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Recently I saw a post here where the main premise of the post was that Gold would, in fact, be worthless in a true post-collapse world because 'you can't eat gold.' The poster advocated stockpiling things like ammo and toilet paper. I have seen this argument put forth many times and my reaction has always been that Gold will hold more value than little green pieces of paper or numbers in a bank account... but in general I have shared opinion that gold and currency stockpiling will help you get through the collapse but will be worthless post-collapse. You cannot eat gold and it is a poor metal for things like tools etc. Gold has huge value in high-tech and medical... but if we are talking about silicone chip manufacturing it is not really post-collapse is it? If I am subsistence farming and hunting I don't give a fuck about gold.

More recently I have seen people talking about Crypto as an option for non-fiat currency and I think these people don't really understand the value of Crypto. Crypto is a pre-collapse option for storing value that is not based on traditional fiat currency models. But post-collapse is less than worthless. It only works if you have access to a huge global computer network running the blockchain.

So what is 'Intrinsic Value' really mean in a post collapse world? Back when I was in University I took 'Economics 101' and we had an entire chapter and exam on the subject of currency. There are a bunch of qualities that make a 'good currency'. It should be recognizable, transferable, divisible, durable, immutable, etc. But there was only one thing that a currency MUST be, and that is it must be commonly recognized as a store of value.

This often leads to the 'Ammo and Toilet Paper' concept of storing value. This however is not really a currency system but rather a barter system. You are not stock piling a 'Store of Value' but rather stockpiling 'valuable things' The critical difference here is that ammo and toilet paper are consumables - once used they are gone. Currency needs to persist or it withers away. A continuously shrinking 'money supply' does not work.

In today's modern world, if you apply traditional monetary theory, there is only one currency that holds real intrinsic value that does not get consumed when used: DATA and more specifically KNOWLEDGE. Google figured this out 20 years ago.

We live in an incredible age where I can literally do anything and I don't need to know anything to do it. Want to build a house? Watch a bunch of youtube videos with detailed directions. Need to know how to adjust the valve timing on a specific engine? We got answers right at our finger tips. Installing solar panels? Growing crops? diagnosing disease? The knowledge to do all of these things is all right there for us. In a post collapse world this type of knowledge is literally 'worth their weight in gold'

If you really want to prepare for a 'End of the World as We Know It' situation then you should be stockpiling KNOWLEDGE. How to videos, repair manuals, education materials, science videos, and enough tech equipment to read it and view it all. In a post collapse world this type of knowledge will be tradable and highly sought after. This is what would make you 'wealthy' post collapse.

Recently I saw a post here where the main premise of the post was that Gold would, in fact, be worthless in a true post-collapse world because 'you can't eat gold.' The poster advocated stockpiling things like ammo and toilet paper. I have seen this argument put forth many times and my reaction has always been that Gold will hold more value than little green pieces of paper or numbers in a bank account... but in general I have shared opinion that gold and currency stockpiling will help you get *through* the collapse but will be worthless *post-collapse*. You cannot eat gold and it is a poor metal for things like tools etc. Gold has huge value in high-tech and medical... but if we are talking about silicone chip manufacturing it is not really post-collapse is it? If I am subsistence farming and hunting I don't give a fuck about gold. More recently I have seen people talking about Crypto as an option for non-fiat currency and I think these people don't really understand the value of Crypto. Crypto is a pre-collapse option for storing value that is not based on traditional fiat currency models. But post-collapse is less than worthless. It only works if you have access to a huge global computer network running the blockchain. So what is 'Intrinsic Value' really mean in a post collapse world? Back when I was in University I took 'Economics 101' and we had an entire chapter and exam on the subject of currency. There are a bunch of qualities that make a 'good currency'. It should be recognizable, transferable, divisible, durable, immutable, etc. But there was only one thing that a currency MUST be, and that is it must be commonly recognized as a store of value. This often leads to the 'Ammo and Toilet Paper' concept of storing value. This however is not really a currency system but rather a barter system. You are not stock piling a 'Store of Value' but rather stockpiling 'valuable things' The critical difference here is that ammo and toilet paper are consumables - once used they are gone. Currency needs to persist or it withers away. A continuously shrinking 'money supply' does not work. In today's modern world, if you apply traditional monetary theory, there is only one currency that holds real intrinsic value that does not get consumed when used: **DATA** and more specifically **KNOWLEDGE**. Google figured this out 20 years ago. We live in an incredible age where I can literally do anything and I don't need to know anything to do it. Want to build a house? Watch a bunch of youtube videos with detailed directions. Need to know how to adjust the valve timing on a specific engine? We got answers right at our finger tips. Installing solar panels? Growing crops? diagnosing disease? The knowledge to do all of these things is all right there for us. In a post collapse world this type of knowledge is literally 'worth their weight in gold' If you really want to prepare for a 'End of the World as We Know It' situation then you should be stockpiling **KNOWLEDGE**. How to videos, repair manuals, education materials, science videos, and enough tech equipment to read it and view it all. In a post collapse world this type of knowledge will be tradable and highly sought after. This is what would make you 'wealthy' post collapse.

(post is archived)

[–] • 2 pts

If you really want to prepare for a 'End of the World as We Know It' situation then you should be stockpiling KNOWLEDGE.

Interesting take on this topic. So books become the valued commodity. I like it. When the Internet is gone, and computers and cell phones no longer work, the book will return as the primary storage system for information.

Gold will always retain its mystique, its allure, its attraction, but it is awkward as a form of currency. It is worth too much, for one thing. A single gold coin is worth over two thousand dollars. We are going to need things that are worth ten dollars, twenty dollars, a hundred dollars. Silver won't really cut it, unless people start minting real silver coins after a collapse occurs. Old silver coins are not going to be accepted for their silver value because most people won't know what that is.

I think the commodity will be skilled labor. If you can perform necessary tasks, you will always be able to feed your family. Cars are still going to need to start. Toilets will need to flush. Lights will need to come on when we flick the switch. Doors will need to be hung, and windows will need to be glazed.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

I think the commodity will be skilled labor. If you can perform necessary tasks, you will always be able to feed your family. Cars are still going to need to start. Toilets will need to flush. Lights will need to come on when we flick the switch. Doors will need to be hung, and windows will need to be glazed.

Today I can do any of those things... I don't have all of the skills but I can watch a few youtube videos and get by... Access to Knowledge and some practice is what makes skilled labor 'skilled'

[–] • 0 pt

But knowing you can just go find out is already lightyears ahead of some people.

[–] • 1 pt

Yeah but disagree about your take on gold.

[–] • 1 pt

Care to elaborate?

I think that gold has had a mystique with humans since the down of recorded history... and it has a very important quality of being finite and hence not counterfeitable. For these reasons I think it could very well be established again as a reserve currency, but in a real collapse people will not care if it is rare and shinny.

[–] • 3 pts

>but in a real collapse people will not care if it is rare and shinny.>>

Oh, agree with that yes for sure. But it will have a role in the future, backing currency.

Another thing is that gold might, probably will, skyrocket before the collapse and could be sold for material things from the profit.

I hope for some kind of controlled collapse but I dunno, we are in some scary times right now, and so complex.

Great post, appreciate it.

[–] • 1 pt

I don't disagree with you, but i want to point out how you used the words 'probably' and 'might'. I no longer think Gold is a sure thing.

What I am sure of is that the 'Age of Knowledge' is coming to an end. In a real collapse access to knowledge disappears... and if things don't collapse? Well then the globalists win and there is no way that hey will allow normal people to have access to unlimited knowledge. Knowledge is the only real intrinsic value store left I think.

[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

Historically speaking, maybe even to an extent today, the gold itself wasn't the only thing that gave the illusion of power and mystic. In part, it is what people did to obtain it.

If every gold chain around Mr. T's neck represented a tribe or society slaughtered to steal the gold to make the chain then Mr. T would have been revered as a powerful leader not to be questioned or crossed.

[–] • 1 pt

In part, it is what people did to obtain it.

If I was worried about where the next meal comes from I would not spend any effort acquiring gold, and hence it will not hold value. This is my point. The rules have changed

[+] [deleted] • 1 pt
[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Value is not objectively quantifiable since it's subjective. Your question is essentially asking what people prefer to have at some undefined time in the future. Trying to nerd out on all the details is just pointless speculation. It reminds me of people absorbed in RPGs.

[–] • 0 pt

Ok buddy. Maybe the 'preppers' sub is not for you.

[–] • 1 pt

There's preparing, and there's pointless speculation and useless strategizing.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

Skills and hobbies.

Take for example Hiroshima. What do you do after the entire city has been reset? Shoes, furniture, and carpentry. The people that will survive chaos world and build the next one are the ones that know how to do things.

Crypto is not a tool for the next world, but a tool to extend clown world. The technocrat faction of globohomo wants to usurp the governments, and the kikes have been too slow to realize this. Once they start trading crypto instead of buying bonds or dealing with fiat currency it will be all over for the current governments.

This harkens back to skills and hobbies. What do you do when the system exile's you and your family? You live on your own or die on your own. Not many people will trade with you so the gold is worthless, and the food won't last forever. So you will need to know how to live on your own. So being an articulate craftsman in chaos world will go a lot farther than holding the shiny metals. A raider can kill you and take the shiny metals once, but they will want someone who can make gunpowder, or build, to work with them.

[–] • 0 pt

You've probably heard of that FerFal guy in Argentina? He was trading lipstick for stuff.

[–] • 0 pt

Subsistence farmers didn't care about gold in Incan, Mayan, Egyptian, early European times.

But gold was VERY important 5000 years ago. It depends if you want to be a post collapse poor subsistence farmer, or if you want to have a bigger position in the new society.

Be your own bank.

[–] • -1 pt

WHY was gold important to them?

The answer is largely 'because they did not have copper, brass, bronze, steel, etc.'

[–] • 1 pt

Yeah thats not true at all. Gold was never a substitute for the metals you listed. It is much too soft for any use like that. It was decorative and a sign of status and a store of wealth.

Honestly I can't even believe you'd make such an uneducated argument.

[–] • 0 pt

Just like prison...BOOTY is the most important thing...

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Independence is 1.Land you control completely.

Nothing else matters if you don't have a place to live until the fitness test is over.

Salt sugar live egg laying hens a breeding rooster for more hens pemmican slaked eggs lime a foundry . A methods to make alcohol or beer

Pain killers. Particularly tooth pain killers. Tooth pain is devasting. Metal smithing skills. Plastic welding ski lls.

Nails. Knowing how to make wooden pegs that can be used as nails.

A cool cellar.

Of course a source of water. An air well if no source. Look it up

Pre printed books on some needed knowledge

Knowing how to make ceramic containers. It's surprisingly easy. Look up YouTube channel called Primitive Technologies

[–] • 0 pt

This is nothing more than the old 'Stockpile ammo and toilet paper' strategy.

Once you have made your ceramic bowls you will realize you want to try to get that old tractor running... which you had a service manual, or some videos on small engine repair... or some info on getting a normal gasoline engine running on pure ethanol (growing corn is easy and fermenting /distilling is not too hard to figure out)

I bet you would be willing to trade some of your ceramic bowls or even some of your pain killers for the right service manual and the right youtube video

[–] • 0 pt

The guy who has the tools to measure and verify gold will be in as much demand as gold itself.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

I think the period of total law collapse would be short. Frankly without today's societal restrictions many of the worst criminals would quickly be killed.

Thus you get to a trading and skills economy quickly.

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