4 ms·
Famously instant ramen noodles is the currency of choice for people in prison: small, uniform and non-perishable. Just like every other society, in the absence
by someperson 6y ago
Famously instant ramen noodles is the currency of choice for people in prison: small, uniform and non-perishable.
Just like every other society, in the absence of cash I'm sure soldiers have developed a bartering economy. Likely including to acquire drug/alcohol/tobacco products that may be otherwise banned. You sell me your old Nintendo Switch and I'll use my EagleCash card to buy you 100 packs of instant ramen at company store [1] prices.
Also, if anybody has a somewhat-trusted human network, it's possible to do Hawala [2] transfers across different financial systems without any actual foreign exchange transactions across the boundaries.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_store https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_store
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala
- eru 6y agoCouldn't soldiers also just use cash to augment their trading? Or is that specifically banned?
- sneak 6y agoHard to get much of your US bank account contents as USD cash when you're off on a military base enclave in some foreign land. It's less hard (but still expensive and inconvenient) to get it in the local currency. You're also capped at relatively small amounts (a few hundred bucks of local currency per day).
- eru 6y agoYes, that is true. Though I'd image normal USD cash is still more convenient for soldiers than eg instant noodles?