Posted on 09/27/2015 6:01:08 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
In Greece, the age-old practice of bartering for goods and services is experiencing a renaissance as the nation endures the sixth year of its debt-driven economic meltdown. And as bartering has come to mean the difference between starvation and survival for some Greeks, Americans ought to take note.
The New York Times on Monday explained how virtual barter networks are popping up in Greece to help individuals and small businesses in the nation survive harsh capital controls put in place to combat a long-standing liquidity crisis.
Earlier this year, many Greeks found themselves unable to withdraw money from banks for daily necessities or business expenses because of long wait lines or, worse, the institutions’ shutting their doors altogether.
Imagine the frustration of being unable to access basic goods and services because of the collapse of the fiat financial system upon which you once relied to make sure that there was food on the table and a roof over your head.
Even scarier, imagine the anxiety suffered by skilled workers and business owners with something to offer customers but afforded no government-sanctioned avenue to leverage skills and goods to fulfill personal needs.
The Times reported that Greeks, confronted with those very problems, have found ways to survive despite their government’s economic incompetence.
From the report:
As Greece grapples with a continued downturn, bartering is gaining traction at the margins of the economy, part of a collection of worrisome signs for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who was re-elected on Sunday.
Graphic artists are exchanging designs for olive oil. Accountants swap advice for office supplies. In the agricultural heartland and on the Greek islands, informal bartering, which has historically helped communities survive, has intensified as more people exchange fruits, vegetables, other crops, equipment, clothing and services.
And while some of the bartering is taking place in the old-fashioned form of handshakes on the street, technology has also provided Greeks opportunities to barter for a wider range of goods and services than the traditional this-for-that bartering model would allow.
Again from the Times report:
Much of it is being done virtually through online networks that match offers and needs, a digital twist on a centuries-old tradition.
After capital controls were imposed in June, about 6,000 users signed up for Tradenow, on top of 25,000 registered members. Even small businesses that had previously shunned barter networks as unworkable have come aboard.
The system equates one tradepoint to one euro, and lets users barter directly or rack up the digital currency to get goods and services from others in the community. To attract business, users can also deal in a mix of euros and points.
The modern online systems make bartering more efficient. The activity can also have a multiplier effect in the economy, generating new work and business.
In Greece, it has taken six years for even a modest barter economy to take shape in the face of one of the most painful economic collapses in modern history.
Why? Because, much like in the U.S. today, mainstream economic thinking and government denial that economic collapse would never happen made bartering seem a cumbersome alternative to fast-moving fiat currency. Naturally, Greek individuals and businesses faced a learning curve.
In the U.S., you can bet that the barter economy would be much slower to grow any semblance of mainstream acceptance following an economic meltdown. One problem would be that the federal government would do anything in its power to shut down barter networks as the economy worsened. After all, businesses’ and individuals’ abandonment of the dollar would represent the ultimate proof that fiat money has no value beyond propping up those who control its distribution.
But there’s an even bigger problem. Most Americans today can imagine no scenario in which the U.S. would reach point of economic turmoil that has befallen Greece.
In fact, outside of alternative media publications like The Bob Livingston Letter™, there’s been hardly any mention in recent years of how bad the U.S. economy really looks to those with a view from the inside.
Lloyd Darland, in his book “The Emperor’s Clothes Cost Twenty Dollars,” explained how the Federal Reserve’s sins of the past are leading the U.S. toward rapid economic decline.
The biggest losers, Darland said, will be average American consumers.
Livingston has similarly predicted: “Bread will cost $25 a loaf. Hamburger meat will cost $60/pound. Gas will cost $37/ gallon … that’s a $500 fill up. I know this sounds absolutely insane. But you need to prepare NOW because it’s already started …”
And while warnings like those from Livingston and Darland continue to lie outside the realm of mainstream economic thought in the U.S., the validity of those long-standing warnings is slowly being realized.
Consider this report from the Washington Examiner in June:
With all the chaos unravelling in Greece, Congress would be wise to do what it takes to avoid reaching Greek debt levels. But it’s not a matter of sticking to the status quo and avoiding bad decisions that would put the budget on a Greek-like path, because the budget is on that path already.
A quarter-century ago, Greek debt levels were roughly 75 percent of Greece’s economy — about equal to what the U.S. has now. As of 2014, Greek debt levels are about 177 percent of national GDP. Now, the country is considering defaulting on its loans and uncertainty is gripping the economy.
In 25 years, U.S. debt levels are projected to reach 156 percent of the economy, which Greece had in 2012. That projection comes from the Congressional Budget Office’s alternative scenario, which is more realistic than its standard fiscal projection about which spending programs Congress will extend into the future.
That’s right, the past 25 years of U.S. economic policy are almost a mirror image of the 25 years leading up to the Greek collapse.
In other words, it’s probably a good time to start honing your bartering skills and encouraging your friends, neighbors and business associates to consider doing the same.
I see at least 5 bags of flour and I wonder if that’s yeast in the other container?
Looks like a senior citizen basically living on bread they’re baking. Or should I say, they’re stocking up on flour.
Preppers PING!!
Hat tip to PROCON for the heads up.
That’s why the Christian remnant needs to stick together and barter AND avoid the chip.
Sometimes things just go really bad or bad at the personal level.
It isn't always the worst case scenario.
To plan like it will be is to miss planning on stuff like I'm running into now.
My 'bad' is a personal level thing. It doesn't involve large groups of people.
/johnny
Booze, cigarettes and sex work the best, LOL!
(Not that I’d know ANYTHING about that!)
I will share that when I was Section Sergeant back in the day, I kept a footlocker filled with things my guys were not supposed to have; girly & car magazines, candy, snacks, etc. I also made sure they ALWAYS had hot water for shaving and showers when we were in the field.
I never dug a foxhole after that, LOL! A little bit of forbidden fruit goes a LONG way! ;)
I understand what you mean.
I was looking back in my journal recently and saw a note about your diagnosis, and that you’d said your prognosis was “weeks to live.” It’s been more than seven months since that date.
I still remember to pray for you!
It's up to God, not the docs.
That's my first prep. With God. The other preps are just a benefit.
/johnny
Sounds like an opportunity for an entrepreneur to start an exchange mechanism NOW for the internet, with off-line back ups if internet is gone.
I watched this video about the collapse of the Argentinian economy and they finally have resorted to creating bartering co-ops.
It’s almost an hour long, but worth the time to watch and learn from. You will see this happen in the USA.
Argentina’s Financial Meltdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCxbIjYTFQA
One of the frequently cited prepper dilemmas is “charity”.
Putting up a sign that states “no charity; barter only” puts a usable line in the sand.
tradepoint = bitcoin?
I’ll take any gold and silver coins you’re wanting to throw out.
Don’t know.
Trade magazines have been around for decades. Radio stations here announce free for the taking or trade items on Saturday mornings.
Make a homemade solar oven or buy one to save on those bbq supplies.
Instead of merely stealing your wallet, obey’s sons will be stealing your hand.
The younger crowd who have no clue how to cook or basic life skills will be more traumatized than older folks. Had a distant married cousin who called home because they were starving but when his mama got there, they had a whole chicken in the fridge.
Prayers and hugs to you.
It sounds similar and we all know how bitcoin turned out.
The one major dif between bartering and bitcoin is that bartering isn’t virtual!
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