The market has crashed, the economy is on the skids, and nobody knows what to do. Perhaps we should follow the example of one person and return to the isolated parts of Northern California where gold was originally discovered in 1849.
Apparently there is still gold in them thar’ hills, and with gold up around $1 Thousand and ounce, it’s not a bad time to get pick and shovel, grub and gear and look for veins of it that have yet to be discovered. According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, you can find Perry Cunnigham up in the Sierras, working an old mine he had purchased some years back. Perry apparently knows his stuff and can glance at a pile of quartz and tell you how much gold is in there and how much it should bring in the cash exchange.
Of course, we neophytes had to work awhile before we can discern the value of a rock veined with gold. But this is a part of the world where hillsides cave in occasionally, revealing old mines that can be purchased. I’m sure what what once could be had for a song will be costing more as the more adventurous among us decide to exchange their Armani suits for prospecting equipment.
For years now on any given week you could find dozens of people out by the creeks that run off the Sierras, panning for gold. It was more of a hobby, a fun way to pass the time, making a few bucks off a historic, California pastime. But today you may be up there with stock brokers who were recently laid off, MBA’s grads who found their desires and dreams dashed against a different rock formation–the buildings on Wall Street. You might find engineers, computer programmers and other professionals suddenly broke and out of work, along with the working guys and the office clerks.
And if you do find them all up in the Sierras, prospecting instead of skiing, they may form a community. But instead of the rugged mining towns of the past, this new bunch of prospectors will require yogurt stands and tanning parlors. There will be a need for organic food markets, hair and nail salons, and mechanics skilled on German cars. There will be a need for cellular phone services and, of course, for cable TV. New markets in remote territories. It has happened before, and it can happen again.
And with new businesses there will be a need to recruit new employees. There will be a need for preemployment screening checks, and a need for new housing. As a business you will need to order goods and services from your vendors. But your vendors should be eager to accommodate since your business will be growing while others are kind of slow. And, besides, what could be better? You will be paying them with gold.
So I guess there is a bright light, after all.
