Bad Advice on Buying Silver?

Tina wrote to UrbanSurvivalSkills and asked: " Several of my friends and I get together to can vegetables, and we take turns going to flea markets to sell items we no longer want or can do without. This has brought about a on-going conversation about the dollar collapse (not all my friends believe) and what it would be like to have a barter only community. I brought up the fact that I have been buying some Silver coins. Two of my girl friends almost seemed offended saying that: if we have a Germany type of dollar collapse, money and gold and silver will be useless and only bartering items and growing your own food for trade would be the right. How can I make them see that having some Silver and possibly Gold is a good idea, along with food?"

UrbanMan's reply: If your friends agree with having physical skills and material to enter into a collapse and survive through barter then they have taken the first step to Surviving SHTF, however you won't be able to talk anyone into anything. It just may be too uncomfortable for them to think about it or accept the possibilities of an impending collapse and the chaos it brings. It will come back to haunt you if you do try and talk them into anything. They need to reach the belief in preparation on their own accord based on the merits of the facts.

Second of all, if one or two of your "friends" think that buying Gold or Silver is foolish, then their attitude probably stems from the "Being Left Behind" syndrome. This is where they are mad that they did not have the same foresight to procure Silver and Gold, be it Bullion or coins for Silver melt value, and don't want you to be ahead of them. This is also the so called "Crabs in a Bucket" phenomenon. If you put crabs in a bucket, when one finds a way to climb up and escape, the others will actually pull him back down into the crowd.......it's like "how dare you" get ahead of us.

In fact, you ought to search for "Crabs in a Bucket" on you tube.

It is great that you and your friends can produce barterable goods, go to flea markets to work in the barter society or otherwise find that what you can make has value for others. There are many other categories for preparing for a economic collapse,.... .......planning, security and the stocking of appropriate durable and on-durable items and material to make survival not only possible, but possible with some decent standard of living. After all, that's the goal.

If you continue dripping information to them about buying Gold and Silver your "friends" will undoubtedly turn to the "Gold and Silver are poor investments argument". Your counter is that you are buying Gold and Silver as a commerce contingency in the period of time when the dollar deflates in value and before a true straight barter society will commence.

I truly think that during and after the period when the dollar becomes worthless, Silver and Gold will be of value and will end up being the new basis for a new currency standard. Tell your friends that if they think Silver and Gold are not important then that's fine,....don't buy any. And I'll just bet one silver round to a can of your vegetables that your friends will experience "fear of being left behind" and start some type of Silver procurement, even if it's just a couple of one ounce Silver rounds a month.

Good luck and prepare well, Tina.