Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

Not sure if this belongs in Survival prep, but it just didn't seem to fit in prospecting.

I have heard from a lot of you that we will never be exchanging metals for food. Any comments?

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Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

Honestly, it does not surprise me since Zimbabwe's fiat has collapsed.

I've heard of Merchants accepting only foreign currency such as U.S. Dollars.

Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

I've been to Zimbabwe, what a sad sorry state that has turned out to be.

Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

Here's your answer..........

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/09/zimbabwe

scyth

Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

They are being artificially held down. Artificially.

Look at all that land. They have resources and they have strong men.

This is organized chaos. : (

Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

True. Aren't we all being artificially held down though?

Where do you think things are headed?

Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

Putting trust in PMs to make it though an economic downturn can be as risky as putting trust in fiat currency.

Ultimately the market drives the price. If bread is scarce, and to think you can pay someone the equivalent in $2.00 USD in gold or silver post collapse is ludicrous. Hell the going rate could be an ounce of gold for a loaf of bread if they would take PMs at ALL!

You should first prep to be independent and then and only then do you consider PMs or other means of portable wealth.

Some seem to think all you need is a bunker and a bag full of PMs to ride this out. Boy will they be in for a rude awakening when price is set by demand or if it is even stable enough to leave your home in search of supplies assuming there are any at all. But somehow, business will magically be open to those who hold PMs :)

Dave

Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

Of course, armed thugs can enforce any kind of mess, as Zimbabwe illustrates, but in most fiat collapses, some thugs set up black markets where they provide the armed thugs for a cut of the transactions they protect.

I agree preps are more bedrock than PM. Also the old saying, 'have gold and hope you never need it'. And a pandemic would certainly keep me from going shopping if I could possibly avoid it.

That said, the odds favor what has been the case over and over when fiat paper dies: gold and silver money emerge. Also barter.

The foodless villages likely were raided by Mugabe's thugs who take even the seed. He has pandered to his own murder, inc for many years. He gave them white farmers' lands but they had no idea how to run them, so no harvest there either.

But some commerce remains: The pick up truckers in the video who buy grain and oil and bread and risk their lives taking it to where the gold panners are and marking up 3x to cover their risks. If a Mugabe roadblock catches them they lose not only their goods, but their lives often.

Others travel by train to South Africa and buy goods in pitiful amounts they can hand carry to resell at enough markup to make a bare but survival living. They are industrious and resourceful people buffaloed by heavily armed bad leadership that has better organization than they do.

Or so it looks from what I can see from here. If I lived there I might form other conclusions.

That makes me agree with both positions, I suppose. I do think, generally, gold will buy as long as anything monetary will. Preps and barter goods are good insurance as well.

Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

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Re: Zimbabwe - gold for bread
 

I don't think that this is the way it will go for us for the simple fact that in most regions of the U.S. we don't have gold in our soil.

This is essentially a form of slave labor. For us it'll be harvesting a different form of slave labor, based on what fruits our labor has to offer. What it'll be I'm not sure.