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I think this is a very interesting read for me.
 
H3H3 Podcast Higlights said:
I have no idea what they are talking about. They are just making shit up like Hegel.
Click to expand...
They're saying that gold is a weak barter good compared to food because food is the most practical good, and gold the least. This ignores the obvious fact that currencies weren't automatically abolished whenever there was a historical famine.
 
They're starting with a vaguely salient point, the fact that they in specific wouldn't value gold much in the hypothetical post-Trump Mad Max wasteland they jerk off about. I actually agree with that point in as much as in that hypothetical situation, I too wouldn't really put much value in gold bars over, say, gas mask filters or water purification tablets. Here's the funny part. Their masturbatory fantasy where all those stupid gold people turn into Bethesda environmental storytelling skeletons on top of their dragon's hoard isn't realistic (or unique to them, as in this situation many people will die fully stocked with more practical trade/survival goods).

For one, those people tend to also stockpile ammunition, canned goods, and toilet paper, the true currencies of the immediate post-societal-collapse nightmare. For two, they also tend to be... preppers? In that they in theory exercise and train to survive. For three, the key word is "immediate". Humans are social animals, and total anarchy never lasts very long. Sure, warlord states aren't a great type of society, but they are society. When King Bob first of his name, formerly the local Walmart night shift cashier, sets up his feudal raider state, what do you think he'll turn to to back his currency? Clean water, food, strength of arms... and more tangible things he can put his distinguished profile on in the form of coins, when he's established enough.

Yes, things only have the value humans ascribe to them as value is a human concept. We universally ascribe value to rarity, stability, usefulness, and aesthetics. Gold is rare, stable, useful for high-tech applications, and most importantly, shiny. While I probably won't take your Krugerrands in exchange for my last roll of toilet paper, you might be able to convince me with rings, watches, and objects of art: high aesthetic value, easily transported, readily turned back into useful goods. And hey, some of King Bob's gold coins might persuade me too, since I'll probably be dealing with his traders at some point.
 
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