With regards to what I promised, remember the US was on a pure gold standard until 1913 (look at the growth in the 1800s and early 1900s), and a modified gold standard until 1971 (look at the inflation before and since 1971).

Anyway, for a good primer on sound money, here is a book (pdf) by Joseph Salerno, who teaches at Pace University.

http://mises.org/books/sound_money_salerno.pdf

Hope you enjoy it.

You also might want to explore the Ludwig von Mises Institute at http://www.mises.org for more resources.

Finally, as a gift to you, in spite of your attempt at setting up a strawman, Utah has already passed legislation that declared gold and silver(in 2011) to be legal tender, and others are considering it:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/03/pf/states_currencies/index.htm

“…lawmakers from 13 states, including Minnesota, Tennessee, Iowa, South Carolina and Georgia, are seeking approval from their state governments to either issue their own alternative currency or explore it as an option.

Since the face value of some U.S.-minted gold and silver coins — like the one-ounce, $50 American Gold Eagle coin — is so much less than the metal value (one ounce of gold is now worth more than $1,700), the new law allows the coins to be exchanged at their market value, based on weight and fineness.”

(and for the record, I do not support Abraham’s plan, but on practical grounds, not philosophical)

If you’re really afraid of the thunderbolt from Zeus, what you need is bottled water, an off-grid means of boiling water, and a month’s supply of canned and dry food. You can live a long time on beans, rice, powdered milk, dried fruit, and Flintstones vitamins.