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[–] 47 points 1 year ago (48 children)

What value? Can't eat it, makes shitty tools. It's shiny, but I'm not going to trade ny potatoes for shiny in a survival situation.

You can starve sitting on a pile of gold.

For gold to be valuable you still need social stability.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    It's more for when things have settled down a bit. Imagine you're leading a group of people who secured a good territory and you're growing more potatoes than you need. You may want jewelry made of gold to show how powerful and prosperous you are, both to your followers and to those outside. And you can give gold to particularily important followers, and to other leaders, in a very public ceremony, to show everyone that those leaders are beneath you.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Totally. I was more commenting on the theory of gold having this magical inherent objective value. Which it doesn't, it's a commodity like any other.

    Honestly as a value store, land is probably better.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Not a chemist myself but Gold has lots of industrial applications because it doesn't react to many other atoms or molecules. For example, it doesn't rust at all. Similar thing goes for platinum. Maybe we should buy the latter..

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  • [+] -43 points 1 year ago (42 children)

    I don't think you understand what value means, and that's okay.

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  • [–] 41 points 1 year ago* (23 children)

    Value is what you can get for something. If you can't trade it for something, with anyone, it has zero value.

    A dollar has value because you can trade it for a potato. In an apocalypse, you cannot trade gold for a potato if nobody wants it.

    Value is a subjective thing.

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  • [+] -28 points 1 year ago (22 children)

    And people value gold because it's rare and inert.

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  • [–] 33 points 1 year ago (17 children)

    Lots of things are rare. Doesn't mean I'll give you my potatoes for em.

    At best gold becomes something desirable once there's enough security for me to value having pretty things.

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  • [+] -47 points 1 year ago (15 children)

    Like I said, you don't understand value and that's okay.

    I'm going to ignore you now because you're annoying me with your below-average intelligence.

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  • [–] 27 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    That's such a psychopathic response. It is not acceptable behavior, and you won't win any arguments that way.

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  • [+] -34 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

    Cool.

    I don't have to argue with you people.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)
  • [+] -25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I guess you don't know what projecting means, either.

    You can join the other ones.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I think people forget that gold is incredibly useful especially as a conductor. It's not just for making pretty rings, our modern world as we know it would not exist without gold!

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Yes, the issue with that though is it is used in very advanced conductors. The kind of conductors that can only be produced in advanced factories by advanced large societies. If a collapse actually happened how do you fancy that factory works exactly? You gonna run a conductor factory to sell those conductors to who exactly? The potato farmer you are trying to convince to give you potatoes for that very same gold?

    Low grade electronics that would be valuable in even a simpler smaller community like basic generators and light bulbs use exactly zero gold. Copper on the other hand is needed for almost all of that

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Actually I work with electronics just about daily, and I can tell you lots of connectors get gold plating for corrosion resistance that doesn't effect continuity. But yes in a post apocalypse setting I'm sure it wouldn't be of much value.... In the apocalypse I suspect if any metal holds a high value it would be copper for its usefulness in making tools and electronics. Making bronze tools and weapons is easier than steel so I suspect it would be in very high demand. Hopefully we never have to find out!

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    If that were true people would value me

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago (12 children)

    What uses gold when you're buying/selling potatoes, nobody will think gold is worth anything if society has collapsed it's just a useless hunk of metal

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  • [+] -42 points 1 year ago* (12 children)
  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    At least I can communicate with people without resorting to petty insults

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Why don't you explain it then instead of just calling people stupid?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago

    I don't think you understand the concept of civilization collapsing. Hoard all the gold you want. I'd value non-perishable food and ammo much more than gold. If I've enough of both and you don't... Your gold won't be yours, given enough time, on account of you not being around to own it.

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