What's With The Labels?

It's puzzling. The Americans and their incessant label-embracing.

African-American, Irish-American, Asian-American, Japanese-American. And so on.

The whole point of being a nationality is that you are that nationality - along with the millions of others of the same nationality. But this nationality labeling thing adds to segmentation.

People have a tendency to hang out with others of the same label. By not all being American, they can't all hang out together. They can only hang with others of the same Sub-Label. So Asian-Americans stick together. African-Americans hang out together. And so on.

I was born in Australia. I am called an Australian. That's it. Plain. Ordinary. If I went to the U.S. to live would I become an Australian-American in the eyes of others? Even if I chose not to have dual citizenship? Even if I renounced my Australian citizenship and embraced U.S. citizenship? At what point could I become just an American? Is that even achievable now? Is anyone in the U.S. an American?

Even the earlier settlers have a label... Native American.

WAIT. If I was born in the U.S. doesn't that make me a Native American as opposed to an immigrant American?

What happens if someone has a few nationalities in their ancestry?

Could someone be an Irish-German-Italian American?

What if that person married a Polish-Romanian American?

Would their kids be Irish-German-Italian-Polish-Romanian American?

Are there any plain old Americans left any more? And if you are American, please email me and explain what's with all the labeling.

The Things You See

I'm driving along. Not fast because I just turned a corner onto the road in question. Slightly ahead on the left is a car carrier truck. Off-loading cars for the car yard back driveway it is parked next to. A car is coming the other way.

I don't trust the car. Something about it is telling me it's going to do something unexpected. Little did I realize just how unexpected.

The car slows to almost a stop then turns right in front of me!

I hit the breaks and watch.

The car then proceeds to drive right under the car carrying truck's bullbar. And does so in three little bursts!?

First, the hood goes under a bit. The car props. Then goes forward more. Props again. Then completely wedges itself under the bullbar with the third lurch forward.

Ok. That was odd.

Woman passenger gets out then tries to push the car backwards!?

I'm wondering why they just don't choose reverse and reverse out. But that would be the smart thing.

With a puzzled look, I drive around them and away. Leaving them facing perpendicular to the curb and wedged under the trucks bullbar. In the mirror I can see the woman is now behind the wheel and the guy is trying to push the car out.

I then think, why doesn't he get on the hood so the suspension will drop down and then they can reverse out without causing too much more damage. But that would be a smart thing to do. And seeing as driving right on under a truck's bullbar while watching yourself do it isn't the that smart in the first place, they won't be thinking of any intelligent escape solutions in a hurry.

For want of a better subject, that driver is this week's idiotarian of the week.

GOLD!

Years and years ago, all currency was tied to gold. Which is to say, the amount of money in circulation was equal to the amount of gold the country had in reserve.

This system meant, the currency was secure. For if something happened, the country could always sell the gold to another country.

It also meant, for there to be more money in circulation, the country had to acquire more gold. So inflation was kept in check naturally.

At some point, the country decided to remove their currency from the gold standard. Meaning, they could print more currency than there was gold to back it. This new money is known as fiat money, and the government's constant printing of it is THE cause of inflation. Of course, governments don't want you thinking THEY are the cause of inflation so they have begun quoting CPI - consumer price index - numbers at people, and people believe it.

Now not all currencies/countries have removed themselves from the gold standard. For instance, Switzerland still has their currency tied to gold. Which is partly why their currency is so stable and why businesses like to have Swiss bank accounts (the private nature of those bank accounts is another reason).

There is another form of transaction which is directly tied to gold 100%. And its name is e-Gold.

E-Gold isn't money, it is gold. And when you conduct business using e-Gold you aren't exchanging money, you are exchanging ownership of gold!

For example: Let's say you want to sell me a car for $10,000 and we agree to use e-Gold as the form of payment. I would Spend e-Gold into your account and you would have the equal of $10,000 in gold transferred into your account (name). If you wanted to, you could "withdraw" this gold and take possession of real gold.

Remember, in the old days, when private banks would hold onto your gold an issue a receipt? That receipt was transferable. So whomever had ownership of the receipt could exchange it for real gold. Well, e-Gold is exactly like that, except online.

And what makes e-Gold even better is that there are some banks that recognize them. Meaning, you can "withdraw" your e-gold and get money in your normal bank account.

On top of this, it is FREE to open an e-Gold account. And unlike opening a normal bank account, you do NOT have to prove who you are by showing ID (passport, driver's license, birth certificate, etc.).

There is no charge to Spend e-Gold but there is a small transaction fee for receiving e-Gold from someone. Which I simply view as a "cost of doing business" and following the true business model of "user pays."

If you are looking for an alternate way to conduct business online, and one that doesn't require you to jump through hoops just to open an account, and to do so in the knowledge your money is backed 100% by the stability of real gold bullion, then e-Gold is the answer. You can transact business in various currencies as well as in gold weight! This could truly be the currency of the future, today.

And to show you how easy it is to receive e-Gold, click here to Spend $5 into my e-Gold account as a Thank You for letting you know about e-Gold.