I've used stock market gains to help buy a car, house, and a boat. I'm sure that counts for something. Do you withdrawal your entire paycheck every payday? The Federal Government is taxing BTC. BTC is here to stay. >"Beans and bullets" doesn't just happen. Look to the weimar or zimbabwe collapse. Society still functioned. People still went to work. Hard assets, gold, silver, tools, etc still held value over the dollars. People spent their entire paychecks on payday because the paper would dive each day. The current world economy has enough momentum to keep people going even after a "collapse" of the dollar. I have to give you that. Very solid historical point and the same is happening right now in Venezuela. When hyper inflation hits, you do want to convert that currency into anything physical. The problem is, no one knows when that will happen. Sitting on silver or gold and waiting for the sky to fall is doing nothing for you in the meantime. Make some cash now, and prep if you like. I'm a big prepper myself. But don't discount the money you can make in the market today. How dependent are we really on China for food? I believe America is a net exporter of food. Upvote for good discussion.