The Ten Commandments of Bartering ... İ 2003 Glenn A. Anderson
While cruising the Internet, I have seen quite a few posts regarding bartering wherein some seem to not quite understand the connection between the actual practice of bartering and the proposition of survival. People tend to want to store up what they term loosely as extra commodities that they somehow believe they can trade for something more useful that they might need during a survival scenario.
However, that's not true bartering ... the foregoing is more like a wishful act, done out of sheer desperation as a substitute for any real planning and preparation. Here's what I call the Ten Commandments of True Bartering... think about each of them very seriously.
1. How much is extra? In that we never know exactly what the full ramifications of any survival scenario might be in terms of duration ... exactly how much is "extra" when it comes to storing truly useful things like toilet paper, razor blades, etc ?
The truth is we don't know, so I wouldn't realistically count on having any thing USEFUL that might be considered as "extra barter goods." Better you should do some advance planning and store what you actually need and spend your money in a manner that you won't have to count on trading for what you need.
(2) Useless trade goods. There is a question of morality involved in specifically storing less useful things such as tobacco, alcohol, etc., as trade goods in that one is merely depending upon the bad habits of others to hopefully swap something worthless for something of greater value.
Frankly, I don't consider having to do business with someone that has such a great dependency on something worthless that they might trade something useful away for it as an idealistic individual to trade with. They would be not only dependent, but dumb as a post.
Perhaps more importantly, why waste your money stocking up on some useless item intended for someone else when you most likely can better use the money to purchase something more useful for yourself? Your family is more likely to benefit from an extra case of beans as a useless carton of cigarettes.
(3) Boomerangs. I repeat ... for the umpteenth time ... never trade anything to anyone that they can shoot back at you. Firearms and cartridges are not a reasonable form of exchange for anything. First, you never can tell when you might need the last one you own for your own defense. Second, a single .22 cartridge, fired from out of the darkness, can put a very quick end to you, your family and all of your most well thought out survival plans.
I see no particular reason to put my trust in anyone outside of my own immediate family in a serious survival scenario, and that particularly pertains to the wisdom of not putting anything into the hands of anyone less familiar to me, who might do harm to either me or mine. It has nothing to do with paranoia and it has everything to do with common sense and good judgment.
In todays world, while we make perhaps hundreds if not thousands of acquaintances we make relatively few real friends. Among that number we are fortunate indeed to have one or two that we might regard as close as we would a blood brother. And of the lot, we honestly know very little about any one in particular. What little knowledge we do have is often more superficial than not. We think we know someone, but that knowledge is often only based on casual glimpses of the other person while at work, or during some social function of a rather brief duration.
Essentially, in such instances, there is nothing of substance to base good judgment on and therefore common sense should tell us that it would be particularly unwise to give firearms or ammunition to any supposed friend of that description, let alone to attempt to use such things as a barter item with a total stranger.
(4) Donı t make yourself a ³marked man.² Becoming known locally as the well heeled merchant about town with lots of valuable goodies to trade is the best way I can think of to put a fat bulls-eye on your own back during a survival scenario of any kind.
Neither can I think of a quicker way to get undesirable parties to seek you out along some lonely stretch of roadway between home and your place of business,² or to beat a path directly to your doorway, now involving not just yourself, but the security of your home and family. Needless to say the risk involves coming in contact with people who would not necessarily be interested in doing any good for anyone but themselves.. . by whatever means necessary.
(5) Never trade commodities for commodities. Trade an intangible such as knowledge, skill and/or labor or the temporary use of a tool versus something tangible that you need yourself. The objective is to always come out of the bargain with everything you went into it with plus whatever you bargained for. Essentially you will lose nothing and gain something on each such occasion.
(6) Barter nothing that is not a renewable commodity ... swap potatoes for ears of corn if you will... but save the last razor blade on earth for yourself. This is real bartering as one party has produced a true excess of something like potatoes and the other party has produced a true excess of corn. When one meets and bargains with the other, each will come away from the deal with something of equal value.
(7) Bartering during an actual emergency is impractical. During an emergency, you want to be hunkered down, tending to matters concerning the well being and security of your family. You do not need to be away from your place of security. So it is far better to have spent your money on anything that will actually help keep you tucked in safe and sound during an emergency than some useless commodity that you might be able to bargain with.
(8) The time for genuine bartering is after the danger is over. Call this during the "recovery phase" of a disaster scenario, after law and order have been reestablished, transportation and communication have again become possible to some degree, etc. Until that time, there is nothing in your possession that you are not more likely to have future need of than anyone else.
(9) Loose lips sink survival ships. Think about these things and be very careful of what you say or do around others concerning your preparations. The only "secret" in the world is the one you have never divulged to anyone. Your families security, what you have accumulated as personal and family preparedness supplies and equipment, how many people live in your home, etc., should be regarded as no ones business other than your own. Donıt invite disaster to your home.
(10) Attempting to barter during an emergency is an act of desperation. Pray that you never have to attempt to trade anything for something that you need ... planning and preparation should eliminate any need for trading for absolutely necessary items such as water, food, clothing, shelter, medical supplies, etc.
In order to insure that this is the case, be practical and prioritize your needs honestly ... you are far more likely to have a need for an extensive first aid and medical kit to handle accidents and illness than you are for a ghillie suit and a .308 with a range finding telescopic sight for some imaginary survival scenario. Having to barter for something that you really need in times of a disaster puts you at a distinct disadvantage and totally at the mercy of who ever is holding what you need.
If you dont plan ahead, if you donıt prioritize, and if you are not practical in determining your actual needs, you may find that yourself trading away some costly, prize piece of Walter Mitty survival gear for something that you or a member of your family could have just as well had for just a few dollars during better times, had you not squandered them away preparing for highly unlikely and primarily fear based survival scenarios.
This doesnıt mean you canıt have both if you can afford them ... its just that you have some serious decisions to make along these lines if you can not. Having a good rifle and a good first aid kit is more practical than having an excellent rifle and no first aid kit.
Bottom line ... remember what bartering is ... it is trading either intangibles or renewable resources during times when it is practical to do so... it is not attempting to trade worthless, or assumed excess goods for something of greater value during times of duress... it just donıt work to your advantage that way.
Lehi probably bartered his intangibles those 7 years in the wilderness. He was an educated man, and people like that could go from place to place and settle disputes and law arguments.
