"If Silver is worth so much, why give it away?" - It’s a good question to ask for a non-Stacker because it does seem strange. Normally when something is given away it’s because it’s pretty worthless or perceived as such. I was asked a question like this recently and in trying to give an explanation I realised just how difficult it is to explain the Psychology and Culture of a typical Stacker to an outsider so thought I’d write a post about it.
The first thing to get an understanding of is why people stack Precious Metals in the first place. Usually it stems from a disdain and rejection of Fiat Currency. This starts from disenchantment with National Governments who devalue their Fiat Currencies via Money Printing and/or too much Deficit Spending. Just like Cryptocurrencies (which have attracted a lot of Libertarians and Anarchists in recent years) Precious Metals offers an alternative way of storing wealth and transacting that does NOT rely on Governments or Banks. So, just like Cryptocurrencies, Precious Metals is a form of “Trustless” Money. Once people realise that Fiat Currency is really just a worthless piece of plastic or paper with some Government promises on it that can be easily devalued (Yes, we once called them “Promissory Notes”), they start looking for alternatives. Cryptos and Precious Metals are BOTH alternatives to Fiat Currency.
Unlike Cryptos though, Precious Metals have been used as Money for centuries, if not Millennia. It is only the last handful of decades where Precious Metals have been totally removed from our Money and it’s almost like people didn’t notice. Almost. Cryptos are new and volatile and as much as the Bitcoin Core team might try and convince you that Bitcoin is a great “Store of Value” – it is a lie. No half decent store of value drops its value by 70% in 2 months like Bitcoin did in early 2018. Crypto tech is still new and immature. Maybe one day it will fulfil that promise, but until it does we have got Precious Metals as a much better “Store of Value” that has stood the test of time!
So hard-core Stackers generally believe that Precious Metals are the only REAL form of Money that we have today. It is Sound Money that you can rely on to maintain its purchasing power. Its value is not dependant on some Government or Bank promises, it is dependent on the FREE MARKET value of the actual metal. It won’t lose its value in the next Regime Change or Global Financial Crisis. It won’t corrode or inflate and you can do whatever you want with it. It’s yours. It doesn’t matter what is printed on it, it matters what it is made of. You can turn it into jewellery or melt it into a blob and it still has the same metal value. It is immutable!
"So why give it away?" you might ask. Well, Stackers view Precious Metals as Real Money and what is Money good for if it isn’t in circulation? Economists talk about the “Velocity of Money” as a measure of how healthy an economy is. Stackers often give away small amounts of metal because they want to spread the word and get people to experience that feeling of holding real money in their hand. It helps people make that mental breakthrough and realise just how worthless Fiat Currency is by comparison, but they also want to help get their beloved Precious Metals into circulation. At #SteemSilverGold here on STEEM you can see all sorts of raffles and exchanges going on between members and from the outside it might seem a bit pointless and confusing, but what you are witnessing here is the “Velocity of Real Money” and it’s happening in the real world. It’s not dependant on Governments or Banks….and it’s not really dependant on Technology either.
I think this is one of the main reasons why the upcoming Monster Raffle has collected 50 oz of Silver donations to give away, but another part of it is that members of #SteemSilverGold seem to take pride and want to SHARE what they have from their own part of the world or share metal that is special to THEM. Just as some examples we have Canadians 
It can be hard to see all this and comprehend what is going on here when looking in from the outside, but I’m right in the middle of this community at #SteemSilverGold and it really is an amazing and beautiful thing happening here that has people genuinely excited. When you understand the Psychology and Culture at play here it just makes sense and it feels right. What more could you ask for? Isn’t building communities and networks supposed to be what this platform is all about?
Images and Credits
https://www.miuc.org
https://bitcoinwisdom.com
https://goldsilver.com
https://www.silverdoctors.com
https://www.youtube.com