Barter is the New Currency in Socialist Venezuela
Kevin Felts 07.09.18
How bad are things in Socialist Venezuela? Their currency has reached a point where it is almost worthless. Rather than buying important items, (such as food) with money, the people of Venezuela have resorted to bartering.
There are a lot of lessons to learn from Venezuela, and not just about Socialism. We are watching a modern day collapse, which is what a lot of people prep for. In the collapse of a society, what would preppers have to barter with?
In Venezuela, people are bartering with fish, cooking oil, and flour.
Fish for flour? Barter is the new currency in collapsing Venezuela.
Under the midday sun, dozens of fishermen wait to sell their day’s catch by a lagoon in the town of Rio Chico on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela. But they aren’t expecting cash in return.
Instead, they’re swapping mullets and snappers for packages of flour, rice and cooking oil.
“There is no cash here, only barter,” said Mileidy Lovera, 30, walking along the shore with a cooler of fish that her husband had caught. She hoped to exchange it for food to feed her four children, or medicine to treat her son’s epilepsy.
Ability To Barter
Over the years I have stood on the prepping pulpit and preached about:
- Stockpiling fishing gear.
- Having some laying hens.
- Planting fruit trees in the backyard.
- Having a backyard garden.
- Stockpiling seeds.
Venezuela is an excellent example of why preppers should stockpile such items. In May of 2018 an article was posted here on AllOutdoor about stockpiling seeds for bartering. How many readers read that article, shrugged it off, and never gave it a second thought?
Consider this for a moment, given the political climate and economic collapse, how many people in Venezuela would be willing to trade for fresh yard eggs, fishing hooks, garden seeds, or even fresh vegetables?
What would someone be able to get for an older laying hen, or even a guinea in Venezuela?
Stockpiling Survival Gear
In another article the reader was presented with a question: If you had advance notice of a catastrophic event what would you do? Consider places such as Venezuela your advance warning.
How many of the readers are stockpiling the most basic survival gear, which could also be used for bartering?
- Seeds
- Fishing hooks
How long will seeds last? In 2017, I grew squash with seeds that were a decade old. The seeds had been kept in a deep freezer from 2007 – 2017.
Buy stainless steel fishing hooks and they will store forever without rusting.
Final Thoughts
It only takes a few minutes to pick up some seed packets at a local big box store, or from a locally owned farm supply store. Put the seeds in a Ziploc bag, then put the bag in a deep freezer.
Every spring, big out outlet stores get their fishing supplies in. Then there are the garage and estate sales where someone may be able to find fishing gear.
Stay diligent and over the years the survival gear builds up. When the next Venezuela comes around, the reader will have a nice stockpile to barter with.
