Sir Thomas Gresham
Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579) lived during the reign of the Tudors in England. Those of you who have been watching the excellent TV series, "The Tudors", will appreciate this history. Gresham's father, Sir Richard Gresham, served as the Mayor of London, a member of parliament, and was knighted by Henry VIII.
Thomas served Henry VIII in his younger years and went on to serve King Edward VI (son of Henry and Jane Seymour), Queen Mary (daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon) and Queen Elizabeth (daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn) in the role of royal financial wizard.
Henry VIII and Edward VI, during their reigns, drastically debased the silver coinage of the kingdom through both weight and purity. In 1544, young King Edward VI issued a coin containing just one third silver and two thirds copper — equating to .333 silver, or 33.3% pure. The result was a coin copper in appearance, but relatively pale in color. A shocking debasement considering England's first silver coins were .999 pure, followed by .925 which later came to be known as sterling silver.
The Tudors
Then, in 1552, a penny's weight was cut to only 8 grains (0.52 g). The penny began at 22.5 troy grains of fine silver and was reduced to 15 grains around 1420, then to 12 grains in 1464, and 8 grains in 1552.
In 1551 Thomas Gresham was called upon by King Edward VI to rescue the pound sterling which had embarrassed the king as it collapsed in value. Gresham's solution was to manipulate the value of the pound sterling on the bourse (exchange) in Antwerp (modern-day Belgium) through "ingenious, arbitrary and unfair means". His methods were so successful that King Edward later discharged almost all of Gresham's personal debts.
Sir Thomas Gresham went on to serve Edward's two half-sisters as they took succession of the throne. Another interesting story is the fictional excerpt from "The Virgin Lover" related by John Rubino in
A Tremendous Secret. Sir Gresham was Queen Elizabeth's closest monetary advisor at the time:
The year is 1560 and the young queen Elizabeth rules a country nearly bankrupted by a Spanish alliance that produced only war and debt. The English treasury has been systemically debasing its coins by clipping and shaving them, so that their face value vastly exceeds their gold content.
Elizabeth’s advisors have decided that the monetary system needs to be reset, and have been importing borrowed gold. On the appointed day they intend to call in the circulating coins and replace them -- by weight rather than face value -- with newly-minted coins. This devaluation will transfer citizens’ wealth to the government, impoverishing the former and enriching the latter. And if all goes as planned it will come as a surprise to most of the country.
But Elizabeth’s lover, Sir Robert Dudley, learns of the plan and is not happy:
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth turned and smiled at him and took his hand and held it to her cheek. “My Robert.”
“Tell me, my pretty love,” Robert said quietly. “Why are you bringing in boatloads of Spanish gold from Antwerp, and how are you paying for it all?”
She gave a little gasp and the color went from her face, the smile from her eyes. “Oh,” she said. “That.”
“Yes,” he replied evenly. “That. Don't you think you had better tell me what is going on?”
“How did you find out? It is supposed to be a great secret.”
“Never mind,” he said. “But I am sorry to learn that you are still keep secrets from me, after your promises.”
“I was going to tell you,” she said at once. “It is just that Scotland has driven everything from my mind.”
“I am sure,” he sad coldly. “For if you had continued with your forgetfulness till the day that you called in the old coin and issued new, I would have been left with a small treasure room filled with dross, would I not? And left at a substantial loss, would I not? Was it your intention that I should suffer?”
Elizabeth flushed. “I didn't know you were storing small coin.”
Sir Robert Dudley
“I have lands; my tenants do not pay their rents in bullion, alas. I have trading debts which are paid in small coin. I have chests and chests of pennies and farthings. Do tell me what I may get for them?”
“A little more than their weight,” she said in a very small voice.
“Not their face value?”
She shook her head in silence. “We are calling in the coins and issuing new,” she said. “It is Gresham’s plan -- you know of it yourself. We have to make the coins anew.”
Robert let go of her hand and walked to the center of the room while she sat and watched him wondering what he would do. She realized that the sinking feeling in her belly was apprehension. For the first time in her life she was afraid what a man was thinking of her -- not for policy but for love.
“Robert, don't be angry with me. I didn't mean to disadvantage you,” she said and heard the weakness in her own voice.
“I know,” he said shortly. “It is partly that which amazes me. Did you not think that this would cost me money?”
She gasped. “I only thought it had to be a secret, a tremendous secret, or everyone will trade among themselves and the coins will be worse and worse regarded,” she said quickly. “It is an awful thing, Robert, to know that people think that your very coins are next to worthless.”
Here is an interesting fact: Sir Thomas Gresham did not formulate "Gresham's law"! It was actually a well known concept of the time, though it didn't carry any name. It wasn't until 300 years later, in 1857, when an economist named Henry Dunning MacLeod attributed Gresham's name to the concept.
I think it is clear from this story that Thomas Gresham was not exactly a hard money hero. In fact, he was an agent of monetary control and debasement. Which brings me to the main concept of this post, that Gresham's Ghost is still with us today, debasing our medium of exchange and unit of account and driving the evolution of money to Freegold.
Money. It is what confuses our soul and drives us to do that which makes absolutely no sense. It is only because we have been led by a chronological history, rife with warnings of debasement, into thinking that we must retain that which is only an ephemeral medium of exchange as our ultimate store of life-long value. Do the truly wealthy hold rooms-full and truckloads of paper cash? Hell no! They hold real stores of wealth, like artwork, antiques, property, collectibles and land. Why then have we, the subjects of the world, the masses, been led to only hold that one faulty medium of exchange as our main store of value? Why? Because it is the one thing in this world that is vulnerable to the collective, the government and banker debasement and the surreptitious theft of the inflation tax!
With each new advancing stage of civilization we climb one step higher on the ladder of economic sophistication. And once there, we perceive the need for a more sophisticated way to use money. We are told that this newfound monetary sophistication is responsible for our higher standard of living. What a lie!
It is here, at this step of sophistry, that men always attempt to combine receipts with real wealth. Each time we come to this point, each new idea throughout history promises to undo the prior problems. And each time the wealth of the common man, his life-long savings is risked, plundered and squandered once again as the world tries to make gold into something it isn't.
It is the mashing of the gold wealth concept with the circulating credit receipt concept that opens the door to some of the greatest problems man has ever seen. Take, for example, the period of the modern gold exchange standard. 1913: Creation of the Federal Reserve System. 1914: WWI. 1923: Weimar hyperinflation. 1930: The Great Depression. 1939: WWII. 1950: The Korean War. 1959: The Vietnam War. 1971: Off the gold exchange standard.
Inflation of the circulating money supply is simply a fact of life in our imperfect world. The collective or the King always finds a way to inflate or debase money to its own advantage. And if circulating money is gold, or based on gold, then inflation is historically done through the golden spoils of war or confiscation. The cry of the hungry collective is "if fiat is our money, we must borrow it. We must print it. If gold is our money we must take it. We must have money when it is needed!"
It is for this reason that electronic fiat money is here to stay. Yet evolution still takes us forward, not back. Gresham's Ghost is with us today, driving the finite physical gold supply of the world into private hands, into mattresses and shoe boxes as the collective's play money is inflated to the heavens. Moving forward with the flow of evolution means embracing this fiat money experiment that society will always tamper with, and at the same time owning the wealth of ages as the ancients did, in your possession. In this way, the average family can know their wealth is real while society at large pursues its greedy folly while issuing unlimited receipts of credit.
Embrace Gresham's Ghost, for it is leading us to Freegold!
Sincerely,
FOFOA
35 comments:
Dear FOFOA
I have read all comments regarding the $ waterfall. As you seem highly skilled I would be grateful to know your view on what follows:
What about if the Fed and Congress have a cleverer scheme than it may appear at first sight?
They know that the USA dominate the rest of the world thanks to key powers:
a) they hold the world's major currency (financial power)
b) they have the strongest army (military power)
This means that, at least for a number of years, the FED can simply continue printing $ and give them to their banks. And Congress can continue with big stimulus and send paychecks to American consumers. The mission of Americans is then to consume (and not to work) what the rest of the world produces. Foreigners (workers) may not like it, but do they have any other choice in the medium term?
As long as foreign central banks suppport the $, and that deflation goes on, the $ will not crash. This means the world will increasingly be separated in 2 categories those who work (foreigners) and those who spend (Americans). And foreign central banks support the $, in order to be able to sell good to America.
This process can last for some time. Until developping countries have big enough domestic markets and decouple from the USA. But I do not believe much in this. Another alarm bell would be a big surge in the price of commodities, following rarity. But here, we know that America is the world's no 1 army.
Perhaps we are in a world where there is enough goods being produced for everyone. Bernanke is thus printing money to allow those goods to be exchanged. If money would fully collapse, and this is partly happeing due to credit contraction, then a lot of goods would no longer be exchanged. A pity. Of course, I know that many industries and goods are more useless than useful and that it would be more efficient to let them go. But consumption matters most, it seems. Before efficiency.
Perhaps one day, we will have robots working for humans. They will produce goods. And humans will enjoy life without working. For the time being, perhaps the robots are the foreigners…and because of America's 2 key above-mentioned powers …they will not rebel…for years to come. The Roman empire did not collapse that fast.
Alternatvely, FOFOA, I see your scenario of sudden death of the $ due to a collapse in confidence. But that scenario is less likely I believe than the above.
Kind regards
US consuming and rest of world producing is BWII. That is what got us here. No the rest of the world will not produce in the age of instant media so the US can consume. What you are advocating is that the US is so clever and the rest of the world so desperate that the rest of world will condone expropriation at the hands the Fed. Ergo hgiher and higher gold prices.
The banks are never goign to start lending. they aren;t stupid. They know there is rampant overcapcity in the system and until it is destroyed it makes no economic sense to deploy new capital. Therefore, the banks will simply take their money, park it at the fed (which amounts to stealing working people's money out of deposit rates) collect their interest and dilute the shit hout of every responsible saver.
The strongest military in the world hasn't suceeded in iraq and or Afghan in any declaritive way. Nuclear proliferation obviates the threat, which further nuders the US hegemonic umbrella. The security side is fading.
You are dead wrong that the rest of the world will stand by and allow the Fed to print its way out and dilute everyone else. No chance it happens. Once the rest of the world acquires enough of other assets that equal or offset their losses - the rubicon will be have been crossed and the dollar will be destroyed. Right now the Fed is daring the rest of the world to destroy the dollar but the rest of the world will to brorow a phrase act at their time and place of chossing. The Fed would love to see the dollar destroyed it would alleviate their need to obfuscate and print. presto job well done. however, they will not get off that easily. The rest of the world, espeically those long dollars, have their fingers on the trigger. The only question now is if the Fed has the balls to follw the Bush doctrine of preemption.
The truth is - only a person holding a US passport cares about the USA.
No one else does.
This whole argument that it is the biggest bully in the school yard that the rest of the kids can't do without is BS.
Its treatment of the rest of the world after WW2 is why 9\11 occured.
The kids in the school yard just want the bully to leave. Nixon in 1971 and said - 'We can't pay for our lunch'.
The USA is collasping in on itself now and like a giant monster - you don't want to be near it when it is in its death throes - flapping its evil tail around.
Its currency is bad and it doesn't matter how big its army is - it is a bloated dying beast.
All empires have expired before - it never lasts - it is all in history.
Anyone who holds Gold and Silver can watch the show -
The demise of the dollar is the best show in town! lol!
Hold your Gold and Silver and know you are outside the system and cannot be wrecked by it.
Holding physical metal "outside" the system is sound and logical advice.
Be careful however not to persist with the notion that said "system" ...in tatters as it is, or surely soon will be, can somehow "evaluate" your metal correctly going forward.
In other words, by all means remove PM's from the system on your own account ...then do your darndest to forget about them ...or better put, forget about "evaluating" them in any currency du-jour.
The time to assess their "value" IMHO will be quite apparent once that time is upon us.
King Tut was a minor King of the great Egyptian Empire who was buried quickly with a small tomb.
Can you imagine the artifacts of Gold that would have been in the tombs of the Great Pharaohs?
Those tombs would truely boggle the mind...
Why were they robbed and stripped........?
Gold.
Does anyone ever step back, look at the pieces and start putting the puzzle together? FOFOA has along certain lines. But what if there are other threads that tie events in the past to an America being preyed upon by an internal enemy.
Not to sound like a conspiracy buff (bear with me please) however for many events I can't help but connect some dots.
For one thing, the financial/economic downturn has stimulated all sorts of commentary about conditions in the '20s/30's and on to WW2.
For example, one can far better appreciate how Hitler rose to power if you've learned about the Wiemar inflation period and what that did to Germans outlook during the post WW1 period on to the 1930's. Same for other countries-- e.g. U.S. Great Depression leading into WW2 (perhaps a factor in Roosevelt itching to involve the US).
Connect the political and economic events and you have a much better understanding of how things came to be.
Just now I was over at Alex Jones site reading some 9/11 theories. OK, spare me the derisive comments, but to all those who now use the term "financial oligarchy" .... to those who think the Fed was hoisted upon us suddenly one pre-xmas eve night 100ish years ago by a banking cabal... I say open your mind and attempt to connect dots.
Theory:
1)There was/is a ruling elite that have extraordinary power (money = power).
2)Like most countries...the US can be manipulated if some powerful insiders use the right mix of fear,greed,and(misplaced) patriotism.
3) The powers that be are amoral and tend to believe the end justifies the means.
More topical, many now believe Gold and (even now)stock markets) are grossly manipulated by a consortium of Bankers & Governments.
And finally, we seem on course for a financial meltdown, the US apparently intent on self immolating despite all the protestations from modern day Paul Reveres.
However if this was premeditated wouldn't it make sense to ring up as much debt as possible before a controlled demolition of the system. A demolition meant to cover a move to gain yet more direct control of government and resources by stiffing creditors, impoverishing US workers, gobbling up assets on the deflation cheap and thereby pulling a rabbit out of the hat when most had discounted the US (sorry folks, this salvation doesn't include main street).
Look at how Obama has back pedaled from withdraw in the
mid-east/Asia region. What's behind this flip/flop need to keep substantial US troops in oil regions (duh...think I answered my own question).
Tie the events together.
Yeah, mindless speculation.
It's late and I've been smitten by conspiracy sites. Perhaps.
Regardless, I do trust physical gold under my control and take comfort that procuring it along with fledgling independence from the "grid" help ensure I won't be complete cannon fodder.
Look at gold go!
Hi everyone
Just for the record - Gresham was not the first one who noticed good/bad money relationtship. The honour goes to Nikolas Copernicus (an astronomer, a priest, a doctor - all in one person).
take care and watch the gold trail :-)
S.
Laozi, points a & b look important but like the Wizard of Oz, more reputation than substance - and both undermined by the same implacable force:
US military power only survives when the economic structure supoorting it is sound. it is an incredible irony that the greatest threat to the Pentagon was never the Soviet Union, or China, but the Federal Reserve. It is the Fed with its serial bubble blowing, micro-management of interest rates and surivial based upon ever increasing treasury debt - that will bring down both the US military and the US dollar.
The Soviet Union had formidable military - but as soon as economic stagnation set in the 1990s - its hardware was left to rust away. The bankster kleptocracy and Fed officials have brought the US economy to its knees.
It is easy to predict a front-page newspaper pictures of the future. Half of the US 600-ship navy rusting at anchor in dockyards and ports neglected because of a military budget which has been halved in real terms.
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade but, there are a few things to consider With Gold. Thomas Moray was the first to artificially produce gold.
http://www.rexresearch.com/moray/moray.htm
Moray was a genius along the lines of Tesla and Fessendon.
With cold fusion, the process results in a whole variety of elements even though pure Palladium is the starting point. Low energy transmutation is very common. Google "Platinum Cannon" for a very curious story.
In a video from John Bedini, he actually talks about the process of making gold. He apparently attracted the attention of the wrong people. They told him to stop immediately. "They" mentioned that 50 % of Russian gold is manufactured. The Vid is "petrovoltaics" if I recall correctly. Also included in the Vid besides John Bedini is Col. Tom Bearden. He is quite interesting in his own right. They were both threatened for producing gold.
The main interests in transmutation right now are attempts to bombard low-grade ore and get a higher yield of metal. There has been a lot of success reported with silver.
You can dismiss all of this as a bunch of hooey but, it would be a mistake to ignore advances in science.
Dan
from Spengler:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/KI15Dj08.html
Anon: 10:17 PM
i think you're right on. the interesting part (since i haven't read further down), is whether or not those people have ultimate control, or enough control to make our even smart maneuverings meaningless. i am still worried about it.
but fofoa is arguing that they need a strong fiat currency to wield such control and they are losing that right now (though i'd argue that numerous insiders who caused this and understand are probably very long physical metals). if they lose control of that, the unsustainable system is dead. it will have to contract back to realistic realms. but in the process, the big empire will be toast.
I am not sure if events will go down this way, or if the bankers will pull some tricks to pull china into their lair (if china isn't now). but the point that fofoa (and another) makes, is that during all of this, gold will be made whole (revalued relative to specious fiat currencies) once. after that time, a more democratized and widespread holding of gold the world over will take place.
the big question in my mind, is will "they" (or anyone of any significance) have the power to take that away? i think the historical answer is absolutely. hopefully this can afford some of us the ability to ride out this currency/monetary storm and hopefully culture remains intact (see orlov).
anyway, fofoa, if you have anything to add, or correct, feel free.
best of luck, anon: 10:17.
Satya
myself: precipitation on festivities aside, what would you suggest would be a better place to put one's money beside gold, silver, or platinum? into palladium which is being used to make this gold? the dollar? i'm curious to know what you're thinking here.
how come all this increased supply at will hasn't crushed the gold market completely?
Confiscation, counterfeit gold, alchemy... all Fox Urine!
Good article: World to America: We Want Our Gold Back
Man made Gold - Of course!
Damn - why didn't i think of that!!
Talking to a mate at work about the great investment Silver will be in years to come - i even mentioned the rumours - it may become extinct!
He said - 'No problem - they make man made Silver today'.
"Yeah? How?
'Its called Iridium'.
Bud,
err...thats another element from the Periodic table....err...like Silver.....man can't make that stuff......
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/09/17/72451/china-to-world-no-more-shin
Talk of man-made gold as a subsitute for mined gold needs to be killed off.
Gold atoms CAN be made in a particle accelerator. But the cost would be $100 trillion per ounce. It would take years and half the worlds electricity supply - per ounce!
Gold cannot be made by "cold fusion" as even the wildest proponents of cold fusion struggle to demonstrate fusing two piddly little hydrogen nuclei. Gold is 200 times heavier than hydrogen. Cold fusing two large nuclei into gold is a feat harder than launching yourself to the moon by pulling on your shoelaces.
Gold will always be the perfect reserve currency based on rarity and difficulty of acquisition.
Look at the dollar go! LOL
Hey I would appreciate it if you guys leave some comments on my latest post, 5 Reasons Why China Can't Just Ditch The U.S.
Wintermute, your information is sadly way out of date. Your understanding of physics is primitive. I won't dirty up this thread with a debate. Dan
@myself: The things you talk about are views not accepted by mainstream science. I don't rule out that a lot of technologies may be hidden from the general public, but there's no way to verify this.
As paper currencies accelerate toward disintegration, there appears to be a larger plan to re-establish world financial domination by cornering the global gold market... a concerted and loutinely spend half or more, and so they would never subordinate spending to the stringent requirements of sustaining a commodity-based monetary system. But private gold banks already exist, allowing account holders to make ....
Conclusion
If Fekete is correct, and he has seldom been wrong, then the trap is snapping shut on who will own the gold in 2009. Free-market supplies of gold are drying up, but the price is being kept low as global institutions sop up whatever crumbs are left.
Several very serious implications can be drawn:
* The massive amounts of gold leased to bullion banks will ultimately be seized by these same banks as collateral against worthless paper loans made to the Central Banks.
* Central Banks (including the Federal Reserve) could well be left to disintegrate in order to give way to a single global central bank controlled and fueled by the bullion banks who have monopoly control over the world's gold.
* These superbanks are all closely tied to the goals and membership of the Trilateral Commission, whose members have methodically carried out a monetary policy designed to bring about this eventuality.
* For all practical intent, individuals will be frozen out of the gold market at any price.
Indeed, a global totalitarian state may be closer than we think; as the globalist's golden rule states, "He who has the gold, makes the rules."
Sorry for abusing,FOFOA, but I was quite in a panic. Can this be true?
http://www.augustreview.com/issues/globalization/trilateral_plan_to_corner_world_gold_market?_20081209107/
The link for the above.
Good stuff Anon, 1:44p/1:47p.
I have always had a thought about "them" trumping gold. I don't know how but I know they will, eventually.
Fekete says "Gold is the ultimate extinguisher of debt'.
What exactly does this mean?
Does this mean Gold can be repriced against the US dollar to some collosal amount to rejig the system? So everything can move forward?
If you are paid with a receipt for future wealth or a promise of future labor, the debt lives on. But if you are paid with wealth itself, there is nothing more to be done.
"I do not consider gold as a wealth preserver. Nor does any other Physical Gold Advocate. We consider gold itself as wealth." -FOA
Silver, like gold is potential energy.
It is more the people's money than anything else except in times of upheaval or shortages.
But it remains so in the psyche and unconscious.
It lives in the traditions and practices of modern Asia and it's environs.
It compliments gold and is powerless without it, just as gold is worthless and powerless without silver.
This is because they are inseperably married like the poles of a magnet or the terminals of a battery, enabling and validating each other insuperably and naturally elegant.
They live in the traditions and practices of modern Asia and it's environs.
These customs, like certain spiritual practice, effectively increase the good life of all lives and continue the life of the universe. There presence facilitates honest, transparent and exemplary exchange of goods and services and sets a standard by which even uncompensated productive outputs are measured and valued.
This wisdom is the fulcrum that launches stores of wealth, health, growth and progress.
Have you seen this FOFOA?
http://ispeakofpeak.blogspot.com/2009/09/bull-market-in-gold.html
Thanks Anon.
That is a good piece by Mad!
The buying power (BP) of gold in different places-currencies :
The $-dominated world is being ruled by the system of $-monetarism that decides on internal and external BP of all the currencies floating around the $-axis. But each currency can decide on how free the goldprice is within its borders. To what extent the goldprice is allowed to compete in internal BP against the currency.
The $-regime/system doesn't mind this relative (internal) freedom...for as long as all currencies remain a $-derivate.
The more the failing dollar-system takes away earned wealth from all those surplus creators...the more these currencies will encourage freegold for external BP. Or breaking the dollar-gold link !
This process is crescendo evolving now...
B.
If a nation/nations and its currency wants to increase its gold-BP internally and externally,...they cooperate with those who want the goldprice to float free-er and have absolutely no fear of MARKING THE GOLD TO MARKET ! Cfr. the ECB.
Gold, ...its pricing,...is breaking free-er and free-er on an universally basis. This is the major threat for the $-monetarism. That's why gold is being "demonetized"...severed the link with currency AND the nation state (cfr.Duisenberg).
B.
The Great Deflation/Inflation Debate with Daniel R. Amerman & Michael 'Mish' Shedlock
Right-click to d/l and listen off HD...
WindowsMedia | MP3 | RealPlayer | WinAmp
I'm curious to hear more commentary on the august review article's conclusions (begin quote):
Several very serious implications can be drawn:
The massive amounts of gold leased to bullion banks will ultimately be seized by these same banks as collateral against worthless paper loans made to the Central Banks.
Central Banks (including the Federal Reserve) could well be left to disintegrate in order to give way to a single global central bank controlled and fueled by the bullion banks who have monopoly control over the world's gold.
These superbanks are all closely tied to the goals and membership of the Trilateral Commission, whose members have methodically carried out a monetary policy designed to bring about this eventuality.
For all practical intent, individuals will be frozen out of the gold market at any price.
unquote
Especially, because, i have suspected (intuitively or not) that the Fed here is being put on the altar to be sacrificed. If that's the case, then it can only be because it is redundant and they want people to feel like they have demanded justice. That redundancy probably very well includes the global central bank (BIS/IMF) mentioned in these conclusions. Moreover, rumors have been floating around that "they" have decided to skip the NAU step and move straight to global governance with a global currency.
But what I'm most interested in hearing vetted a bit, is what exactly is meant by the following:
"individuals will be frozen out of the gold market at any price"
what exactly do any/all of you take that to mean (FOFOA, you last :) ).
I read somewhere that 1oz of Gold during the Medici banking dynasty of 14th - 15th century Italy had the purchasing power of $35,000US in todays money.
If it is ok with everyone - i'd like it to return to that kind of purchasing power and more....
And the Silver Ratio at 2-1!
i'm not sure that would be acceptable, anon.
well..if you insist i might be ok with that. :)
Post a Comment
Comments are set on moderate, so they may or may not get through.