good. then calculate the likelihood of something like that happening in your lifetime, and there is your risk for gold.
The rate of change in technology and society is increasing, its more likely than you think.
Its beginning to sound more plausible the more we continue these discussions.
The salt analogy is really a striking one. Roman soldier were paid in salt.
Here's an interesting story:
Mahatma Gandhi led at least 100,000 people on the "Dandi March" or "Salt Satyagraha", in which protesters made their own salt from the sea, which was illegal under British rule, as it avoided paying the "salt tax". This civil disobedience inspired millions of common people, and elevated the Indian independence movement from an elitist struggle to a national struggle.
Sound familiar?