Markets for everything go up and down because many if not most people behave irrationally at times. Governments rarely behave rationally and most of the time it is government's irrational behavior that causes people under their control to behave irrationally. From the mid-thirties FDR decreed that Americans could not own gold. Ford removed the ban on Americans owning gold. There was a lot of pent up demand that drove the price to levels that proved to be irrational at the time. Try to think of gold in terms of purchasing power. Back in Moses's day, an ounce of gold was said to buy 300 loaves of bread. We're not too far off that mark today. In 1912, before Wilson created the Federal Reserve, an ounce of gold would buy twenty dollar bills. What has actually changed, the purchasing power of gold or of the dollar bill? In terms of the 1912 dollar, today's dollar is worth less than a nickel. It is said that our government wants to the dollar to devalue against other currencies. What rational person wants the value of their money to become worth less? In terms of the 1912 dollar, the present dollar is already almost worthless. If the trend continues and you have nothing to spend but dollars, how much or even what are you going to be able to buy?
So when you said this: Buying gold will save their own personal wealth, you were wrong. Got it.
Try to think of gold in terms of purchasing power.
Okay. In 1980, an ounce of gold bought 800 dollar bills. In 1999, an ounce of gold bought 255 dollar bills.