fans weren't interested in SGU. But I really loved Stargate Atlantis. It was my main fandom for many years, and I have so many fond memories both of the show and the fandom. I haven't rewatched it in a while, but it's one of the things on my list that I definitely want to go back to when I have some time and no energy for new stuff.
My main ship was McShep, but even more than that, Sheppard was my favourite character, and I loved reading Sheppard gen. My secondary ship - a tiny pool noodle of a rarepair - was Teyla/Bates, and I still wish it had been more popular. (Maybe if I'd written fic myself? Unlikely, but ... *g*)
Still, even though I was very active in SGA - I co-ransga_newsletter, co-modded mcshep_match and mensa_au and teyla_bates, among other things - I never wrote any fic for it. Part of it is that I got into SGA during my three-year writers' block (which Doctor Who eventually broke), but even afterwards, despite my brain being constantly full of scenarios, they never crossed that line into writing. Possibly in part because the fandom was big and kept me busy! But surely that can't explain it entirely, and I'm honestly not sure what other reasons there might be. (Why do some fandoms never make me write? A mystery for the ages! *g*) Anyway, it'll be interesing to see, when I eventually rewatch again, whether that'll change ...
And it's very unlikely the same magic will happen twice, but when/if a new Stargate show does happen, unless the premise is itself unappealing, I'm absolutely giving it a chance.
I was never into SG-1, and I still resent Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi for the way they ditched SGA in favour of SGU, dumped on SGA's female fans, and then were offended when SGA fans weren't interested in SGU. But I really loved Stargate Atlantis. It was my main fandom for many years, and I have so many fond memories both of the show and the fandom. I haven't rewatched it in a while, but it's one of the things on my list that I definitely want to go back to when I have some time and no energy for new stuff.
My main ship was McShep, but even more than that, Sheppard was my favourite character, and I loved reading Sheppard gen. My secondary ship - a tiny pool noodle of a rarepair - was Teyla/Bates, and I still wish it had been more popular. (Maybe if I'd written fic myself? Unlikely, but ... *g*)
Still, even though I was very active in SGA - I co-ran
sga_newsletter, co-modded mcshep_match and mensa_au and teyla_bates, among other things - I never wrote any fic for it. Part of it is that I got into SGA during my three-year writers' block (which Doctor Who eventually broke), but even afterwards, despite my brain being constantly full of scenarios, they never crossed that line into writing. Possibly in part because the fandom was big and kept me busy! But surely that can't explain it entirely, and I'm honestly not sure what other reasons there might be. (Why do some fandoms never make me write? A mystery for the ages! *g*) Anyway, it'll be interesing to see, when I eventually rewatch again, whether that'll change ...And it's very unlikely the same magic will happen twice, but when/if a new Stargate show does happen, unless the premise is itself unappealing, I'm absolutely giving it a chance.
possibly boots just hates me personally
Nov. 17th, 2025 09:17 pmwychwoodFirst day back at work fairly whizzed by; between catching up with email, Teams messages, and the spam queue, redoing and circulating all the team monthly reports because it turned out we didn't have any data for 30 or 31 October when I did them, and my interim PDR I was fairly bushed by the end of the day. The PDR went well, but was quite intense. Then I staggered off to my singing lesson, but surprisingly was somewhat revived by Schumann, who is not normally that inspiring for me.
Then I came home and tackled a pile of evening tasks. The cleaner is coming tomorrow, and I had an accumulation of things in my to-do list that I hadn't got to. There's still quite a few left, but I have least ordered the things I wanted from Boots. Or Miss H did it for me, at least, after a catalogue of disasters including six successful orders cancelled immediately after I placed them, Paypal getting into a loop where I had to input a 2FA code in order to be shown a captcha which then told me I had completed it successfully and hung indefinitely (at least three times), attempts involving two payment methods, three computers, two different web browsers, on multiple days... all of them identically unsuccessful. As I said despairingly to Miss H, I just wanted to buy some insoles, how could it possibly be so hard.
It worked fine for her, anyway, and I've paid her back so soon I will have my spare hot water bottle etc.
And on that note of triumph I am going to transport myself to bed where hopefully the current hot water bottle will have made everything lovely.
Then I came home and tackled a pile of evening tasks. The cleaner is coming tomorrow, and I had an accumulation of things in my to-do list that I hadn't got to. There's still quite a few left, but I have least ordered the things I wanted from Boots. Or Miss H did it for me, at least, after a catalogue of disasters including six successful orders cancelled immediately after I placed them, Paypal getting into a loop where I had to input a 2FA code in order to be shown a captcha which then told me I had completed it successfully and hung indefinitely (at least three times), attempts involving two payment methods, three computers, two different web browsers, on multiple days... all of them identically unsuccessful. As I said despairingly to Miss H, I just wanted to buy some insoles, how could it possibly be so hard.
It worked fine for her, anyway, and I've paid her back so soon I will have my spare hot water bottle etc.
And on that note of triumph I am going to transport myself to bed where hopefully the current hot water bottle will have made everything lovely.
pootling through life
Nov. 14th, 2025 10:07 pmwychwoodAnnual leave is so nice but now I have to go back to work on Monday :(. On the other hand, I do still have a whole weekend first, even if it's relatively busy. The deacon trainee is being ordained acolyte and lector on Sunday and some of the training people showed up last weekend and Announced that we would be providing more servers than we actually have seats for and also a thurifer, and since I am presently the only thurifer available, I have to go. Truly I am punished for not having arranged the training I was supposed to be organising back in the spring before Mum got sick. Fortunately one of my four Sunday video calls has rescheduled so it's a slightly less ludicrous calendar than might have been the case.
Anyhow. I have done very little; read two turn-of-the-century novels (nineteenth to twentieth, that is), finally caught up with laundry after getting out of cycle while I was with Mum, got through the three Tablet issues I had waiting and started the one that arrived today, did the tragically overdue washing up, and went to the cinema to see The Choral. I enjoyed it! I would say it was a war story more than a choir story, but Gerontius is important to the plot and I did like what they did with it. And, much as I love superhero films, it's nice to see something that isn't one of the endless sequels, remakes, shared universes, etc etc, that make up most cinema these days.
I also progressed my ebook catalogue a bit - went through all my StoryBundle purchases, downloaded anything that wasn't on my phone and therefore in the catalogue already, and added them to the catalogue (along with the source) and the phone. Also added a sheet for audiobooks and put in the ones I've bought from libro.fm since I started my subscription. Next up would be the various Humble Bundles, which is a much larger number of bundles and piles of audiobooks as well as ebooks, so I've put that off until another week...
Anyhow. I have done very little; read two turn-of-the-century novels (nineteenth to twentieth, that is), finally caught up with laundry after getting out of cycle while I was with Mum, got through the three Tablet issues I had waiting and started the one that arrived today, did the tragically overdue washing up, and went to the cinema to see The Choral. I enjoyed it! I would say it was a war story more than a choir story, but Gerontius is important to the plot and I did like what they did with it. And, much as I love superhero films, it's nice to see something that isn't one of the endless sequels, remakes, shared universes, etc etc, that make up most cinema these days.
I also progressed my ebook catalogue a bit - went through all my StoryBundle purchases, downloaded anything that wasn't on my phone and therefore in the catalogue already, and added them to the catalogue (along with the source) and the phone. Also added a sheet for audiobooks and put in the ones I've bought from libro.fm since I started my subscription. Next up would be the various Humble Bundles, which is a much larger number of bundles and piles of audiobooks as well as ebooks, so I've put that off until another week...