As we’ve pointed-out numerous times before, the basis for all that is wrong in the patriot movement can be traced back to fear-based advertising and profiteering. It’s that simple. At the heart of this scourge is an element which seems to afflict nearly every media venue within this movement – gold. Not only does this substance epitomize the root of all evil (greed and the love of money), but it is also surrounded by so much fear-mongering that the combination is deadly.

Thus, whenever one hears the sales pitch to buy gold, it is invariably delivered in apocalyptic end-of-the-world terms that are meant to frighten every listener into forking over their cold hard cash. The same exact audience that these gold-peddlers target is eerily reminiscent of those targeted by televangelists and Elmer Gantry-style hucksters who enter a town preaching gloom-and-doom to sell their snake oil. They all use the same technique (overt fear) to arrive at the same result (getting your money).

Here’s what it all boils down to. Suppose a gullible listener who has had apocalyptic messages psychically driven into their head for hour-after-hour and day-after-day finally succumbs to the trauma-based advertising (manipulation) and shells out $2,000 for the “gold package.” What happens? Well, they get an array of coins or rocks (or even certificates in some instances), while the gold vendor receives $2,000 in cash which they can spend on goods & services.

But what about the person who bought the gold – the same one who’s terrified of the apocalypse – what do they have? Well, some coins and/or rocks that they’ll either hide in their bedroom or seal-away in a safety deposit box. So, effectively $2,000 which could have used to prepare for the “end of the world” has now been taken out of their hands and put into somebody else’s. I mean, if they were really so concerned about the end-times, why not take that $2,000 and instead buy a small generator, stockpile canned foods, water, toilet paper, and even fuel.

Think about it. If helter-skelter chaos breaks loose and I ran a small oil distributorship, but my family was starving to death; what am I going to want? FOOD! At that point I don’t give a damn about little shiny coins or rocks. I’ll barter for food, medicine, and water; not shiny rocks. Look at the people in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina ravaged their city. Did they want shiny rocks and coins? Hell no. They wanted food and water! And if this fundamentalist mentality end-times apocalypse does arrive, the same concept will apply to you.

Can’t you see what’s taking place? These shysters are flooding the gullible with so much fear (just like the televangelists) that a person ends up taking money out of their own pocket (which could have been used to buy goods & services) and puts it into somebody else’s pockets so THEY can buy goods & services! This same concept is used by the fear-monger video salesmen (buy my video, buy my video), TV fire & brimstone preachers, and the traveling snake-oil vendors of days gone past. What most amazes me is that people today keep falling for this tired old schtick? Can’t they see through the b.s. and realize the obvious – all these people want is to fill you with so much fear that you’ll give them YOUR money.

Lastly, I spoke with a highly respected financial advisor yesterday who knows more about economics than just about anyone I’ve ever met, and I asked him point blank: “If you had $2,000, would you buy gold from one of those Internet radio shows?” His response was one word: NO! Rather, he said that if people really wanted gold they should go to reputable dealers and buy it for asset and inflationary protection – not out of fear for the apocalypse. But even before that he said people should first “take care of their belly.” In other words, you should prepare yourself with food and water and other necessities first so that if disaster does strike, you’ll be able to survive. The only thing these Internet dealers are doing is preying on people’s fear and greed with visions of getting rich quick or the arrival of the end-of-the-world. It’s nothing but an overt selling technique used to lure in the naïve and gullible and take their money.

So, before you throw your money out the window, please consider all the alternatives, keep things in perspective, and don’t fall for the oldest trick in the book – fear fear fear fear fear.