armageddon

On September 6, 2012, the US government warned its citizens to be prepared for the coming zombie apocalypse. They encouraged people to stock up on food and water and anything else that would matter in a world where nothing was safe. As stupid as it may have sounded, it was really just a tongue and cheek way of saying that if you’re ready for a zombie apocalypse, then you’re ready for anything. So, what do you do when financial Armageddon comes? Read carefully…

Mapping Out The Fallout

A complete collapse of the financial system is a hard thing to imagine. We use money so intuitively. Let’s say for example that all the central banks of the world were demolished. Our fiat money is worthless and we now have to adjust to a new life. What would we be faced with?

First of all, if there’s no money, people won’t be able to pay or get paid, so any infrastructure wouldn’t be able to maintain itself. That would mean no power, no one running the store you get food from, and no one to open the gas station. Second, any money you saved up in investments is now down the drain. Getting the idea so far?

Be Flexible

The main thing to understand is that you’re going to live. The end of the financial world doesn’t mean the end of life as we know it. Life will just be simpler, which actually seems complicated, because we’re so used to the complexity of the world around us. Instead of going to a restaurant that has a bunch of staff working a system that involves gas for power, a supply chain of food that extends thousands of miles, and bricks and mortar from wherever to build the place by people who were hired by the guy who owned it all, it means that you’ll have to go out and get food yourself.

That means going hunting or going to the nearest farm and getting food from the farmer… but that would mean you would have to pay him, and without money, that wouldn’t be possible. So in comes bartering. Hopefully, you have something of value that the farmer actually needs. Possibly a bucket of nails for a bucket of corn. If this all sounds like some horror film, it’s not. It’s a simple thing to understand and circumnavigate.

The How To’s of the New World

All fun and daydreaming aside, the actual process of survival is actually very relevant and easy to understand.

If we look at the areas of the world today where economies have collapsed and they are in fact dealing with what I’ve just described (yes these things happen in real life), you can learn from that and be prepared. Take Greece as a prime example. While their banks are putting together a new system, people who weren’t prepared are going through difficult times. People aren’t even able to eat.

The ones that are able to survive have resorted to using their gold and silver jewelry or even dinnerware to purchase food. Some of them are trading their assets, like their TVs or clothing, for the same purpose. On a less warm and fuzzy note, many women are surviving through prostitution. By the same token, if you had services that were in demand, you could treat them just like a hard asset.

The only thing that would really prevent someone surviving in this type of world would be extreme laziness or snobbishness. It really does put your priorities into perspective when you’re faced with figuring out what’s really important to you.