Extinction of Man

[bgaede]

Many preppers prepare for an eventual global physical catastrophe. Typically, these include climate change, new disease, mega-flare from the Sun, comet/asteroid impact, nuclear war, close encounters of the third kind, or simply that the Mayans or Nostradamus said so. I venture to say that there is a real danger out there, but it has little to do with any of the foregoing.

What if we wave our magic wand and all money suddenly disappears? Money now has no value. Anywhere! What will you buy without money? Why will you punch your card at the workplace without the incentive of money? What profits can a company make when money is no more? More daunting, why will the corporations which plant seeds, harvest crop, process food and deliver it to the cities continue to do so in the absence of money?

The funny part is that we don't need a magic wand to make any of this happen. It is happening as we speak, right before our very eyes. We gawk at the night skies through our telescopes and gape at the invisible bugs through our microscopes and extinction is staring us right in our faces. The day the global economy collapses, no one will produce food for you or deliver it to your neighborhood ever again. Whatever food there is on the planet that day is a measure of how much time Man has left.

http://www.worldsci.org/pdf/abstracts/a ... s_5694.pdf

http://hubpages.com/hub/We-are-the-last-humans-Part-IV

[scoobie]

Hey Bill,

Thanks for the post, could you pop on over to the new members section and writing an intro post.

Thanks, and welcome to UKP

[diamond lil]

Quite a cheery wee sod eh ? Might not bother hoovering then...

[luxor]

The day the global economy collapses, no one will produce food for you or deliver it to your neighborhood ever again. Whatever food there is on the planet that day is a measure of how much time Man has left.

Quite a cheery wee sod eh ?

a cheery wee sod who has hit the nail spot on,
good post Bgaede

[jansman]

THAT is a very sobering thought.I am just watching BBC news,and there is an item about the USA only having 4weeks money left-after that they default.Just like Greece and Ireland.If the US goes,that sobering thought could well become reality...

[itsybitsy]

THAT is a very sobering thought.I am just watching BBC news,and there is an item about the USA only having 4weeks money left-after that they default.Just like Greece and Ireland.If the US goes,that sobering thought could well become reality...

Got a link please Jansman?

The US will raise the debt ceiling again - that's what they do every time they end up in this situation. Or the government shuts down for a few days until they hash it out.

[jansman]

No link I am afraid-it was on the mid day BBC news(business )probably a throw away comment by that Australian correspondent of theirs .

[Technik]

Well I better stock up on vodka for barter then

[luxor]

The US will raise the debt ceiling again - that's what they do every time they end up in this situation. Or the government shuts down for a few days until they hash it out.

of course they will,
but like a credit card sooner or later your interest payments will be beyond your means to repay them if you keep raising your limit.
then its game over for your economy.

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

[Bladerunner]

Unfortunately we are way past the point where there is not enough money to pay back all the debt.

Money is only created when someone borrows it. However, no money is created to pay the interest, ergo, we are stuffed and it is only a matter of time.

The powers that be are working hard to have a cashless society where all money is digital. Piss off the PTB and guess what, they can wipe out your money (numbers on a screen) with one keystroke. or of course they can blame a computer glitch but you are still stuffed. Also, hackers will have a field day.

No more cash in hand jobs, no more rummaging down the back of the sofa, just complete control over us.

There are lots of alternative currencies that have been set up by communities to counteract this and they seem to be successful. I can also see bartering getting more popular with people.

As for farmers stopping food production, I can't see that. If I grow spuds and I need a loaf of bread, I just negotiate with Mr. Baker down the road and we are both happy. Same thing goes for Mr. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier and Spy. (Why would I need a spy???) You get the drift.

You would still need something to trade though, even if it is a skill, which is good because you aren't going to run out of a skill like other barter items.

Be lucky (and Commercial)