this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2023
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[–] tpyo@lemmy.world 83 points 10 months ago (5 children)

I had an ex who couldn't fathom why in a walking dead/fallout scenario I'd personally not choose to trade with gold, but actual useful and tangible goods like food, ammo, salt, skills...

Their whole argument was gold has always been valuable so it'll always be valuable and I was like "the fuck good would gold do me when I'm starving"

[–] ours@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

And if you have gold, someone with ammo will always find a way to "trade" for it.

Just a question of how fast the ammo goes during the exchange.

[–] Boozilla@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Thank you! It has never made sense to me, either. Hoarding gold did make some sense back in the day when you were fleeing a local or regional calamity, or could expect to see a return to relative normalcy in your lifetime. But if global civilization collapses from climate change or similar, gold will have no practical value to a refugee or survivalist.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

I have a spice rack that takes up a large portion of my bugout bag. I guarantee that when I start cooking and whip out some Saffron, powdered Sumac Berries, and Turmeric for a rice dish, and people will just want me to stick around and cook for them. Especially since I also have my, my father's, and my grandfathers BSA manuals, each of which has different pictures of various edible plants, herbs, and spices that can be found in the various parts of the world.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

That's why there's a thriving bottlecap trade after the apocalypse.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 10 months ago

It's valuable because barter economies aren't real and don't work. All the alternatives you mention are difficult to transport, not fungible, or not scarce, so they won't work as a currency. Either we revert back to gift economies where distribution of goods happens within a community and follows cultural rather than economic rules, or the market settles on a currency for standardized arbitrary transactions between strangers that has the necessary properties of a currency.

[–] OctopusKurwa@lemm.ee 33 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This was Alex Jones' exact business model in the early 2000s

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You mean it isn't anymore?

[–] SaiPenguin@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago (2 children)

He discovered the profit margins and recurring sales of vitamins and supplements and I think that’s been the main focus in more recent times.

[–] ours@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

Alex Jones rages on the effects of soy. Sells a bunch of soy based supplements.

[–] brsrklf@jlai.lu 1 points 10 months ago

Also denying shootings happened and harassing the families of their victims so the idiot customers consuming said supplements have something to rage about.

I hope the trials are successful at fucking up the rest of his life.

[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I didn't know any of this going in, but it seems weird to me that the article kept tying the company back to this Glenn Beck guy, who seemingly only shilled for it. Is there something I'm missing?

[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

https://youtu.be/JugzmUOc5Fs?si=0d7o90N1iQARnmyi

Oh I just thought Glenn Beck is doing what the guy in the comic is doing.

[–] Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

Yeah, looks like it. Probably a paid spokesperson.

[–] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 10 points 10 months ago

When I've been watching the Republican debates and similar Fox News content I saw they have heavy advertising from some investment company that sells it as gold-backed securities or something along those lines. They know their audience and they're collecting on that fact

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

https://youtu.be/Z3j8kvUtYdY

[off topic?] 1983 movie about some middle class white guys who decide that civilization can't survive.

[–] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

That's a movie I never knew existed. Jeez Robin Williams has made millions of movies.