Global Super-Bugs Herald Age of Silver

For several years I have been touting silver’s unique anti-microbial properties. Out of the nearly infinite list of technological/industrial applications for silver, it always seemed inevitable to me that this one use would ultimately become our single greatest need for the Metal of the Moon.

That suspicion/fear could, in turn, be traced back to a single threat which has loomed in an ever larger, ever more-menacing manner: Super-Bugs.  This is the colloquial name given to the bacterial monsters we have created through the reckless, excessive, and simply idiotic manner in which our species has over-used its single most-important medicine: antibiotics.

This is not a new issue, and so most readers are already familiar with the path that led us to what the World Health Organization is now openly labeling as the world’s “post-antibiotic era”. For those not already suitably terrified by the ominous meaning of those words, read this quote from WHO Director-General Margaret Chan:

“Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill.”

This is not hyperbole, as Chan’s warning has already gone from mere theory to actual fact. A chilling article in Bloomberg identifies two terrifying features of this newest and most-deadly Super-Bug. First of all it is completely invulnerable to any/all antibiotics in existence. That alone places it in an almost unique category of killers.

However it gets much worse. The Super-Bug is described as “highly sexed”. Translation: it can (does) merge itself with virtually any bacteria – including the most common species on our planet – and instantly transform those previously treatable bacteria until Mutant Super-Bugs, themselves. E. coli bacteria, cholera bacteria, even the (benign) microbes in our soil can all be transformed into Super-Bug killers. Bacteria which already outnumber our species by billions-to-one can (will?) become legions of nearly invulnerable killers.

Fortunately, while our collective idiocy has now permanently robbed our species of its most potent protection from this potentially deadly menace, our ingenuity has provided us with a means to mitigate this medical catastrophe: silver anti-microbial technology. While the relentless over-use of antibiotics has ruined their effectiveness, other scientists have been systematically designing silver-based applications to protect us from these killers.

It is important for readers to understand that these silver-based applications are preventative in nature, rather than being treatments for bacterial infections which have already taken root. In other words, silver protects us from bacteria through the creation of silver-based coatings or ionic compounds which can be blended into various (inorganic) substances. Thus we can create anti-bacterial clothing, anti-bacterial upholstery, anti-bacterial plastic and stainless steel surfaces, etc., etc.

Why hasn’t science focused on this approach sooner, rather than its complete over-reliance on antibiotics? Taking the treatment vs. prevention dynamic to an extreme, it’s obviously cheaper and more efficient to treat individual pockets of infection with drugs than to create an entire “anti-bacterial world” around us.

However, antibiotics are neither cheaper nor more efficient when they simply cease to function, bringing us back to silver. Given the significant increase in the price of silver over the past decade, many readers may erroneously view the creation of a (partial) “silver shield” around us as prohibitively expensive.

 

The mistake in such reasoning is that it doesn’t take into account the extraordinary potency of silver in this – and many other – industrial applications. Silver is only a tiny component in these products, as literally microscopic amounts are sufficient to convey this anti-bacterial protection, less than 1/1,000^th part silver (by weight).

The other important distinction between antibiotics and silver-based anti-microbial products is that they fight bacteria in entirely different manners. Antibiotics essentially poison each individual bacteria cell. The substance is ingested by the bacteria, and takes time to kill each and every cell.

This basic trait of antibiotics is enormously important, since it explains how and why bacteria have (relatively quickly) been able to develop resistance/immunity to these drugs one-by-one. With each of the practically infinite number of bacteria killed by antibiotics (historically) taking time to die, this gives (gave) every one of those cells the opportunity to mutate/evolve protection from these individual antibiotics. As a simple function of the Law of Averages, it is only a matter of time until a “lottery winner” emerges which can resist a particular drug – and then reproduce, spreading that resistance.

Conversely, it would actually be more technically accurate to refer to our Silver Shield as a silver “sword”, given how silver eradicates bacteria. Unlike the less-efficient antibiotics, silver-based products kill on contact – instantaneously. This is of huge significance as it means it is impossible for the bacteria to evolve to protect themselves against silver as they have done with antibiotics, because there is no time to adapt to the silver.

Instead, the only possible means of bacteria ever developing (any) protection to these silver-based anti-microbial products would be spontaneous mutation – little different than human beings suddenly being born with three eyes, or tails. Thus creating a partial “silver shield” in the world around us is not some Fool’s Mission, where we inevitably use up this protection and are left with a lot of obsolete, wasted investment. Rather, we have every reason to view this as a permanent tool in our now vastly more difficult battle to protect ourselves from these tiny invaders.

Having established the practicality of this technology in general terms, it’s now time to look at more specific applications, and how we allocate the limited, finite amount of silver which can be dedicated to such an important function. As with many of our economic decisions in capitalist economies, much of this allocation will be determined by supply/demand and ability to pay.

How much is it worth to people to increase their child’s chances of survival by purchasing a crib with an anti-bacterial coating? How about anti-bacterial infant’s clothing? Anti-bacterial carpeting in the nursery? Anti-bacterial flooring in the kitchen and/or bathroom? Anti-bacterial toys? Anti-bacterial plates and utensils? Anti-bacterial diapers?

And what happens when people dare to venture outside their homes in our “post-antibiotic world”? The potential legal liability alone from people acquiring these Super-Bugs in public places/facilities is going to create a gigantic incentive to “go silver”. Hospitals, medical clinics, and all related facilities have already been rapidly incorporating this silver-based technology into more and more aspects of their design and equipment. With the emergence of this ultimate Super-Bug that process can only increase/accelerate.

Then there is our transportation system. From our airports to our public transit systems there will be enormous and increasing public pressure to “go silver” as more and more people die from this latest-and-greatest Super-Bug. Along with the legal liability issues and simple peer-pressure, we could see much/most/all of our transportation system “go silver” in the foreseeable future.

How about the world of entertainment? Living in a post-antibiotic world with Super-Bug killers all around us, would people be more likely to go to a movie theater which advertised anti-bacterial upholstery in its seating, or one without such a feature? How about our sports stadiums? How much silver would it take to upholster the 50,000 (or 100,000) seats in just one of these stadiums?

Note that part of the reason we got to this Super-Bug crisis in the first place was because of the countless thousands of “anti-bacterial products” – derived from antibiotics – which flooded into our marketplace, despite the fact that many of those products were never effective to begin with. “Anti-bacterial” became nothing more than a multi-billion dollar marketing gimmick. Thus with a threat which is now real, and a product which is effective, the market for silver-based anti-bacterial products is literally nearly infinite.

Those not previously familiar with the silver market will likely be unaware that silver is virtually irreplaceable in numerous important, hi-tech applications of the 21^st century economy. Solar panels, hybrid cars, and computers are just a few of the products which will be competing with producers of anti-bacterial products for limited supplies.

Indeed, global stockpiles of silver are at their lowest level in at least 500 years (already), and investors are currently purchasing silver in record quantities to protect themselves from the reckless currency debasement of Western governments (and their bankers). It is only a matter of time until continued suppression of the price of silver by the banking cabal leads to the total collapse of remaining inventories.

That in turn can only lead to an explosion in price which will make silver’s previous 800% gain pale in comparison. I have warned/explained to readers on many occasions how this artificial interference in the silver market must result in those dynamics taking place. With the emergence of an ultimate Super-Bug now a reality, this inventory collapse/price explosion must occur sooner rather than later.

While millions of people all around the world will suddenly be filled with apprehension at learning they are now living in a “post-antibiotic world”, for the bankers of JP Morgan (sitting on the largest “short” position in silver in the history of the world) I suspect that they will be dreading the “cure” much more than the “disease”.

 

[Disclosure: I hold “physical” silver and shares in silver mining companies]