No single element has tantalized and tormented the human imagination more than the shimmering metal known by the chemical symbol Au. For thousands of years the desire to possess gold has driven people to extremes, fueling wars and conquests, girding empires and currencies, leveling mountains and forests. 1 Yet its chief virtues—its unusual density and malleability along with its imperishable shine—have made it one of the world"s most coveted commodities, a transcendent symbol of beauty, wealth, and immortality. From pharaohs (who insisted on being buried in what they called the "flesh of the golds") to the forty-niners (whose mad rush for the mother lode built the American West) to the financiers (who, following Sir Isaac Newton"s advice, made it the bedrock of the global economy); 2
Humankind"s feverish attachment to gold shouldn"t have survived the modern world. Few cultures still believe that gold can give eternal life, and every country in the world—the United States was last, in 1971—has done away with the gold standard. 3 The price of gold, which stood at $ 271 an ounce on September 10, 2001, hit $1,023in March 2008, and it may surpass that threshold again. Aside from extravagance, gold is still continuing to play its role as a safe haven in perilous times. 4 In 2007 demand outstripped mine production by 59 percent. "Gold has always had this kind of magic," says Peter L. Bernstein, author of The Power of Gold. "But it"s never been clear if we have gold or gold has us. "
While investors flock to new gold-backed funds, jewelry still accounts for two-thirds of the demand, generating a record $53.5 billion in worldwide sales in 2007. 5 However, such concerns don"t ruffle the biggest consumer nations, namely India, where a gold obsession is woven into the culture, and China, which leaped past the U.S. in 2007 to become the world"s second largest buyer of gold jewelry.
A. But gold"s luster (光泽) not only endures; fueled by global uncertainty, it grows stronger.
B. Gold is not vital to human existence; it has, in fact, relatively few practical uses.
C. In the U. S. an activist-driven "No Dirty Gold" campaign has persuaded many top jewelry retailers to stop selling gold from mines that cause severe social or environmental damage.
D. Nearly every society through the ages has invested gold with an almost mythological power.
E. For all of its allure, gold"s human and environmental toll has never been so steep. Part of the challenge, as well as the fascination, is that there is so little of it.
F. Gold"s recent surge, sparked in part by the terrorist attack on 9/11, has been amplified by the slide of the U. S. dollar and jitters over a looming global recession.