Imagine, the life of a miner. Stepping into an elevator where
people are packed so closely you can smell what they had for breakfast
on their breath. Then, the elevator jerks into motion and heads down
into the cold, dark, earth; the last rays of light disappearing with
every second. Now, the only light is from the lanterns they carry. Dirt
everywhere, eyes stinging, every breath difficult. The earth rumbles,
everyone freezes; a few stones fall from the top of the tunnel. Sighs of
relief go around as they realize they are spared, the tunnel did not
collapse. Twelve hours later and the early sunset hurts as eyes readjust
from the dark cave they just emerged out of. Another day, still alive.
In my world, there is a colony of miners. Now, these miners are living
in the prohibition era where alcohol is forbidden and illegal, but it
was not always this way, the miners used to go home after every shift
and end the day with some alcohol to release the stress of not knowing
if they would survive another day in the deep dark hole someone decided
to call a mine. So of course there was some person who figured out how
to make homemade alcohol.
Alcohol would serve as a currency
in this situation because everyone wants it, it is easy to make, and it can serve as higher or lower amounts of money depending on the potency of the alcohol. People want alcohol because they have been told they could not have it. Something about human nature makes people want things they are told they can not have, sometimes even more than before it was forbidden.
Every person in the colony has the
potential to make alcohol, all they would need is rye, barley, sugar, yeast, and water. Oh and typically a bathtub, or any container large enough,
in the back woods to cook and ferment it in. While everyone has
the ability to make alcohol, if it is not done properly the alcohol can be
deadly. If rye or barley is used to make the alcohol it becomes whiskey
and is very strong. If white sugar is used it makes rum which is less
potent and cheaper to make. The difference in the ingredients allows for the
different alcohol to represent different amounts of money.
Since there are few ingredients that are easy to get,
it is convenient to use alcohol to buy food and clothing. The wives that stay at home make clothing and other necessary living items, which are then used to trade to other miners for alcohol. The alcohol is then used to trade for more supplies to make more clothing and essential items. Overall, I think that alcohol
would be a sustainable currency in this situation.
