During times of national disaster or turmoil that results in a disruption of the financial system, goods and service often become the basic medium of exchange. It is for this reason that an aspect of survival preparedness is acquiring a number of items to be used for barter.

Unfortunately not everyone is preparing to survive a major life-disrupting disaster. For those folks, once they have eaten every bite of food in their house and are scrabbling to find more, skills may be the only thing they have to barter with.

An online group of workers were asked what skills they had that they could barter with in the event of a real the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it (TEOTWAWKI) event. While some had practical skills, others don’t really have an understanding of what such as event would mean. There is probably not going to be much call for psychotherapy in a post-TEOTWAWKI world, and charm will probably not carry one very far.

Here are some of their responses:

* I could provide massage therapy and could help with babysitting.

* I am a licensed psychotherapist. I am trained in crisis intervention counseling, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, grief counseling and PTSD treatment. I believe I would be able to barter my services to help calm people down and reduce distress-related reactions which could otherwise be catastrophic.

* I know how to make soap, plus can make infusions, decoctions, and tinctures, etc. from herbs for helping to treat different illnesses/conditions. Also, I grow herbs and have knowledge of wild herbs. I can make earthenware vessels and fire them (without an electric kiln). I know how to hunt & trap and could barter meat & skins.

* An important skill I possess is the ability to retrieve information from books – I am a librarian, and with so many people dependent on technology these days, I believe my skills would be very useful in the above situation.An important skill I possess is the ability to retrieve information from books – I am a librarian, and with so many people dependent on technology the…

* I’m able to hunt with a bow and arrow. I can also start a fire without matches or a lighter. In addition, I can sew well by hand, and weave baskets.

* I can cook a meal in the coals of a fire.

* I could provide child care to others while they seek provisions and adequately warm shelter for their children.

* What a great question! Since I currently work with computers, I would have to turn to my hobby. I do some basic vegetable gardening in my yard. I would be able to help raise food. Knowing how to prune and when to plant can really help the food yield.

* I would offer babysitting services in exchange for help.

* I have a heater which runs on gasoline. You can actually cook food on it. So I would cook food and give it to others and in return get something which may be useful for me (e.g. wood if shutdown occurs in winter)

* I am able to get things I want by charming them with my charm. I would be able to get shelter and food by charming the locals, as well as using my intellect to convince them it is better to keep myself around than to not.

* Ability to start a fire in order to cook food.

* I am an avid gardener, so I suppose I would barter with fresh vegetables (I’d assume this would be a precious commodity, since refrigeration would be out of the question). I am also very good with children (I’ve worked as a nanny), so I could barter childcare for those who must be occupied with other things.

As you can see, some of the folks have a better understanding of what skills for barter might be the most valuable.  Others unfortunately mirror what the majority of people probably believe; that nothing that bad is ever going to happen, and if it does, nothing is really going to change.  They could be in for a rude awakening.

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