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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ravisaurus, post: 1134388, member: 29418&quot;] </p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">I see forms of exchange, such as gold or silver, not mattering in only two scenarios. </font></font></p><p><br /></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">First, you have the immediate aftermath of some sort of disaster where disorder and survival rule the day. If you are floating on your roof with a bottle of water out at sea for 9 days who cares how much gold the guy who floats up to you on his roof has. You are not selling your bottle of water.</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Second, a true apocalypse such as the sun going supernova where there simply is no tomorrow and these questions don’t really matter any more.</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Otherwise, I think people who argue that money, in whatever form, will become meaningless after the so called “shtf” need to step back, examine the historical record and think a little about human nature.</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Rome collapsed in a series of barbaric invasions, did money become useless? Europe and much of the world was struck by the bubonic plague, did money become useless? Sarajevo was under siege for years, did money become useless?&nbsp; People, and they always exist, who have more than they can use or somehow attain some power through thuggery or legitimate means, will not be interested in bartering with thousands of people for thousands of goods. They will want a medium of exchange.</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">When the situation is one like Sarajevo in Bosnia, very apocalyptic in the specific place, but the rest of the world pretty much going on as usual, foreign currencies usually fill the role. If the situation was somewhat more widespread and pieces of paper were simply not wanted then certainly precious metals would fill the role. A role they have filled for centuries, a role they seem destined to fill whether reasonable or not. People seem to have the expectation that if fiat currencies fail you have gold and silver to turn to. There has been a lot written about what metals have been chosen for money and why, I won’t go into that.</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Anyway, my point is that even when the “shtf” a medium of exchange will eventually be necessary, and I probably sooner rather than later. Bartering always exists, it exists even today, and it is probably fair to say that in a crisis situation bartering may make up a greater proportion of transactions than it does now. But any assertion that an extended period of time would be dominated by barter, and only barter, is really not likely. History, human nature, practical necessity all counsel against such a conclusion. (IMIAO of course.) </font></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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