I know people out there who have invested a lot in gold under the belief that in the event of like complete societal collapse or hyperinflation, they could use it for purchasing.

I have the hunch it’s a scam, but I haven’t learned enough monetary theory, business, or economics to understand why.

  • hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    2·
    2 days ago

    Yeah, gold isn’t worth anything unless a community agrees to assign a value to it, which probably won’t happen in an apocalyptic scenario. If you really want to be prepared, you need to stock up on things that are actually useful:

    • non-perishable, nutritious food (preferably something that has a lot of calories in a small serving so you could carry it on you)
    • drinking water!! you would have to change it every once in a while though, so you wouldn’t be drinking germ soup if a societal collapse actually happens
    • durable, good quality clothing for various climates/weather conditions (due to climate change and the possibility that you would flee somewhere, you should preferably have clothing suitable for other climates than just the one you’re used to)
    • miscellanous supplies, like tools for building shelters, farming, making & maintaining different items, destroying things like trees or rocks to make space for building/agriculture or more likely, obtain materials. Things to protect yourself and your loved ones from the elements, like a good tent, sleeping bags, etc. Flashlights, powerbanks, batteries, water purifiers, multitools…
    • knowledge. No matter how much stuff you have, it’s no use if you don’t actually know how to do things. Learn canning, blacksmithing, sewing, gardening, fishing, carpentry, foraging, and so on.
    • ameancow@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      If it gets so bad that you need tools for building shelter, you are absolutely fucked unless you already have farmland and can defend it. People are massively ignorant about how difficult it is to live off the land if you don’t have experience in it and a lot of supplies and knowledge accumulated. It takes acres of crops and animals to support a couple people. It takes months or even years to make that land productive enough to keep you barely alive. Then if you have hard winters you better hope you have a stockpile.

      Financial collapse is one thing, but a total societal/technological collapse would be bad in orders of magnitude that I don’t even know how to describe it.

      Source: work in logistics.