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.