Food and water have value because we need them. And, if civilization collapses, food and water would be the new currency. Along with things like skills, guns, ammo, seeds, tools and whatever else would help us to survive. Gold, silver and other precious metals? Worthless at that point. If it can't feed you, if it can't protect you or if nobody is willing to barter it for something you have nothing.
Your not wrong on a fundamental level, but I'm of the opinion that this is a terrible argument - And its one that this sort of discussion CONSTANTLY falls into, you're not unique in it. At its most basic level, yes, if all of civilization collapses, any trade exclusive good becomes absolutely irrelevant, and currency is just that, a trade exclusive good, whether it be precious metals or printed fiat or digital ledgers.
The problem in these discussions is that any sort of system collapse is treated as an all or nothing - Either civilization is fine, or we're barbarians killing each other over the last can of beans. Which tends to overlook the wide gulf between the two, where wider states fail, but some significant portion of the markets and trade stay in place, often under local powers or warlords, depending on how shit it goes. The reality is that in any grade of collapse where most people can continue to actually labor rather than devolve to subsistence will still have use for something to facilitate trade - And when there's still people running the water treatment plant, growing food, and offering services, you'll want that medium of exchange, as figuring out how many jars of grandma's preserves are worth a patched pair of jeans to someone who has plenty of food from patching clothes but wants the electrician to patch his radio so he can listen to the HAM stations is a nightmare.
The bronze age collapse didn't immediately lead all the locals to regressing into hunter gatherer groups - they regressed into insular city states that slowly poked back out into the wider world. The collapse of various governments and dictatorships over the last century didn't immediately lead to people becoming Heinz Warlords, but it did almost universally lead to the local currency being abandoned in favor of foreign currencies as people still wanted to engage in trade internally, and didn't want all their money to evaporate, see Venezuela.
States may collapse, but economic activity rarely does, and currencies and stores of value are a means to facilitate economic activity, not states and civilizations. Be careful not to conflate the two.
They're afraid to put him under with his multiple strokes, sleep apnea and all that meaning he could die on the table.
Can you imagine being the poor bastard on the other end of this? You go into work expecting a normal day, you stick your hand up a fat mans ass and he dies of bliss. Horrified, you give your report, get interviewed by the authorities, and go home early - give you plenty of time to sort through what just happened. You sit down, and decide to try and focus on something else, bust out a game you've been working through, figuring maybe you'll find a trick to get past that boss.
You boot up Elden Ring, and find a new message written in front of the boss door. You open it, eager for the wisdom to distract you.
It reads: "Try Finger, But Hole"
