I don’t think today’s economic crisis will turn much worse (unless, you know, we keep digging ourselves into deeper holes with bailouts that reward failure), but just in case it does, I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to live in a world without government and a reliance on a fiat currency like the dollar.

Without the “trade value” of the dollar – in which dollars can still be traded for other goods and services – in a true economic collapse, the dollar’s value would be downgraded simply to paper that can be used as tinder to help start fires.

As the movie trailers say, “Imagine a world…” in which we have no proper economic system except bartering, essentially, with your neighbors. That’s the kind of economic crisis I’m talking about here.

1. Move to a farm and grow your own everything.

A reader of Michelle Malkin’s did this not to survive the economic crisis, but to make out all right when their income was cut in half because of an auto accident. They heat their home with wood, raise animals (many of whom they got for free or via barter on places like Craigslist), and plant their own gardens, not only saving money, but giving them “off-the-grid” food that doesn’t have a bunch of chemicals in it.

They also make their own soaps, shampoos, potholders, etc. Imagine the value of being able to produce things like that for people who always bought their own.

2. Buy gold. Not stock in gold, but gold.

I am currently looking into buying myself a gold coin or something and keeping it as an emergency fund. One reason is for fun – how cool would it be to own your own gold that wasn’t jewelry – but another reason would be this:

People don’t realize that even putting dollars in the bank can be a bad investment. Inflation happens, and the value of the dollar can decrease against other currencies, and against prices for food, clothing, etc.

Remember “Back to the Future, Part II,” where Doc opens a briefcase full of currencies from plenty of different time periods – for emergencies? It couldn’t hurt to own some gold, which has consistently been the basis of civilization’s economies.

3. Develop a skill you can use for trade.

I am a writer by trade, and since I currently freelance, people pay me to write things for them because it’s easier for them, I do a good job and we all win in the end. Free market, baby. But in a time of crisis it would help to have even more basic skills, skills that other people wouldn’t have, and skills that people would want to trade for.

You could use the skills to produce something (like linens) and sell them, you could ask people to trade something of theirs (like food) in order for you to perform your skill for them, or you can trade the knowledge – the skill itself – to them. An example would be the ability to produce your own soap.

Ever watch the show “Survivor”? By the end of the first week, they’re all already going crazy for something as basic as soap. Learn how to produce something easy like that.

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