If you don't know Selco, he survived a year in Bosnia when his city was blockaded. You can learn more about it in his book, found here. Supplies were not allowed in or out, and residents were left without utilities and services.

This interview is in his own words and originally appeared in 2018. With times as they are in 2023, it's an important topic to revisit.

How quickly did people turn to barter once your city was locked down?

It was a matter of a few weeks.

Actually, for ordinary folks, it was a matter of few weeks because we did not get the new reality right at the beginning of everything.

Later when I remembered that period, I realized that even right at the beginning of SHTF there were people who did not want to take money for goods. They asked for valuables like gold, jewelry, or weapon for goods that they had.