If things really got that bad, I think some sort of alternative currency or scrip system would come about, or perhaps certain items, like cigarettes, would essentially become money. You wouldn't trade cigarettes so you could smoke, you'd hold onto them and trade them for other things.
If that happened, that would come much later rather than sooner. Everybody in the system would have to agree the alternative currency has value, or everybody would have to believe they would get their skull knocked in if they don't honor the currency. If just a few influential people didn't honor the alternative currency, then the whole system would collapse because those few people would cause a ripple effect. The U.S. Dollar works because substantially everybody believes Federal Reserve Notes have value. I'm sure even Ron Paul believes it's possible to walk into almost any store and buy something with cash in his wallet.
Bartering is clumsier and less precise, but several orders of magnitude simpler.
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