Small question -

[MountainGirl]

The reason to stockpile hard in your hand silver/gold -- is NOT to be able to carve off a bit to trade for bread, but to have an asset for later, when/if there's a monetary system again, whether it's in rubles or yen or whatever, you can trade it for some currency and then buy some bread at that point.

Is that right? Have I got the gist of it?
I so need schooling on this. :lost:

Radio ad: Buy gold! We'll even send you a gold coin with your certificate of ownership! (Ownership of what? The rest of it? What??)

Radio ad: Transfer your 401k into gold backed IRA's! (WTF? If it all crashes - if something isn't already in my hand, I'll never see it.)

I guess I just don't understand how this whole 'buy gold/silver' thing works... and radio ads are increasing exponentially.

Reading your threads helps. Thanks all, for that.

[SOCOM42]

For whatever you buy silver or gold for, make sure it is in hand, have the gold tested for purity,

any jeweler can do it, they do it with acid or radiation.

Never mind the certificates for gold, SHTF, they will make poor TP.

A friend who passed now going on 15 years, had 100 Krugerrands in one safe.

When I opened the safe in front of family, they were gone.

There was some passing thought comment that I had taken them, WRONG.

The comment came out because I had set the combo on the safe for him,

my comment was that I did not remember what I set five years ago.

They had to give me the combo to open it, I would never have done that to a good friend.

Nothing more was said about it, was an inside job, it was never reported to the police either.

I bring this up because gold and silver traders have no scruples, and, as I said, toilet paper.

[BucketBack]

Lead, Brass, Copper, Silver, then Gold. I'm on all 5 now.

[shootbrownelk]

I've been thinking about "junk" silver coins. What do you do with a bar of Silver or Gold? Trade it for a loaf of bread?

[BucketBack]

Silver Eagles are sure purdy. I traded my junk silver for my first AR in 2013 after Sandy Hook. It was all downhill after that

[Prepared One]

My thoughts on gold and silver is that it's a hedge against inflation and will allow you to get back in the game when or if an economy comes back from a collapse During and/or after a collapse I would think barter would be king.

[Dwight55]

The reason to stockpile hard in your hand silver/gold -- is NOT to be able to carve off a bit to trade for bread, but to have an asset for later, when/if there's a monetary system again, whether it's in rubles or yen or whatever, you can trade it for some currency and then buy some bread at that point.

Is that right? Have I got the gist of it?
I so need schooling on this. :lost:

Radio ad: Buy gold! We'll even send you a gold coin with your certificate of ownership! (Ownership of what? The rest of it? What??)

Radio ad: Transfer your 401k into gold backed IRA's! (WTF? If it all crashes - if something isn't already in my hand, I'll never see it.)

I guess I just don't understand how this whole 'buy gold/silver' thing works... and radio ads are increasing exponentially.

Reading your threads helps. Thanks all, for that.

The answer to your question is the old line . . . "Want the answer? Follow the money trail."

The whole thing is one kind of scam or another . . . vanilla, chocolate, strawberry ice cream tastes different . . . but it is still ice cream. These scams are like that . . . different speech . . . different spiel . . . same thing though: to get your money.

Anyone buying gold / silver for any other idea than to sell it down the road for a profit . . . is wasting their resources.

Want something good for the SHTF coming up??? Buy guns . . . ammo . . . primers . . . bullets . . . reloading equipment . . . and long term storage food.

Any of those will trade easily and handily during the SHTF . . .

Besides that . . . when it does happen and you walk up unarmed with a pocket full of gold pieces . . . to buy a gun . . . from someone you don't know . . . what's to stop him from walking away from you with his gun, your gold . . . and you bleeding like the devil??

And as well . . . if SHTF does occur . . . if and when stuff settles down . . . you can sell some of the guns you acquired . . . for a real value . . . instead of $1 an oz for your gold . . . when HE has the stuff you need . . . and all you have is some shiny little coins. They can't bake, shoot, boil, fish, fry, drive . . . just pretty pieces of metal . . . worth only what the other guy wants to give you for it.

You will have a seller's market with the other things I mentioned.

Think about it.

May God bless,
Dwight

[SOCOM42]

The answer to your question is the old line . . . "Want the answer? Follow the money trail."

The whole thing is one kind of scam or another . . . vanilla, chocolate, strawberry ice cream tastes different . . . but it is still ice cream. These scams are like that . . . different speech . . . different spiel . . . same thing though: to get your money.

Anyone buying gold / silver for any other idea than to sell it down the road for a profit . . . is wasting their resources.

Want something good for the SHTF coming up??? Buy guns . . . ammo . . . primers . . . bullets . . . reloading equipment . . . and long term storage food.

Any of those will trade easily and handily during the SHTF . . .

Besides that . . . when it does happen and you walk up unarmed with a pocket full of gold pieces . . . to buy a gun . . . from someone you don't know . . . what's to stop him from walking away from you with his gun, your gold . . . and you bleeding like the devil??

And as well . . . if SHTF does occur . . . if and when stuff settles down . . . you can sell some of the guns you acquired . . . for a real value . . . instead of $1 an oz for your gold . . . when HE has the stuff you need . . . and all you have is some shiny little coins. They can't bake, shoot, boil, fish, fry, drive . . . just pretty pieces of metal . . . worth only what the other guy wants to give you for it.

You will have a seller's market with the other things I mentioned.

Think about it.

May God bless,
Dwight

WELL SAID!

[SOCOM42]

For whatever you buy silver or gold for, make sure it is in hand, have the gold tested for purity,

any jeweler can do it, they do it with acid or radiation.

Never mind the certificates for gold, SHTF, they will make poor TP.

A friend who passed now going on 15 years, had 100 Krugerrands in one safe.

When I opened the safe in front of family, they were gone.

There was some passing thought comment that I had taken them, WRONG.

The comment came out because I had set the combo on the safe for him,

my comment was that I did not remember what I set five years ago.

They had to give me the combo to open it, I would never have done that to a good friend.

Nothing more was said about it, was an inside job, it was never reported to the police either.

I bring this up because gold and silver traders have no scruples, and, as I said, toilet paper.

To add to this, there was a secret panel, in the home, behind which was about 25 pounds of junk silver coins of all sorts.

They were taken in at the cash registers of the business he owned, pulled them out of the hide for the wife.

Never knew what happened to them either, she died two months after he did from a heart attack.

[Piratesailor]

Junk silver is a good way to go.

Gold is a manipulated market so personally i stay away from it.

[MountainGirl]

Junk silver is a good way to go.

Gold is a manipulated market so personally i stay away from it.

What is 'junk silver' and where would one find it?
(We've already established I'm clueless here)

[Jester-ND]

What is 'junk silver' and where would one find it?
(We've already established I'm clueless here)

pre 1965 dimes and quarters are 90% silver, they are circulated and have no collector value (condition) and are thus referred to as junk

[Jester-ND]

What is 'junk silver' and where would one find it?
(We've already established I'm clueless here)

the belief is that you could buy a loaf of bread with a dime back then, and can still buy a loaf with the same silver dime... They are also trusted more than bars and such because most recognize them and they are standard weight/ purity etc.

[Jester-ND]

I personally diversify in my holdings, including gold/silver bars, junk etc..... I have currently devoted more time investing in my own sealed mylar bags.... with the thought that each one is a potential meal in the near future.... it's almost reached obsession/hoarder status!

[Box of frogs]

We don’t own any PM’s for all the reasons mentioned.
I have some silver in Morgan dollars and Eisenhower and Kennedy coins.
Those are just stuff that fell into our hands cause my wife works for a bank.

Invest in bullets, beans, bandages can’t go wrong. Barter will the the new currency post SHTF.
Don’t forget to invest in yourself ! Learn as many skills as you can. Teach yourself carpentry, basic mechanics, home plumbing, learn to grow your own food, fish, hunt, trap, sew clothes.
Skills will be more valuable than food or ammo in the long run.
Just my 2 cents
BoF

[StratBastard]

What is 'junk silver' and where would one find it?
(We've already established I'm clueless here)

Also sometimes referred to as "constitutional silver" as it is real America coinage. Used to be able to buy Morgan and Peace dollars real cheap. Now the premium on them has shot up worse than bars and rounds.

[StratBastard]

The answer to your question is the old line . . . "Want the answer? Follow the money trail."

The whole thing is one kind of scam or another . . . vanilla, chocolate, strawberry ice cream tastes different . . . but it is still ice cream. These scams are like that . . . different speech . . . different spiel . . . same thing though: to get your money.

Anyone buying gold / silver for any other idea than to sell it down the road for a profit . . . is wasting their resources.

Want something good for the SHTF coming up??? Buy guns . . . ammo . . . primers . . . bullets . . . reloading equipment . . . and long term storage food.

Any of those will trade easily and handily during the SHTF . . .

Besides that . . . when it does happen and you walk up unarmed with a pocket full of gold pieces . . . to buy a gun . . . from someone you don't know . . . what's to stop him from walking away from you with his gun, your gold . . . and you bleeding like the devil??

And as well . . . if SHTF does occur . . . if and when stuff settles down . . . you can sell some of the guns you acquired . . . for a real value . . . instead of $1 an oz for your gold . . . when HE has the stuff you need . . . and all you have is some shiny little coins. They can't bake, shoot, boil, fish, fry, drive . . . just pretty pieces of metal . . . worth only what the other guy wants to give you for it.

You will have a seller's market with the other things I mentioned.

Think about it.

May God bless,
Dwight

There will be no trading of gold and silver during a long-term crisis, and I have maintained that for years. Far less than 1% of the population currently has any idea of it's value, and that will get worse when resources are desperately needed. People will be scrambling for food, water, medicine, etc... worried about surviving the next few days only. However, buying gold and silver to make a future profit is NOT the motivation. Not the reason it is done. It is there as a hedge. To protect your purchasing power until a currency reset. That's all. Buying in the hopes of making a profit is no different than speculation in any commodity. Hedging is merely placing your wealth outside of the fiat currency bubble. Also gold and silver are the LAST thing to buy... if you have already prepped for years, but still have substantial paper dollars being devalued. THEN you hedge those dollars with PM's.

[Dwight55]

........... Buying in the hopes of making a profit is no different than speculation in any commodity. Hedging is merely placing your wealth outside of the fiat currency bubble. Also gold and silver are the LAST thing to buy... if you have already prepped for years, but still have substantial paper dollars being devalued. THEN you hedge those dollars with PM's.

A person has to have bunches of money to run out of things to prep with and feel the need to buy precious metals.

There is long term storage food . . . clothing . . . medical supplies . . . blankets . . . socks . . . shoes . . . cold weather clothing . . . pots . . . pans . . . shovels . . . picks . . . axes . . . knives . . . the list is endless.

Buying them now, if you have the spare cash . . . will leave your survivors with some good preps . . . and should stuff happen . . . you will again be in the seller's market with those types of goods. Purchased now . . . put in plastic storage containers . . . and stashed . . . will give you the ability to trade goods for food . . . goods for ammo . . . goods for protection/security . . . for YOUR needs.

If our society goes south for any of a dozen reasons . . . we will be on our own that first day . . . with what we have. Stores will be looted . . . thieves will be looking to steal anything not secured . . . and it WILL be tough to survive.

You might even want to invest in some gas or diesel powered machine that you have inspected for certain and there are no computer chips in it. Less than 1% of the vehicles that can run today . . . will run on that day. In addition . . . make sure you have a supply of fuel for it.

Buy survival goods . . .

May God bless,
Dwight

[Inor]

I look at precious metals mostly the same as our pal Stratmaster. We have quite a bit of silver and a little gold. I am not opposed to gold, it just seems that when I have been in the market to buy PMs, silver has usually been a better value so that is what I bought. I doubt I would ever sell any of it unless I were in extreme dire circumstances. Honestly, I'm not even sure why I own it other than it gives me peace of mind and I like it.

Today, I would argue that silver does not really even classify as a "precious metal" anymore. It is really an industrial metal, with far more being used in electronics and other industrial applications than what is mined every year. So, as an investment, I do believe it is a really good investment for the long term (think decades not just years).

I do believe buying gold/silver as a "prep" is a fool's errand. In order to be used as a means of trade, both parties need to understand the value of whatever you are trading. Except for other goldbugs, most folks on the street have no idea what gold/silver is worth, so it is worth precisely NOTHING to them. Mark Dice had a cool video on that on YouTube. He walked up to random strangers and offered them a Hershey bar or an ounce of gold for free. Every single one of them took the candy bar.

But like our pal Strat (I think), I am FIRM believer in holding anything EXCEPT Federal Reserve Notes (or the new Fed CBDC that is coming out next year). That could be land, tools, equipment, food, bullets (although I do have some reservations on holding bullets as an investment/hedge - more on that later if you care for my opinion on it), precious metals, gemstones, oil, lumber, etc. Basically anything of concrete value that is readily convertible is better than holding Federal Reserve Notes.

[StratBastard]

[QUOTE=Dwight55;240234]A person has to have bunches of money to run out of things to prep with and feel the need to buy precious metals.

There is long term storage food . . . clothing . . . medical supplies . . . blankets . . . socks . . . shoes . . . cold weather clothing . . . pots . . . pans . . . shovels . . . picks . . . axes . . . knives . . . the list is endless.[QUOTE]

Well, we agree. A person DOES have to have bunches of money to run out of things to prep with. OR has already BEEN prepping for 25 years, and already has everything covered until long past he expects to be dead of old age. Nothing left to buy or need. Were you in that position, and still had hundreds of thousands of fiat dollars still lying about, you had better do something about them.

[StratBastard]

I look at precious metals mostly the same as our pal Stratmaster. We have quite a bit of silver and a little gold. I am not opposed to gold, it just seems that when I have been in the market to buy PMs, silver has usually been a better value so that is what I bought. I doubt I would ever sell any of it unless I were in extreme dire circumstances. Honestly, I'm not even sure why I own it other than it gives me peace of mind and I like it.

Today, I would argue that silver does not really even classify as a "precious metal" anymore. It is really an industrial metal, with far more being used in electronics and other industrial applications than what is mined every year. So, as an investment, I do believe it is a really good investment for the long term (think decades not just years).

I do believe buying gold/silver as a "prep" is a fool's errand. In order to be used as a means of trade, both parties need to understand the value of whatever you are trading. Except for other goldbugs, most folks on the street have no idea what gold/silver is worth, so it is worth precisely NOTHING to them. Mark Dice had a cool video on that on YouTube. He walked up to random strangers and offered them a Hershey bar or an ounce of gold for free. Every single one of them took the candy bar.

But like our pal Strat (I think), I am FIRM believer in holding anything EXCEPT Federal Reserve Notes (or the new Fed CBDC that is coming out next year). That could be land, tools, equipment, food, bullets (although I do have some reservations on holding bullets as an investment/hedge - more on that later if you care for my opinion on it), precious metals, gemstones, oil, lumber, etc. Basically anything of concrete value that is readily convertible is better than holding Federal Reserve Notes.

That's it in a succicnt nutshell.

If you are a long-time prepper, and have all bases completely covered for a lifetime, there are maybe 3 things you could do with a pile of surplus fiat dollars:

1) Leave them in the bank, and watch it lose 10% of its purchasing power (again) over the next 6 months.
2) Invest it and only lose 8%... and tie up all options for a year as well.
3) Buy preps you now don't need, and will never be able to use unless you live to be 200. Meaning not just buy MORE, but buy several hundred thousand$ more.
4) Buy gold and silver.

[StratBastard]

the belief is that you could buy a loaf of bread with a dime back then, and can still buy a loaf with the same silver dime... They are also trusted more than bars and such because most recognize them and they are standard weight/ purity etc.

Absolutely. I have told this parable many times, but it bears repeating. It clearly demonstrates how PM's hedge and protect against inflation.

It is 1965. You go into your grandmother's kitchen, and ask her for a dime so you can buy a Coke at the corner grocery. She gives you TWO dimes, so you can buy one for your friend who is coming over too. One of the dimes is a 1964, and made of 90% silver. The other is the new 1965 dime made of pot metal.

You and your friend get distracted, and never make it to the corner store for Cokes.

50 years later, you realize you haven't changed your pants (or underwear) in 50 years. It is 2015. Those two dimes are still in your pocket. Now that Coke sounds pretty good. At the market, you discover a Coke is now $1.29, and neither dime will purchase one. But the guy at the coin shop next door will give you $1.29 for the silver value in the 1964 coin. The 1965 coin is now near worthless.

This demonstrates how PM's protect purchasing power... even over a span of 50 years.

[red442joe]

Just to add a wrinkle to pm keeping....
I have a small collection of fake silver....including a Morgan my dealer swears is real and some scary good Eagles....
Caution when buying from random people...

Joe

[MountainGirl]

... buying gold and silver is (done) as a hedge. To protect your purchasing power until a currency reset. That's all. ...

That ^^ answers my question in the OP. Thank you, sir.


- and this:


A person has to have bunches of money to run out of things to prep with and feel the need to buy precious metals.

There is long term storage food . . . clothing . . . medical supplies . . . blankets . . . socks . . . shoes . . . cold weather clothing . . . pots . . . pans . . . shovels . . . picks . . . axes . . . knives . . . the list is endless.

Buying them now, if you have the spare cash . . . will leave your survivors with some good preps . . . and should stuff happen . . . you will again be in the seller's market with those types of goods. Purchased now . . . put in plastic storage containers . . . and stashed . . . will give you the ability to trade goods for food . . . goods for ammo . . . goods for protection/security . . . for YOUR needs.

If our society goes south for any of a dozen reasons . . . we will be on our own that first day . . . with what we have. Stores will be looted . . . thieves will be looking to steal anything not secured . . . and it WILL be tough to survive.

You might even want to invest in some gas or diesel powered machine that you have inspected for certain and there are no computer chips in it. Less than 1% of the vehicles that can run today . . . will run on that day. In addition . . . make sure you have a supply of fuel for it.

Buy survival goods . . .

May God bless,
Dwight

For me, for us, for Ten Oaks - is the :potd:

[stevekozak]

The answer to your question is the old line . . . "Want the answer? Follow the money trail."

The whole thing is one kind of scam or another . . . vanilla, chocolate, strawberry ice cream tastes different . . . but it is still ice cream. These scams are like that . . . different speech . . . different spiel . . . same thing though: to get your money.

Anyone buying gold / silver for any other idea than to sell it down the road for a profit . . . is wasting their resources.

Want something good for the SHTF coming up??? Buy guns . . . ammo . . . primers . . . bullets . . . reloading equipment . . . and long term storage food.

Any of those will trade easily and handily during the SHTF . . .

Besides that . . . when it does happen and you walk up unarmed with a pocket full of gold pieces . . . to buy a gun . . . from someone you don't know . . . what's to stop him from walking away from you with his gun, your gold . . . and you bleeding like the devil??

And as well . . . if SHTF does occur . . . if and when stuff settles down . . . you can sell some of the guns you acquired . . . for a real value . . . instead of $1 an oz for your gold . . . when HE has the stuff you need . . . and all you have is some shiny little coins. They can't bake, shoot, boil, fish, fry, drive . . . just pretty pieces of metal . . . worth only what the other guy wants to give you for it.

You will have a seller's market with the other things I mentioned.

Think about it.

May God bless,
Dwight

Diversify. There is no one answer just as there is no one SHTF that we prepare for. Gold and Silver are a hedge. A damn fine hedge. They are not meant to be the end all be all prep by any means. As you say, guns and ammo and components there of are a a prep we should definitely have also. Food, shelter, and like-minded companions are also necessary preps. Never put your eggs in one basket. 2 is 1 and 1 is none. Prep. :bigboss::bigboss:

[StratBastard]

Gold drops to $1705 today, silver at $18.18

[Inor]

Gold drops to $1705 today, silver at $18.18

$1695 gold and $17.86 silver right now on Kitco.

They both probably have at least one more leg down. How big that is depends on what the Fed does with rates later this month. Hopefully one more big wipeout for stocks will be enough to turn the correlation between gold and stocks negative. It is time to start watching paper gold REAL close to see how it moves against the DOW and the S&P.

It is also time to tighten the time window for watching price action on gold. I suggest, no larger than 5 days. Continue to watch the 20 day (trading days) window, but trade in the much tighter quarters of 5 business days.

[StratBastard]

Gold dropping again, down to $1711... silver hanging in there at $19.57.
Stock market took it in the shorts today.

[Inor]

Gold dropping again, down to $1711... silver hanging in there at $19.57.
Stock market took it in the shorts today.

This is the start of the Gold/Silver-stock disconnect that I have been waiting for! The DOW is down 1300, but gold is not down nearly as much percentage-wise. So it looks like a lot of the selling of gold to cover stock margin calls is about done. It looks the same on Bitcoin as well. We will know for sure when the Fed raises interest rates next week. The market will likely crater again but I am guessing gold will not be slammed near as much. It might drop a bit more just because the Federal Reserve Note will go up against other currencies, but I do not expect a huge fall down.

I think it is time to start cautiously piling into Gold/Silver and hang on for one hell of a ride.

[Jester-ND]

got an alert from JM Bullion that some gold on sale.... history has taught me that means they think it will drop further.... Every time I buy their sale, it drops.

[StratBastard]

Silver isn't dropping with the gold this time. Interesting.

[MountainGirl]

Silver isn't dropping with the gold this time. Interesting.

I wonder if russia/china is gathering silver along with the gold.
Maybe when the world divides up - silver will be the pm of choice here.
^^ morning musings of someone who doesn't know anything and needs more coffee

[MountainGirl]

Silver isn't dropping with the gold this time. Interesting.

I wonder if russia/china is gathering silver along with the gold.
Maybe when the world divides up - silver will be the pm of choice here.
^^ morning musings of someone who doesn't know anything and needs more coffee

[Jester-ND]

Gold dropping so fast you would think I just bought some... Guess it pays to let the Bullion companies do the thinking for me!

[StratBastard]

Gold drops to $1670 today.

[StratBastard]

I wonder if russia/china is gathering silver along with the gold.
Maybe when the world divides up - silver will be the pm of choice here.
^^ morning musings of someone who doesn't know anything and needs more coffee

Well, it certainly has a history as money as long and heralded as gold. Greek silver drachmas. Roman Denarius. Persian Drachmas. And our own US silver coins up to 1964. We also issued silver certificates, which were US dollars backed by silver.

[Inor]

I wonder if russia/china is gathering silver along with the gold.
Maybe when the world divides up - silver will be the pm of choice here.
^^ morning musings of someone who doesn't know anything and needs more coffee

Russia maybe, but certainly not China. China is so broke right now, they cannot even pay attention. Their real estate bubble is crashing hard and taking the whole financial sector with it. Although you do not see it on the MSM, they are having daily riots at most of the banks because the banks are almost all insolvent. The pirated video I have been seeing look like Tianamen Square except in every major city. They will not be able to keep it out of the public eye much longer. I suspect that might also be part of the motivation for their extreme lockdowns for COVID again.

I suspect the strength in silver is more due to Apple's release of a new iPhone.

[StratBastard]

Gold hits $1654 today. Inor called it.

[Jester-ND]

Gold hits $1654 today. Inor called it.

and silver still over 19....

[StratBastard]

Russia maybe, but certainly not China. China is so broke right now, they cannot even pay attention. Their real estate bubble is crashing hard and taking the whole financial sector with it. Although you do not see it on the MSM, they are having daily riots at most of the banks because the banks are almost all insolvent. The pirated video I have been seeing look like Tianamen Square except in every major city. They will not be able to keep it out of the public eye much longer. I suspect that might also be part of the motivation for their extreme lockdowns for COVID again.

I suspect the strength in silver is more due to Apple's release of a new iPhone.

China tells state banks to prepare for a massive dollar dump and yuan buying spree as Beijing's prior interventions have failed to stem its currency's worst year since 1994

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/china-tells-state-banks-to-prepare-for-a-massive-dollar-dump-and-yuan-buying-spree-as-beijing-s-prior-interventions-have-failed-to-stem-its-currency-s-worst-year-since-1994/ar-AA12oJPy?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=af8bdf64bc2d450892aa0b1a37f97aec

[Inor]

China tells state banks to prepare for a massive dollar dump and yuan buying spree as Beijing's prior interventions have failed to stem its currency's worst year since 1994

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/china-tells-state-banks-to-prepare-for-a-massive-dollar-dump-and-yuan-buying-spree-as-beijing-s-prior-interventions-have-failed-to-stem-its-currency-s-worst-year-since-1994/ar-AA12oJPy?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=af8bdf64bc2d450892aa0b1a37f97aec

China is absolutely a 5-alarm fire right now for many many reasons. Their economy is basically in free-fall.

Even worse, from their perspective, they are going to start having food issues soon. One the main staples of their diet is pork. (They are by far, the largest pork consumer nation on the planet). They have some kind of epidemic going through their pork farms. It is like ebola but with pigs. It is completely wiping out their entire pork industry. That is why they have banned the export of phosphate fertilizer. They need the phosphate to grow rice to feed themselves. But they also have a horrible drought going on at the same time.

If they start having wide-spread food shortages at the same time their economy is tanking, the government will fall in short order and they go back to being a feudal state. In the meantime, they can cause a lot of problems and they will out of desperation.