Planning for societal collapse: Guns or Gold?

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

Playboypenguin

Moderator
I have a local friend that always makes fun of me for buying guns and ammo instead of investing more money in gold. We keep having this same discussion. He is a big believer in buying gold and hoarding food stuffs in case things go south. Thing is, he does not like guns or violence. Whenever we discuss this I always tell him I do not need to stockpile food or gold since he lives close by and has no guns.

Even though that is said tongue in cheek I always feel that people who discuss the collapse of society and use that as a reason to buy gold are so off the mark. If society actually collapse fresh water would be worth more than an object like gold. Gold's value is entirely created in our minds. It does not serve a real need. Therefore in a true collapse scenario it will not be desirable. A carrot would be worth more than a chunk of gold as big as your head.

In other words, ever bullet I own will be worth 100 times it's weight in gold simply because it offers one of the most desired needs, the need to feel protected and to defend your resources, so I see it as a better investment if the collapse of civilization is your fear.

Thoughts.
 
Gold and barter will be way. I would never trade guns or Ammo .Person might return with friends and take all :eek:
You friend is a fool and will be lost quickly when people find out about food and gold and no means of self defense.
 
Depends on how far society has fallen. It has to fall pretty darn far for there not to be some medium of exchange.

If society falls far enough then clean drinking water will be worth more than either gold or guns.
 
Why are you guys talking like America has fallen apart and we're living in the Mad Max movies? America is still a perfectly viable and functioning country, it's just that it's going through some hard times. And those hard times are not the fault of one man or a single government administration, either. The nation's fine and I don't think that we have to make a choice between hording guns and ammo or gold.
 
You make an excellent point, playboypenguin, in that possessions (including clear water) are moot without the means to defend them. Some calibers of ammunition seem already worth their weight in gold. :mad:

But any collapse soon will be merely the collapse of the dollar. The world will go on. At the rate of our deficit spending and the Fed's insidious collusion with the Big Banks, the dollar is sure to see total failure in favor of other fiat currencies, most notably the Chinese yaun. Gold, as a medium of retaining value tho, will always do so and more. - .just as it did in the '45 Bretton-Woods Agreement and at the Nixon Shock of '71. Just like they used to say, a twenty-dollar gold piece (1 oz.) will always afford you a very good suit.

So just to be sure, keep your ammo and gold/silver coins under the bed, along with barrels and barrels of gasoline in the back yard.

Oil, food, bullets and gold . - . the rest is the cost of civilization.
 
In the event of societal collapse I believe that gold will be absolutely worthless; rather, any usable hard to find goods (food, water, ammunition) will be the most valuable commodity...
That said, having guns and ammo goes a long way to acquiring and defending the stores neccesary to survive.
 
It all depends. How else?


TEOTWAWKI vs SHTF.


SHTF: massive natural disaster or a nuclear detonation nearby. These may require evacuation under difficult circumstances and possible permanent relocation. Guns, mobility, water, and shelter will be more important for 72 hours or so. Then, money (perhaps in the form of gold).


SHTF+ (TEOTWAWKI-): EMP attack destroys electrical grid in central North America. This will require evacuation over a much longer distance, perhaps to another continent, and there may be no return. The American dollar will be valueless. You may not be able to take your guns with you to where you need to go. You may need to fight your way out, but if you successfully get out, your gold will be indispensable.


TEOTWAWKI - Major asteroid impact or return to ice age. Only food, water, and guns will help you. Gold may be valueless.
 
PBP,

Check out the website "survivalblog". You will find lots of interesting essays and comments about this point and many others.

I recently bought some gold and silver to augment my investment portfolio. Gold is doing pretty well right now. Even if the value goes down (which it will), you will still have it in your hands. Gold has been of "value" for thousands of years through every rough period humans have been through. I am guessing it will continue to do so. In a tough time you can sell off a coin or two to get cash to pay the rent or trade for goods. In good times they just increase in value like the rest of your portfolio. Look at APMEX to see their calculators on how gold has increased in value over the years. Watch out if you do decide to purchase as there are lots of scams out there from various precious metal dealers.

My thoughts are to have gold AND guns as well as other necessities. I have added to the old axiom of "Beans, Bullets, Bandaids" to include "Bullion and Building Supplies". Many of the people I know have very few guns, a small amount of ammo, less than a week of food in the cabinets, and not so much as a sheet of plywood and a few nails to board up a broken window. We rely way too much on the "system".

I am not so concerned with teotwawki or shtf but I am concerned with being able to keep my home heated during another severe winter storm (where we live now), surviving another hurricane (where we used to live) or just being able to keep the family at home for a month or two in the event of a large scale pandemic or 9/11 style event.

Of primary importance is the need to be able to defend your stuff but you definitely need to have stuff to defend...if that makes sense. You will only be able to eat one bullet. lol. A well rounded approach is the way to go on this one.
 
I consider that a "societal collapse" here in the US is probably going to look a lot like the aftermath of Hurricaine Katrina (or Andrew...still makes me shudder). Or at worst like the areas around Baghdad.

A certain amount of lawlessness and unreliable services/supplies.

So it seems to me that the most reasonable planning consists of how to buffer you and yours against the times when items are scarce, and a means to defend your stuff and drive off the uninvited.

If it gets like "the road" I'll probably only need just the one bullet anyway.

Thing is, he does not like guns or violence.
Click to expand...
If a full blown collapse does occur,it won't matter what he likes...it's what he'll have to deal with...reality.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've had to make that point to more than one person in my lifetime.
 
What was that guys byline I saw on this board maybe, the famous spaghetti western line about there are two kinds of people, those with loaded guns, and those who dig?
 
This sounds like the classic Guns or Butter, Economics 101 debate written by Paul Samuelson.

My beliefs are in the Golden Rule: Them that has the Gold, makes the Rules. However, guns are going to be needed to protect the gold if total anarchy breaks out. I have my fair share of the "Gold" and I now want to protect it and I do that by acquiring more guns than butter and building an adequate supply of bullets to make sure the guns are worth the metal they are made from.

Supply vs Demand shapes economies and the world situations on a daily basis. An armed society is a safe(r) society.
 
Sorry, be we now have a LONG history, and statutory prohibitions, as it were, against TEOTWAWKI, SHTF, Zombies, Killer Comets, etc., threads.

Closed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top