I don’t think people expect complete societal collapse but significant events that would make whatever they could have been saving worth less. For example inflation is quite high right now, the stock market is tanking, there is nowhere to put money besides like I-bonds that is safe and won’t be significantly affected by current inflation.
Also at least in the US I expect faith in public institutions is at a pretty low point. At least with who I know, people genuinely think the US could Balkanize. We are always told about climate catastrophe and how we are doing literally nothing to stop it.
With that outlook why would you bother to save money now when things are supposedly to only get worse from now on. Money is make believe, if shit goes down having saved some money isn’t going to matter.
If money doesn't matter, who is going to fare the best when things start to collapse? I would imagine, like with seemingly every major event in history, the rich usually end up fine and the poor bare the brunt of the pain and no one cares. If the collapse is inevitable, I'd still rather have money/assets.
Imagine arriving at a concentration camp or whatever future euphemism they come up with.
You could try to bribe a guard with a Rolex. Then he has a Rolex, and smirks at you as you silently scream "we had a deal!".
Or perhaps they grab your hands, look at them, and say "ah, no calluses, looks like you don't do real work".
Or they see your glasses, and say "ah, an intellectual".
Or they see you have gold fillings, and say "you people always have gold".
Any which way, they take everything you have on you and proceed as planned.
What counts, what leads to survival, is extreme luck and being more useful alive than dead. Possessions are no help.
There are other scenarios for "collapse", I grant you. But whatever shape it takes, it always devalues property that depends on stable society and by comparison, skills and knowledge and adaptation become more important.
Also at least in the US I expect faith in public institutions is at a pretty low point. At least with who I know, people genuinely think the US could Balkanize. We are always told about climate catastrophe and how we are doing literally nothing to stop it.
With that outlook why would you bother to save money now when things are supposedly to only get worse from now on. Money is make believe, if shit goes down having saved some money isn’t going to matter.