As some of my readers might remember, there was a 1970’s TV show called The Walton’s. It was a weekly staple during my early teenage years. The show featured the life of a family living in a small Virginia community during the 1930’s Depression years. Although the family was poor, it was rich in love, respect and inner strength. It was a show about the importance of holding on to ones values and morals in a difficult and often negative world.
It may not come as a surprise to many that the recent Covid-19 Crisis will bring about some very difficult times for many people in our community and around the world. How we all conduct ourselves will make the world of difference to the level of suffering to many around us and even the quality of our own lives.
Whenever a crisis hits suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, panic is usually the first reaction. Fear is primal and we simply can’t avoid it at first. Our instincts scream at us to take care of number one and family first. Having said that, there is another way of looking at things. Consider the ancient Hellenistic, Stoicism philosophy.
Wikipedia describes Stoicism as, “a school of philosophy of personal ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world. According to its teachings, as social beings, the path to eudaimonia (happiness, or blessedness) for humans is found in accepting the moment as it presents itself, by not allowing oneself to be controlled by the desire for pleasure or fear of pain, by using one’s mind to understand the world and to do one’s part in nature’s plan, and by working together and treating others fairly and justly.”
A good friend of mine recently wrote this piece (Get Ready: The World is About to Need You), which suggests we look to Stoic teachings as we deal with this crisis. The bottom line is, accept the reality of the situation and start thinking how you can help others.
This crisis will hit the world economy hard. No one will walk away unscathed . But I am almost certain that most of my readers will not suffer as badly as many segments of the world population. Whether it’s refugees living in camps or crossing the Venezuelan border, internally displaced people in Idlib, Syria, your own local community’s homeless or elderly population, or just a friend or neighbour who will lose their job, many people will need help. With the closure of work places and recreational activities, we can get back to “Walton’s” style values. This might be a unique opportunity to think about spending time with loved ones and helping others. It will certainly be my focus while I am housebound for the foreseeable future.
Written by Frank Giustra for KITCO ~ March 20, 2020
About admin
Please allow me to introduce myself; I am Jeffrey Bennett, President of Kettle Moraine, Ltd., the parent of Sierra Madre Precious Metals.
I have been married for 53 years with two children and four grand-children, a veteran of Viet Nam, student of history (both American and film), and was host for fifteen years of Perspectives on America on the alternative airwaves, covering such subjects as, health and wellness, news, political satire, education and editorial commentary on current events through the teaching of history, and Protecting Your Wealth. In early 2018, I took a several month hiatus to complete some family business but returned to airwaves April 17, 2018).
At the age of ten, I sat in a bank-vault in the Citizens Bank of Mukwanago, Wisconsin with my grandfather going through bags of old American Peace dollars, hand-selecting each coin as dated rolls of 20 coins were carefully put together and rolled. Learning of the history of these beautiful pieces of Americana, I asked my grand-father, "Why are we doing this?" to which he replied, "Because someday they are going to do the same thing with the silver in our money that, that (S.O.B.) Roosevelt did with gold in 1933." It took only six-years for his prediction to come to pass at the hands of a disciple of Roosevelt's... and what will a Federal Reserve 'dollar' purchase today - and what will that old 90% Silver Peace Dollar purchase?
Although at the age of ten, there was little understanding of the meaning of it all, over the next half-century I became well-versed on the subject matter. During this summer of my education, I began to purchase silver coins as a collector and some small, international gold coins two years later - not an easy feat in the shadow of the Roosevelt confiscatory policies of 1933. Although those policies remained in effect until the mid-1970's, it was not until 1991 that I found that one could make a living providing precious metals and collectible, historic numismatic coins to a willing and concerned clientele.
It was also during that year, that I began a relationship with one of the first Trust companies to give the public access to gold and silver as part of an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) - and Kettle Moraine, Ltd., founded in 1995, but have ceased providing service due the the intense change-over of the provider.
In November 2011, after a 15 month broadcast on another network, I returned to the airwaves with my then revamped program, Life, Liberty & All That Jazz, and for over 28 years, I have been proud to serve the family of listeners of my numerous broadcast programs for physically-held precious metals for investors and collectors alike. On March 23, 2020 I launched my brand new - appropriately named program, The Edge of Darkness on the Republic Broadcasting Network, and thus continue to remain available to our long time clients and their families. Ah yes - find out what "inter-generational" wealth provision has done for our clients over the past three decades.
Don't buy the sizzle of that steak until you understand the cost! In other words, don't buy the bull being dispensed by the 'rare coin' pitchmen until you understand the full story. We, at Sierra Madre Precious Metals, will be proud to serve your needs.
