Gold Intrinsic or Instrumental
Gold
was once the foundation of most currencies before the establishment of fiat
currency to allow for proper monetary control of economies. Gold is a solid
stable investment for almost all investors looking to secure their wealth in a
unchanging good. So what makes gold so valuable to the human population. Ever
since early civilizations gold has been collected, melted, and fought over. Is
it the intrinsic worth of the good or is it the instrumental/ value instilled
by humans?
First
lets look at gold for what it is. Gold is an element with a low boiling point
and a malleable solid form. This allows it to be easily molded and shaped at
low temperatures by both skilled and unskilled hands. Gold can also keep its
solid state even when spread extremely thin i.e. gold leaf. Gold is also a
great conductor of electricity and is found in many high-end electronics.
Finally gold is a fairly rare element with only .004 ppm of gold per igneous
rock. This makes extraction and discovery of the substance very difficult.
Now
the reason that gold is so valuable is given to it by early humans. Gold was
not useful for tools or weapons instead people valued it for its beauty. This
beauty came a cost though in the form of human labor. Civilizations built
around the trade of gold, silver, and copper needed a labor force to extract it
from the ground and since they were doing it as such a high rate compared to
other nations they obtained exuberant wealth. Palaces were decorated in it,
women and men draped in it. This tradition of gold worship continues even to
today to an extent. This paragraph may make gold sound like its mostly valuable
due to its intrinsic value however lets look at a competing good, fools gold.
Fool’s
Gold also known as Pyrite is a shiny gold like mineral that has fooled humans
for centuries into thinking its gold. However its not appreciated on nearly the
same level as the “golden child”. This is due to its more common inputs iron
and sulfide. Iron is far more common than gold and thus pyrite is not valued as
highly, this leads me to the belief that although gold has intrinsic worth in
its beauty the more important input into why its so valued to humans is it
general rarity.
Source for gold rarity:
http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_01/poitras022801.html
Late Night Run
Last night while on duty I found myself on a 3 am call to
Hinesburg for a child with a lower respiratory infection. Long story short the
child was alright and got the attention he needed however the reason for this
blog was the discussion on the way. As those from the area know a ride through
Hinesburg can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour… unfortunately I was going
to the opposite end of the “Burg”. This leaves me a lot of time to discuss any
type of topic with my fellow “backseater.” While this ride we managed to get on
the topic of animal duties and rights. I found a refreshing opportunity to use
my acquired knowledge from the course in my everyday life. For the next forty
minutes we discussed the intricacies of animal testing (where we found common
ground with Cohen) and we both agreed that although we have a love for our
protein rich diet that the atrocities committed within CFOs should be brought
to light so the general public can make a choice between cheap meat and cheap meat. Perhaps this is not what the public wants to hear about the
emergency medical service; that the EMTs are so calm when others are upset, but
that night we got our job done, comforted a scared mother and child, and found
time to talk about the finer details of humans and their interactions with
animals.
