RE: Prepping for SHTF scenarios
December 27, 2016 at 1:05 am
(This post was last modified: December 27, 2016 at 1:05 am by scoobysnack.)
(December 25, 2016 at 10:29 am)Crossless1 Wrote:(December 25, 2016 at 10:12 am)Tiberius Wrote: I like how you think people will use precious metals in an apocalyptic future. They won't. There will be a return to bartering. Gold will be worthless to you and anyone else.
I agree, with the proviso that gold would be worthless to anyone in an apocalyptic future so long as everyone had a sane, rational perspective in such a future. But I wouldn't really expect that of everyone. Value of anything beyond essentials is bound up in perception. If enough people believe that precious metals remain valuable in such a world, then they'll behave accordingly, and the useless metal will retain some value for trade or for power over others. It wouldn't be rational; straight bartering would. But it might happen, nonetheless.
That said, most of the people I know who stock up on gold and silver don't do so in the expectation of a truly apocalyptic scenario. They do so in the expectation that fiat currency will someday crash and become valueless. In that case, gold or silver would be valuable and useful -- especially for those lacking skills or commodities that could be bartered.
Agree, it's basically the case you just spoke of. Gold and silver have tested the test of time and always have value, because civilizations come and go, and unlike the national currency, gold and silver hold universal value, at least to the rich of each culture. Gold and silver also move inverse to the stock markets. It's basically an insurance policy to replace the money lost in the market investments. They don't gain dividends, so the only investment in them is in the case your other monetary investments start to fail. Other than that, in a true SHTF scenario, they will only be useful in bartering with the rich who have plenty of supplies that would desire that instead of bullets or food.
