05-24-2016, 08:49 AM
(05-24-2016, 07:35 AM)Odin Wrote:(05-24-2016, 12:04 AM)Kinser79 Wrote: You're missing a few facts PBR as usual. Gold does have industrial uses, but those only became apparent after the harnessing of electricity (though like I said except for highly specialist applications copper is just as good). Also structural use of metals was a rarity until the 19th century.
As for prosperity you are mostly right but the biggest factor you're missing is that bureaucracy was not only mostly missing from corporate structure but governmental bureaucracy was also extremely limited. With entrepreneurial innovation one has to accept that some are out for a quick buck if there is going to be any advancement in technology, business practices and etc--progress rarely is created by congressional committees.
As for patent medicines it should be remembered that during the 19th century so-called established medicine was pretty terrible too. A great deal of it was still using pre-scientific technique.
Gold is commonly used in high-quality electronics, IIRC.
Kinser -- Gold is an excellent conductor of electricity; it is a better material than copper for wiring because it does not oxidize or tarnish as do some other good conductors of electricity (copper, silver, and aluminum). It is easy to shape, unlike graphite (a good conductor, but not a metal). Mercury is a good conductor, but it is liquid (no shape) and highly toxic, so it is out of the question in almost all cases. For high-value electrical use, cost of a small amount of a component is not much of a concern.
If it were inexpensive it would be in much more extensive use; I once saw Julia Child show how good gold would be as material for a cooking pan. Remember -- no oxidation, and it is an excellent conductor of heat.
More gold exists in jewelry, and the gold value is close in almost all cases to the value of the jewelry. Class rings of the deceased get melted down all the time.
Odin -- the use in high-quality electronics is a very modern phenomenon.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.