goldsilverdash

What about 1/10 Krugerrands?

Silver, gold, cryptocurrencies, small durable barter items like batteries, razor blades, lighters... - many things can be used in trade. Preparing for barter, you would do well to hold some silver coins as well as gold coins in various sizes.

Fair enough 🙂 Though, I guess you have to swap whatever you happen to have that gets you what you need.

Why couldn't gold be used in barter trade? If you are bartering for "larger" items, gold coins seem perfect for it. Or in some extreme scenario, a gold coin could perhaps buy you food for the day.

Indeed, it is incredible that people trust centralised crypto exchanges. But you don't have to, you can (and should!) hold your crypto funds in your own wallet for which you control the private keys.

"Gold on a blockchain" doesn't even sort of eliminate a trusted third party (unlike real cryptocurrencies). You would have to put massive trust in the entity holding all that gold creating big counter-party risk.

The problems with silver are the high premiums (even higher than those on fractional gold) and in some cases the VAT.

Already 20+ years ago, there was talk about e-mail making sending letters by post obsolete and killing postal services. Yet, people still send letters and cards by post (and online shopping means many package deliveries by post as well). So, the decline of postal communication may not be quite as rapid as one might think?

On the very same map one can see that the same is true of Ireland, yet it is part of the EU. Same for Malta. Yet, Switzerland is right in the middle of Europe, yet is not in the EU.

You might check out https://celticgold.eu/ an online dealer based in Germany that delivers internationally. Silver-to-go.com seems to be no more, but they are the same company as https://www.coininvest.com/en/ another good online dealer based in Germany. You can also have a look at https://www.gold.de which is a German comparison site (in German language only, and compares German dealers, some of which might sell only domestically and locally).

Well, isn't it the case that people all over the world have attached value to gold for thousands of years? It is hard to imagine a scenario in which they would just stop. But maybe if it becomes possible to manufacture gold, or if an enourmous quantity of gold would crash into earth?

According to Investopedia, stores of value (other than currency) "... such as gold, silver, real estate, and fine art, have proved their worth over time. The price of gold, in particular, will often skyrocket during times of national peril or when a financial shock hits the broad markets, earning it a reputation as the ultimate safe haven." They go on: Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/storeofvalue.asp It is hard to imagine that gold will ever become worthless. Fiat currencies becoming worthless, on the other hand, is not hard to imagine, and it has happened many times.

Excellent question! I believe that getting your own house in order is the answer. It makes most sense to focus on changing things that you have an actual influence over. Trying to change the whole world can only lead to frustration as we are so insignificant as individuals, whereas changing yourself and your own way of life is within your own power. And this is not just about personal survival, it is also a way to lead by example and hope to inspire others. “Present society with one improved unit”. And, more importantly, it is about becoming more self-reliant and hence less dependant on the government. This is essential I think, because we can never hope to put up resistance against something on which we are dependant. You don’t bite the hand that feeds. Only if you stand on your own two feet can you ever be able to resist power. Acquiring precious metals is part of being more self-reliant as it is a way to take some of your wealth out of the system and to keep it in your own hands. The same with cryptocurrency (if you hold it in a non-custodial wallet).

I guess that unless you live close to a main road out of the city you will be safer. I intend to have this in mind when looking for a house.

No matter who you vote for, the system always wins.