Does anyone see the day when we have to buy food with PMs? I don't, not realistically anyway. I like to think I'd be semi-prepared with my PMs and a couple guns. But if you really believe there's a good chance of "SHTF" Do you have a stock of goods? Guns with a stockpile of ammo? Hundreds of gallons of water? Food stores for months? Crop seeds? Medicine and bandage stock? Or do you think you'll just go to the SHTF market and trade your PMs for all that stuff? Don't freak out on me if you're one who does believe, I just wonder how prepared you really are.
As unlikely as it seems, it seems far more unlikely to me that the paper scheme we've got going will continue indefinitely. But it wouldnt be that different really. You would have your gold held with a bank you trust, and use your EFTpos card as you do now to spend your 'money' in the bank. Don't think silver will do it though, who knows
You would have your gold held with a bank you trust .... with a "bank you trust"? "banks" and "trust" is the root of the problem :| whether its a bank or a goldsmith is historically what got us in this mess in the first place
Depends what country your in. SHTF scenario's will be different for different regions. And in any SHTF scenario the black market thrives and people will accept other goods and gold.Don't know about other PM's but gold has an undeniable track record. Don't know if a SHTF scenario and Supply shortages are one and the same but if China's manufacturing sector starts shutting down factories as they are already then one could feasibly see shortages in all manner of everyday items. Look on the back of non perishable items from your next major shopping trip..You will see a large proportion of Made in China items. I remember times growing up when there were runs on Bread and milk at the supermarketThe shelves emptied really quickly. Psychologically its extremely hard for City people to fathom the concept of shortages of anything when you can walk into any Australian Supermarket and buy virtually 3 varieties of everything. Any body who believes in a SHTF scenario at the moment in Australia would be branded a nutter if this was brought up at the Dinner table. Prudence is not a popular trait in this day and age. REDBACK
When the S really hits the fan, I don't think it's going to be like those zombie/apocalypse movies (that's what most people think it's going to be like), read this long blog post by an Argentinian guy about what happened when SHTF in Argentina earlier last decade. http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2008/10/thoughts-on-urban-survival-2005.html
Ohhh, if that's all the SHTFanners are worried about then I wonder why they spout total bullion dogma? I thought they meant chaos in the streets, armed thugs, etc. Like if we lost our power grid. If it's not world wide then someone on some eBay will buy Numis LOL
I'm getting prepared, more for the sake of being prepared that 100% believing it will get that bad. What makes todays world different to Weimar Germany? Nothing. If we have worldwide economic collapse then it will be a SHTF scenario where PM's will have greater purchasing power than paper dollars. When the flooding occurred in Queensland they were air dropping FOOD and WATER to affected areas. In some areas all shops were completely empty within days. We are a 1st world country, with no economic instability or warfare, trucks still driving and farms still producing and they were still heavily affected. That was a SHTF scenario on small scale. I know you are from the US remember stories or the great depression? Remember more recently hurricane Katrina? Same thing, smaller scale. If and when we have some wide spread problems this all becomes real for us. I will be preparing slowly, but surely.
I've lived on some place where there was no government, no police, running water, electricity etc. Life went on, you learned to adapt. Sure there are people getting murdered and/or robbed for what they have on them but it wasn't happening everywhere or in broad daylight, it was very similar to what that guy from Argentina described.
I doubt Americans will be flipping eagles for a Big Mac. Ever. Those who are stockpiling tin cans and digging storage rooms are, in my humble opinion, overly-paranoid. I will try to explain why. But, as someone pointed out in another thread, this is the same society that built nuclear fallout shelters in the 1950s. I'm not saying you shouldn't be prepared, but there is such a thing as going off the deep end. But maybe it's just an American thing because quite frankly, the Anglo-Saxon world doesn't know what to expect from an inflation, the only example some of the more acute citizens know of being the Weimar hyperinflation. But let's take a look at France post-WWII and their currency devaluation following Bretton Woods: 1) In 1945, 120 francs bought a US dollar 2) In 1949 it was 350 francs to the dollar 3) By 1958 it had hit close to 500 francs to the dollar So in 1960, everything denominated in old francs was simply divided by 100 and a new franc was introduced. French society did not fall apart and people were not robbing each other for loaves of bread a-la 1789. So in the end, given the fact that not all devaluations end in societal collpase, I really doubt that the collapse of the US dollar (if it actually occurs) is going to plunge the US into a Mad Max scenario. But look at it this way: * Deflation is a natural economic process that seems to be occurring now. In this scenario, the US dollar will be worth something. * Mega inflation is an artificially manufactured scenario that derives from a Central Bank that has decided to commit economic suicide in order to pay down a debt. In other words, look to the politicians and the bankers to see what they are doing. It will be their deliberate actions that will tell us if the road to hyperinflation has started, not merely market forces (and it hasn't at this time). QE1, QE2, the Twist etc etc is not the beginning of hyperinflation. Hyperinflation would begin with REAL PRINTING. What is real priniting? We'll know it if we see it. * Because most people on this board are well attuned to what is happening in the world economy, we should have plenty of forewarning that 1) The system is starting to be flushed with money that banks are currently holding in reserve. 2) The US Fed has decided they are going to hyperinflate. (again, this IS NOT just a round of QE, this would be REAL PRINTING and we will know about it!) If you see scenarios 1 or 2 beginning to occur, you will have time to stock up on you food and non-perishables. Politicians will be debating what to do for months while people watch it on TV oblivious to how it would affect them. That would be the time to take your trailer to Costco. Nothing ever happens has quickly or as suddenly as you expect. Those stocking up at this time are over-pessimistic, I think.
Except that 'guy' embellished many details and probably just made up others in order to sell a book. I've done a quick bit of research and found that while their was an economic crisis it was nothing like he purports, certainly not bands of highwaymen roaming the countryside, poisoning dogs and pillaging farms. If you believe his account like it's the spoken word of God, a totally factual accounting of the situation in Argentina, then you shouldn't. Christ even the airlines only had to stop international flights a day or two here and a day or two there.
I don't think its going to go as slowly as you suggest: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N8gJSMoOJc[/youtube]
A family member is Argentinian, for the most part, and depending on where you lived, what was written by Ferfal is true.
That was a nice fairy tale, but supermarket shelves are not going to empty in two hours of a financial statement on TV.
I think people are too stupid to realise what those announcements mean if they were actually made or else the shelves would be emptying out.
Survival-wise, I'm not prepared at all. One thing I am counting on is more COMMUNITY stuff when (not if) the SHTF. People growing their own goods; screw EFTPOS and the supermarkets. The only thing that's gonna bring that about is a mini-crisis, at the very least.
goldmoney.com style. Not a fractional reserve lending system like we have today but an institution that you pay a fee to to store your gold, that must store 100% of it and not lend it out. Profit would come from storage fees. Just a convenience from carrying around rocks really, and being able to purchase over the internet etc.
When I see something else from a reliable source, ie; not a book written for profit/entertainment, then I'll buy in to that societal SHTF. Economic SHTF is not in question, only it's real life ramifications.
Exactly. If you want to start stocking up on food, buy it as close to the time as you will need to use it! You'll have plenty of time to stock up if such a scenario did come to pass. It would only take a few hours to get your supplies to last for several months. The silly thing about that little clip is that within 12 hours of the hypothetical Chinese announcement, the Fed announces a 1.5 trillion dollar injection. Really? Or would they just dither around for a few weeks of crisis discussions, FMOC emergency meetings and super-Congress meetings instead?
