5 Ways to Replace Money In The Apocalypse

Money... a word that coincides with freedom this day in age. In order to prevent yourself from becoming one of the homeless, your going to need some kind of income, in America especially. Without a dollar in your pocket, it can be hard to survive in the real world. Although what would happen if humanity was faced with some massive catastrophic event? One big enough to cripple our society... What if every government across the globe collapsed and paper currency became worthless? Surely we would need some form of method to buy and sell valuable merchandise. That is exactly what we will be discussing in today's article; how can we replace paper currency, so that we might maintain some kind of structure within society after the next world-wide cataclysm.

Bottle Caps

Okay so if your a fan of the fallout franchise, then you should be familiar with this one. The video game series is well known for its use of "Caps" as currency in its virtual post-apocalyptic world. However, this is far from a bad idea in terms of if the situation ever occurred in real life. Not only should the tiny metal pieces of garbage be everywhere, but there would also be a finite amount due to the result of global catastrophe. Meaning, there would be just enough for our species to use as a form of mock currency, at least for a substantial amount of time.

Hypothetically, bottle caps that are harder to find could be worth more than the ones that are more common. Metal caps could even be worth more than plastic ones. I am sure that there are many ways a situation like that could work out. It may not be as exciting as some of the other ideas that made they're way onto this list but using bottle caps can be just as effective as any other post apocalyptic currency.

Water

An important thing to consider is that the item we pick to replace paper currency can vary, depending on the kind of global event that takes place. For instance, water can make an excellent replacement during any situation in which it becomes scarce. Be it a global drought or a solar flare that dries up more than half of our lakes. There are many scenarios where water can be used to carry out different forms of trade.

There is a humanitarian problem with choosing water as the replacement for money. In the long term, it would potentially mean the deaths of millions of people who might be unable to earn water themselves. Although, it's hard to envision some one who is unable to fend for themselves surviving for very long in the any form of apocalypse regardless. A world after the end of the world is going to contain a massive amount of death any way you look at it. If we can avoid this, then we should but sometimes we just can't. Besides even if the poor did go thirsty... would that be any different from what they go through today?

Coins

Instead of moving forward with some new form of currency, we could always step back a bit and revert to using coins. Due to their metal composition, they are guaranteed to be around for far longer then paper money. Coins are also in a lot of ways like bottle caps, where there is plenty of them to be found but still a finite number. As opposed to bottle caps however, some of the metals they are made from hold value on their own.

One of the greatest advantages of using coins as money during end times, is that one, it already is money; and two, it won't be hard for us to find. One down side however, is that we won't know exactly how long it will be before we can make it again. Maybe that finite number will only add to their value, who knows. Either way, you should probably reconsider throwing out your grandmas old coin purse for now.

Bullets & Ammunition

With out a doubt the choice that's my personal favorite, when scouting potential replacements for the dollar. Bullets are a good choice for a lot of the same reasons as coins and bottle caps. They are however, the only option with an additional purpose, one that could be just as important. There isn't a thing on this list that can protect your ass like a bullet can. I guarantee that no matter what we choose to be the next "Benjamin's", i'll be stocking up on ammo either way.

Imagine for a moment that the cause of humanities down fall was something a bit more horrifying. Like an evolved strain of rabies that causes a zombie outbreak or a mutated pathogen that turns everyone into vampires. One could suggest that in these sort of scenarios, the advantages of having ammunition would increase the value of a bullet significantly. Different sizes could also have different values. Maybe a 9mm could be like $1, as a 7.62x39mm could be like $100. In fact, the large assortment of ammunition we have today can make for a ton of possibilities, should we decide as a species to take that route. That way if terminator ever becomes tomorrow, we can at least gun down a couple T-1000's with our lunch money.

Bartering

Probably one of the options that is more plausible than some of the others, bartering would be like coins in terms of us using an older form of trade instead of inventing a new one. I hold something of value, you hold something of value, let's come up with a negotiation, so that we both leave the exchange contently. Maybe two of the items I have are worth a single item that you have. We trade with each other and go our separate ways.

The biggest advantage of having an economy based on bartering, is that anything that holds even the smallest bit of value can be used as a method of payment. That means that the other four options on this list can all be used as well. Given the large amount of different ways one could purchase something, it would be hard for any economic system to become corrupted. More importantly, it wouldn't be too different from today; where as we can use either a valuable item or service to acquire our needs and wants.

The trade of goods and services has been a fundamental part of our society since mankind became civilized. If you have something I want, then there has to be something I can do to get it from you. It is foolish to believe that things could be any different in a post apocalyptic world. Humanity as a whole is going to need to hold onto whatever parts of civilization that we can; especially if we are to survive the next global extinction event. So when the day comes that civilization crumbles and the paper dollar is worth nothing, at least we will have a back up plan.