How to build a State in a non State environment?

[TheCurmudgeon]

For the best or the worst, such societies do not exist anymore. What ever you say, even in the most remote places everything is valued on a money base. It can even become silly but the concept of money is everywhere.
It's for example on of the biggest problematic of youth integration into post conflict South Sudan.

Also, the function of central state to edit money is tricky. In many places, populations will use a foreign currency to trade. You actually can govern without using national currency.

I don't disagree that money is everywhere, I just don't believe that you have to have it.

However, your second solution is much more elegant. Simply use US currency. As I understand it, it is currently one of the benchmark currencies used in the world (at least until it becomes the Chinese yuan).

Heck, we were using it to bribe everyone in northern Iraq prior to the invasion. Although another currency that is not as easy to counterfeit might be better. Maybe the Australian dollar.

Actually, the more I think about the problem the more I think an external currency would be best. The reason I preferred not having money is because non-specie backed money (paper currency not tied directly to the value of gold or silver) the value of the money is largely dependent on the trust in the value of the government. Where there is a weak government you tend to have high inflation. So if you have no government the natural response is to have no money. However, as you have pointed out, that idea is antiquated. It would be smarter to us an external benchmark currency until the territory had a stable government.