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Gavin Mounsey's avatar

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences on this.

Hyper-inflation is certainly something worth accounting for, though I think that if one takes an even bigger step back to look at the broader cycles of the rise and fall of civilizations, one should also take into account the potential for time frames (potentially spanning years) when the perceived value of shiny pieces of metal (that one cannot eat) would be relatively low (when compared to things that have intrinsic value, such as heirloom seeds, plant/fungi identification/preservation skills, food cultivation knowledge, durable low tech tools, knowledge and hands on experience).

Modern humans often look back on our tiny scope of the human experience in recent centuries and then extrapolate that into some kind of pattern that we can rely on, but we are also involved with the transition of larger cycles and the current economic, technological, geo-physical, solar and sociological trends are leading us towards a time in which all the patterns we look to in our history books will be irrelevant, as the upheaval, collapse, turmoil and unprecedented changes in conditions we will live through, will strip away all superficial human ideas of wealth, leaving only true wealth behind (that which has intrinsic value).

Thus, as I said to the author of this post above, Diversified hard assets, cash and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.

Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.

When (as Charles eluded to in his talk linked above) those things are combined with forging symbiotic and reciprocal relationships with people in the community in which ones lives ("gift economics") then one's resilience increases exponentially. Symbiotic relationships also cannot be stolen from you. That kind of true "wealth" and resilience far surpasses any amount attainable by the one that hordes weapons, gold or any other physical items/substances.

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NJ Election Advisor's avatar

"Both, And" rather than "Either, Or"

Having died "on the table" last year and seeing the other side, the only satisfaction I have now is contemplating Our Lady (Mary) whom I met so briefly, and sent me back. It wasn't my time yet.

That said, everything pales in this lifetime to what lies ahead.

Still, prudence requires that we have both soft and hard assets, our "human capital" our "spiritual wealth" and physical goods. Of course, the saints who have reached the full spiritual union with God (St. Padre Pio, Maria Luisa Picarreta, et al.) lived on just the Eucharist and little more to sustain their bodies for years and years. I'm not quite there yet, though I did meet a woman at the supermarket just two or three days ago that lived on a piece of toast every day. Impressive!

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