Gold and Silver and "Preppers"

[michaels4gardens]

I have lately met several folks advocating buying gold and silver , so they can trade for food with it if the "economy" goes down.
I told them,- I would never trade gold or silver for food- it's worthless to me- try bringing me a load of manure , tools, or something i can use-and maybe we could work something out..
all i get is confused looks...
anyone else running into these kind of folks?
to me, this kind of thinking is just weird...

 

[AmberRae]

Agreed! They will just be rocks if **** ever hit the fan.

 

[Zass]

Some speculation here, but.. I think it's meant to be more of a store of wealth, not so much for trading for food in an all-out survival scenario so much as "if the dollar tanks, this substance can still be traded for any currency in the world."

At least, to me it would seem more practical as a substance people were able to store now, and use it to recover financially later, after any SHTF scenario has blown over.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I think it's meant to be more of a store of wealth, not so much for trading for food in an all-out survival scenario, but more of a practical, "if the dollar tanks, this substance can still be traded for any currency in the world."

I think the idea is to be able to store it now, and use it to recover financially later, after any SHTF scenario has blown over..

That would make sense ,and i have agreed with those who use that logic..but these people were storing gold and silver instead of storing food...because food will go bad and metal won't.

 

[Marinea]

I don't understand those folks.

In the event of some kind of fundamental change (collapse or disaster or war), I think a barter economy will be created. Some hay for a rabbit, some corn for some eggs, some veggie seeds for some canning jars. I don't see a consumer economy prospering in that environment.

The problem is, we have gotten used to instant gratification and short term satisfaction. People assume the status quo will never change. If it does change, it will likely happen fast, and mindsets are often much less quick to adapt.

 

[Rainey]

And better than trying to hoard enough food or gold--for me it would be learning some skills and knowing something about the resources where you are. Like how to grow your own meat on weeds and willow and some extra stuff from the garden. And to use the 'bunny berries' to grow a better garden. And wild edibles and useful herbs. Skills develop instead of deteriorating and learning how to do those things (and to make your own music and build things that are beautiful as well as functional) lead to more satisfaction and less fear than hoarding.
Just my opinion

 

[Marinea]

And better than trying to hoard enough food or gold--for me it would be learning some skills and knowing something about the resources where you are. Like how to grow your own meat on weeds and willow and some extra stuff from the garden. And to use the 'bunny berries' to grow a better garden. And wild edibles and useful herbs. Skills develop instead of deteriorating and learning how to do those things (and to make your own music and build things that are beautiful as well as functional) lead to more satisfaction and less fear than hoarding.
Just my opinion

Excellent point. When the skills are needed on day 1, it might not be the best time to realize you need to learn something. An example- how to access fresh water locally if the power is out long term.

 

[alforddm]

I have had a bad habit in my life. I bounce around from hobby to hobby. Part of the problem is that I enjoy learning new things more than practicing things I already know. So, it ends up that I know how to do many things passably well but nothing well enough to really excel. The upside is that in the event of an economic collapse, I have the skills to do alot of different things. I can make soap from fat and wood ash, tan hides, make things from leather (gun or knife sheaths, halters, etc.), sew, raise rabbits off forage (I'd have to eat quite a few to get my numbers down), make medicine from herbs, and make and fire pottery from our local clay. Good thing hubby has a prepper mindset. :lol:

 

[michaels4gardens]

And better than trying to hoard enough food or gold--for me it would be learning some skills and knowing something about the resources where you are. Like how to grow your own meat on weeds and willow and some extra stuff from the garden. And to use the 'bunny berries' to grow a better garden. And wild edibles and useful herbs. Skills develop instead of deteriorating and learning how to do those things (and to make your own music and build things that are beautiful as well as functional) lead to more satisfaction and less fear than hoarding.
Just my opinion

Excellent point. When the skills are needed on day 1, it might not be the best time to realize you need to learn something. An example- how to access fresh water locally if the power is out long term.

Perfect,
I always get a kick out of people who say, if SHTF I can grow a garden, -I ask where is your garden plot ? is it fertilized and ready for seed?, when I get blank looks I ask, what kind of vegetable seed have you stored in your freezer ?, -usually get the same blank looks- I hope it never comes to this- but- history tells a different tale...

 

[Marinea]

Come on Michael...don't you know that anyone can grow a garden? I mean, how hard can it be? Those farmers/preppers/rednecks aren't college educated city smart folks like me.

-said by many (not me)

 

[Nymphadora]

Come on Michael...don't you know that anyone can grow a garden? I mean, how hard can it be? Those farmers/preppers/rednecks aren't college educated city smart folks like me.

-said by many (not me)

:rotfl:

Exactly, nothin' to it! :lol:

Goodness gracious, wait until people find out that grocery stores don't actually grow meat in a petri dish! :x

 

[Ghost]

I find preppers to be an interesting lot. On the one hand they understand that societies do come to an end. In normal main-stream conversation the idea that this society can come to an end seems to be a "no-go zone". I seam to have to remind people that the Roman Empire was a society that can to an end. I'm sure that they were at least a few people that speculated that the society they lived in could come to an end. I would hazard to guess that those Romans were considered crazy, even those individuals who were more or less correct on the method in which the society disintegrated. On the other hand, I'm not sure that I can do anything to really prepare for "the end" in a meaningful way. I also feel that chances that I meet my demises by not being prepared are low compared to other ways I might meet my demises.

That being said it is interesting to speculate on how the survivors do, provided that our society ends in a way that does not lead to human extinction.

A medium of exchange seems like a logical outcome of such a situation. Being less people there will be more gold per person so It could be logical. On the other hand, "Will there be enough gold coins in circulation to have a post-apocalyptic economy?". I once jokingly suggested the currency of post-apocalyptic economy (in North America) would be the eagle-back. By that, I am referring to Washington quarters struck from 1932-1998. These feature the bust of Washington on the obverse the the bald eagle on the reverse.

I guessed the eagle-back because, they are wide spread enough that forging humans could find a supply of them, but they would not be as common as the post 1998 quarters. They have a good durability and they could not be easily counterfeited in a post-apocalyptic world. Granted that there availability would not make them a high value coin. But there size would mean that you could carry enough of them to have significant value compared to daily needs. Say, one rabbit carcass could be worth 2 eagle-backs that could be traded for an item of similar value.

Gold coins would also have value but it would be based on the eagle-back say 0.1 oz gold coin would be worth 100 eagle-backs, but gold coins would be too scarce to be traded for daily commodities

Just a weird though, not taking myself too seriously in this post.

 

[Homer]

...

Goodness gracious, wait until people find out that grocery stores don't actually grow meat in a petri dish! :x

Of course not, everyone knows it's grown in little pink packages! :shock:

Let it come, just opened a can of green beans a couple nights ago that got missed I canned in 2015! Oh yeah, they came from our garden.

If you want to see what the preppers are worried about do a search on Deutsche Bank Issues, the largest bank in the world...Let it come but we'll be guarding our gardens with a shotgun.

 

[Thorn]

I don't understand those folks.

In the event of some kind of fundamental change (collapse or disaster or war), I think a barter economy will be created. Some hay for a rabbit, some corn for some eggs, some veggie seeds for some canning jars. I don't see a consumer economy prospering in that environment.

The problem is, we have gotten used to instant gratification and short term satisfaction. People assume the status quo will never change. If it does change, it will likely happen fast, and mindsets are often much less quick to adapt.

Im with Marinea.Trade will likely take over,however a little gold or silver can't hurt as long as it is kept secret.

A good supply of foods is the foundation for and survival plan. Meats such as beef and deer will likely be more valuable for trade because they will become rare quickly, however small livestock will benefit you more, as they can be eaten in one meal, and will not go rotten before you can eat the whole carcass,they can survive off of less feed, which means less of your time and labor collecting now essential hay and other feeds, and they are less valuable, and therefore less likely to be stolen. Most animals will be hunted to the point of extinction in a few years-so that bets off.Vegetables will also be essential for overall health and vitamin intake. Herbs will be useful as spices to change up food and for medical reasons.

Tools will become hard to find and valuable.Good shovels,Knives,Guns,Ammo,Clothes,Fabric,Needles,Horse Tack,Animal pulled equipment,Thread,Wood,Tin,Wire for animal caging, are a few examples of thing that will be valuable.

Medical supplies and information on how to use them will be worth gold if SHTF.


INFORMATION.I cannot stress this enough.Books,Notes,even the information in your head is vital.Knowing something as simple as how to make rope from grass could save you life.Research,study,knowledge. Assume the worst will happen (even though this is very unlikely) and we will all be living in grass huts and reverting to herders, or farmers living in cottages who are lucky to be able to afford nails from blacksmith.Then gather the knowledge and skills you will need to survive this.Learning one or two skills very well will also be valuable.A herbal doctor,A Cattle/goat/sheep farmer,A Blacksmith,A clothes maker(I'm certain theirs a word for that),the list goes on.

It likely will never get this bad, but better to be ready.Worst case scenario you can pass it on to those who many need it someday and will live secure in the knowledge that you have a chance at life if the world ends.More likely is a modern form of the Great Depression,or a WW3.In any case the best things you could have are a few rabbits' flock of chickens,a goat, and a garden.

 

[michaels4gardens]

A good supply of foods is the foundation for and survival plan. Meats such as beef and deer will likely be more valuable for trade because they will become rare quickly, however small livestock will benefit you more, as they can be eaten in one meal,


INFORMATION.I cannot stress this enough.Books,Notes,even the information in your head is vital.Knowing something as simple as how to make rope from grass could save you life.Research,study,knowledge. Assume the worst will happen (even though this is very unlikely) and we will all be living in grass huts and reverting tIn any case the best things you could have are a few rabbits' flock of chickens,a goat, and a garden.

in The "great depression" deer were completely extinct in most eastern states in 60 days, we now have 3 x that population.

 

[guardianoasis]

Oh lord another topic I could write novel posts on lmao

I have a foot on both ends of the fence with this. I agree with investing in gold and silver but my reasoning might be a little different. In my mind, if the economy collapses people will sell off whatever they can to be able to afford to keep their goods. Following the whole instant gratification, save that which is mine situation. THAT'S when I would buy the gold and silver. Supply will be high, demand will be low and people will be selling it however they can to make the dollars they need. Not now. Right now at this very moment an ounce of gold is valued at $1,313.60 Silver is at $16.57 an ounce. When the market crashes and people need to unload those it will drop way down and all of us peoples with cash stashed throughout our houses can grab it cheap. Then when the market goes back up and the price of those go back up, you have your own little wealth pocket hiding in your hoard. This is also why I am getting into real estate investing. Population keeps going up. People need places to live and most can't afford to buy because of consumerism (insert entire huge post about being a minimalist in a consumer heavy economy). But I'll stay on topic here.

I do agree with learning the ropes so to say, but adapting them with new age technology. There are thousands of people out there who do the work for us to borrow the ideas to use on our own. I moved to learn how to garden because I didn't like the food in our local grocery stores. I worked at a Walmart and there were protests in California that stopped traffic on the freeway. We didn't get produce shipments for three days and everyone in the area got a taste of what it was like to have empty shelves in the store. A couple years prior in Feb 2012 we had a really bad snow storm here and the property I lived was at the top of a hill with a 150-200 drop on the side of the road. If I didn't just fill my propane and buy groceries, I would've died. Those are just a couple situations that lead to my switch. That being said I've also done research in building my soil and producing as much food in a small area as possible. I've learned how to raise animals, working on researching all the illnesses and injuries. I try not to baby them as much as possible so they build up resilience and resistance to survive. I'm constantly trying to learn things and network with people so we can all learn skills. My hardest lesson is that I cannot do it all. Knowing someone who can tan hides for me in exchange for rabbit meat, and someone who can sew said pelts into clothes to keep me important in exchange for pelts and meat will be important.

I don't think the economy will ever get so bad that money itself will become obsolete and the world will work strictly off a barter system. There are way to many money hungry people to allow that to every happen completely. I do however not trust in the banking/financial system as a whole. I'll use them for their loans to get me starting with my investing but my main goal within the next five years is to become completely independent of a banking system, using it only for online transactions I can't use cash for (I.E. rabbit transport or ordering products online to be shipped to my home).

Done... lmao I could talk about this for hours too.

 

[Zass]

Guardianoasis, interesting you should mention real estate investing. My news outlets have been spamming me with reasons why property is a poor investment and even how upgrading one's property is a bad choice right now, etc etc. To me, that screams now is the time to invest. :lol:

 

[guardianoasis]

Guardianoasis, interesting you should mention real estate investing. My news outlets have been spamming me with reasons why property is a poor investment and even how upgrading one's property is a bad choice right now, etc etc. To me, that screams now is the time to invest. :lol:

Well they are partially right. I'm almost done with my broker license and will be selling houses and stock setting up what accounts I do have in banks to be able to finance the purchases when I make them. But I'm not making them now because while the market is going up in home sales (and therefore will be lining my pocket in commissions), what goes up will go down.

Also another topic I can and have gone on for hours about.... but I don't wanna hijack the thread lol