An American Treasure That Will Soon Be Gone for Good

Andy Snyder|May 15, 2023

We heard from an old treasure hunter the other night.

What stories he had!

Wise words were spoken.

A treasure, he concluded, is little more than a commodity until it is lost.

Gold, for instance, is valuable. But it becomes priceless when it’s buried in the sand and lost for generations. The logs of an old cypress are worth some good cash on land. But lose them under a river for a generation… and their price soars.

The idea is true for many things.

Love… friendship… business… and even money.

They’re worth plenty when you have them. They’re worth a fortune when you don’t.

Perhaps the idea is on our mind this morning because we’re gathering flowers for a dear friend’s funeral. When we lose someone, suddenly memories turn into treasures – prized relics that had been lost for many moons.

But we reckon this powerful idea would’ve come to us – perhaps all of us – on its own soon enough.

Many readers surely have the fear of losing something on their minds. We fear for our culture, our economy and our great nation.

Today, they’re all just commodities – each unit the same as the last. None is out of the ordinary.

Soon, our guts tell us, they may be treasures.

There’s not much we can do about it. Ships founder on rocks. Hustlers need to bury their loot. And politicians must toss out heavy ballast – even items of great value – to keep their polls afloat.

Many shipwrecks are little more than empty hulls, their cargo desperately tossed into the sea long before the waves slipped over the gunwale.

It’s just the nature of things.

Economies fail. Cultures change. And industries vanish.

Look closely and there’s a lesson here, perhaps even a treasured lesson.

Lost at Sea

The nation is once again fighting about debt.

It’s a disaster in the making.

The headlines will tout the situation’s urgency. The politicians will speak in hyperbole. And they’ll threaten the loss of a great treasure.

It won’t happen, though. Surely a deal will be made.

Ms. Yellen won’t have her checkbook taken away.

But a great commodity will be lost. And it won’t be the treasure they talk about… or the one most folks are worried about.

There’s a greater treasure at stake – a commodity much harder to mine than diamonds or gold.

Our nation’s credibility – and its standing as a world leader – was once tied up deep in the hold of a schooner in a storm.

Now it’s being tossed overboard in a desperate attempt to keep the ship upright.

When the ol’ boat goes under the waves, we’ll finally see just how valuable the treasure was… and how much it hurts when it’s been lost.

Our opportunity – nay, our mandate – is clear.

Investors must be prepared. They must have their money where it belongs.

They must see the treasure in the commodity… before it’s too late.

Failing to see it in time would be disastrous for generations of wealth seekers.

When it goes, the great treasure could be gone for good.