Let’s Make a Trade

There are headlines all around us, warning of an impending economic meltdown!  They urge us to “stock pile” food, first and foremost.  But as research continues, there are also other items necessary to survival should a disaster occur; and this doesn’t just mean a financial catastrophe, but a tornado, hurricane, earthquake or other type of devastating event.

            Of course, we can each go out and buy what we think we will need in the event of an emergency, but everyone has their individual preferences.  What do you do if, when the time arrives, you don’t have an item you’d really like to have, or even need?  From the early days of settling here, people have used bartering as an option.  

Even before settlement began here in the States, it’s safe to say, bartering has been around for centuries; long before cash tendering (or credit cards) were used for everyday purchases.  That said, there are historians who will tell you bartering wasn’t used “before” money, but evolved because there were times when people had no money, but still needed goods and services.  

In fact, there is a very broad stance taken on this issue, including the idea that currency was created to manipulate people, given the easy manifestation of monetary debt.  I’ll let the “historians” fight that one out, but can tell you, from my perspective, bartering is a wonderful system, once there is a “community” which is fairly “like minded!”

            The concept is simple. People trade for goods and services rather than tendering cash.  If one family has an excess of a good or service, they can use it to “purchase via trade,” for an excess of goods of services from another family.  

            We have friends who are avid hunters, and are very successful in their attempts.  This leaves them with a freezer full of wild game, which cannot all be consumed by one family in a single season.  The option: barter---or sell it!  Within the “community” however, it suits multiple parties when hard earned cash need not be used when other resources are available.

            I love to bake bread, quilt, and am reasonably good in other areas that can be a resource, as well.  I have a friend who raises chickens and has goat milk, neither of which I have.  What a great resource to be able to trade—for eggs, goat milk and meat! Another friend in this same “community” is a technological whiz, something many people aren’t.  His services are a great bartering tool. 

            This method of paying for goods and services might not suit every family.  Sometimes it takes a bit of creativity to even realize an area for bartering, when a person considers themselves just an “average joe, with nothing to give.”  That is usually far from the truth.  We all excel at something and have something to offer.  

While you may not need to ‘barter’ for any of your goods or services at the moment, what if you did?  Is there a ‘community’ of people you would want to work with for something like this?  What would they likely offer?  Do you need to do some research, ‘just in case?’  If you aren’t sure what you could offer in such a circumstance, ask what others might need.  In the conversation, you may be delighted, that you have just the perfect answer!