Friday, July 15, 2011

What has value during a system disruption?

Via Global Guerrillas



What has value?

Once, while browsing a forum, this writer saw a post from a traveller who'd been present at multiple total systems disruptions primarily in Asia: total breakdown of society, money had no meaning, etc. He noted that the following commodities very quickly became bartered within the disaster economy:

  • coffee
  • tea
  • vodka
  • opium
  • tobacco
  • rice
  • sugar

Each of these items has obvious intrinsic, practical value. The value of some is tied to the inflated need of addicts (how many people could face a day without a cup of coffee?). Furthermore, according to the poster, the need for these commodities was apparent within a day or two of systems disruption.

Consider other uses for each of these items:

MORE.

3 comments:

  1. Coffee and tobacco.

    They keep me sane and from becoming the idiot everyone is looking for as a solution to the problem.

    RS

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you can't eat it, drink it, wear it, shoot it, or smoke it, it will have no value. :) Just my thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It wasn't mentioned, but white rice stores well, but not brown.

    ReplyDelete