There are a whole lot of talented people in the United States and elsewhere. Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about this current crisis is that most people were getting up every day, designing bridges, learning cardiology, teaching kids, and generally being productive. All of the sudden, we get an email from the banks that everything is completely ruined and there will be no more civilization. It’s time to head back to the hunter-gatherer days. The average lifespan will turn to age 36, most people will die from mammoth stampedes, etc.

In reality, people are pretty resourceful. Just because global finance capitalism is caught in a seizure, doesn’t mean people will stop being resourceful. This is why we’re interested in the establishment of community-based barter networks. That energy and talent has to go somewhere.

Farnoosh Torabi is finding all kinds of examples of barter online, from orthodontists trading braces for server maintenance to laser treatment specialists looking for dog grooming.

If our centralized financial system screws up the concept of money, people will go without it. There will likely be all sorts of grey-market activity as a result.