Life without electricity. Would you survive?

[justugh]

Yes but three times in one day really f's with that statistics

what can i say i am anomaly

little brother said it the best i think .......i think outside the box down the hall and tho 3 doors to the left (the left part is a comment on the saying that came out of left feild .....that is a old saying from a ballpark where the left feild use to be a mental hospital).....forget the name of the ballpark one of the famous on the east coast

 

[Rooster802]

Your perspective is myopic

Seems that way doesn't it? Look at history. Look at how people have lived for 20,000 years. In crisis, when the government fails (as it always does) neighbors take care of each other and survive. In today's world, there is so much diversity and pooled knowledge. In the communities I live in teamwork would start happening within hours. We would be rebuilding within a week. But if you live in an online world and never put down your cell phone maybe you don't know that this planet actually strives to provide for us? My friend, people have been thriving for a long time (literally forever except the last few years) without modern tech. And you think we can't live without it? Briefly? Shit. Besides, my neighborhood alone has enough knowledge to rebuild a society. We have farmers, gardner, engineers, soldiers, welders, carpenters, marijuana growers (medicine), leather workers, drunks, drug addicts, accountants, and even some old people that know just about everything.
When modern (or if, but it won't) modern society fails people will do what they always have. Get on with living. It will be a quick transition and honestly I think American society would emerge much healthier for it. An global EMP attack might be exactly what we need to break down the old power structures and allow all this new science a chance to put into action. I think everyone could agree a reset with clean energy and healthier food production lines would be good for the planet.
OK, yes lots and lots of people would suffer. Some would eat their children. Brother, that shit is happening right now somewhere in our world. Just because its a horrible idea to you, well I've seen both manmade and natural disasters that left thousands dead and millions homeless. And those that survived initially got on with living. Its often the still intact governments that fuck with the rebuilding process because the power that is wants things unchanged. Get rid of that power... freedom. I like freedom. A lot.
So maybe I'm short sighted... but maybe your hyperopia is ignoring what is in front of your face? But even if I'm wrong, it doesn't matter. Fun to debate though.

 

[WeedFreak78]

Seems that way doesn't it? Look at history. Look at how people have lived for 20,000 years. In crisis, when the government fails (as it always does) neighbors take care of each other and survive. In today's world, there is so much diversity and pooled knowledge. In the communities I live in teamwork would start happening within hours. We would be rebuilding within a week. But if you live in an online world and never put down your cell phone maybe you don't know that this planet actually strives to provide for us? My friend, people have been thriving for a long time (literally forever except the last few years) without modern tech. And you think we can't live without it? Briefly? Shit. Besides, my neighborhood alone has enough knowledge to rebuild a society. We have farmers, gardner, engineers, soldiers, welders, carpenters, marijuana growers (medicine), leather workers, drunks, drug addicts, accountants, and even some old people that know just about everything.
When modern (or if, but it won't) modern society fails people will do what they always have. Get on with living. It will be a quick transition and honestly I think American society would emerge much healthier for it. An global EMP attack might be exactly what we need to break down the old power structures and allow all this new science a chance to put into action. I think everyone could agree a reset with clean energy and healthier food production lines would be good for the planet.
OK, yes lots and lots of people would suffer. Some would eat their children. Brother, that shit is happening right now somewhere in our world. Just because its a horrible idea to you, well I've seen both manmade and natural disasters that left thousands dead and millions homeless. And those that survived initially got on with living. Its often the still intact governments that fuck with the rebuilding process because the power that is wants things unchanged. Get rid of that power... freedom. I like freedom. A lot.
So maybe I'm short sighted... but maybe your hyperopia is ignoring what is in front of your face? But even if I'm wrong, it doesn't matter. Fun to debate though.

The problem I see is the government isn't going to fall. If anything they will strengthen their position through military action using the disaster as a way to codify thier ultimate power. Think martial law and citizens being arrested or killed for trying to provide for themselves.
Orwellian...

 

[Bareback]

The problem I see is the government isn't going to fall. If anything they will strengthen their position through military action using the disaster as a way to codify thier ultimate power. Think martial law and citizens being arrested or killed for trying to provide for themselves.
Orwellian...

This is the sad truth .

 

[Nugachino]

Thing is. We should be allowed to be self sustainable. Why should our every dime and action be for their benefit? Why can't we have something to ourselves?

Despite what they think. We are not all mindless sheep. Or low life scum. We are creative beings. We feel. We yearn for shit. We want a future worth living for.

Not to be bound as slaves to the faceless corporate machines.

Many a time I've wished to have lived in simpler times. When people actually spoke to one another. When shit was built not to be thrown out. But to be repaired and used again and again. When good food was just a short walk out the back door. And people actually wrote and performed their own music. I mean good music. Not covers of remixed covers. Or the fuckin epileptic robot sex that is dubstep.

The world is just fucked. Everything is pumped out en masse. We're missing substance from our lives. Instead. We're inundated with everyone telling us we need to own shit. And to look like Ken or Barbie- otherwise we're no one.

 

[cannabineer]

Thing is. We should be allowed to be self sustainable. Why should our every dime and action be for their benefit? Why can't we have something to ourselves?

Despite what they think. We are not all mindless sheep. Or low life scum. We are creative beings. We feel. We yearn for shit. We want a future worth living for.

Not to be bound as slaves to the faceless corporate machines.

Many a time I've wished to have lived in simpler times. When people actually spoke to one another. When shit was built not to be thrown out. But to be repaired and used again and again. When good food was just a short walk out the back door. And people actually wrote and performed their own music. I mean good music. Not covers of remixed covers. Or the fuckin epileptic robot sex that is dubstep.

The world is just fucked. Everything is pumped out en masse. We're missing substance from our lives. Instead. We're inundated with everyone telling us we need to own shit. And to look like Ken or Barbie- otherwise we're no one.

Given the choice between being self-sustaining and using enabling technologies, I will reliably choose the second option. I believe we are allowed to lead a sustainable lifestyle.Few choose it, and I will tell you why I don't.

The societies that grabbed the ability to turn cities from a max bearable population of two hundred thousand inhabitants ... to what we have today ... urban centers with twenty to thirty million people Aand less than a hundred potential draft animals. These utterly rely on power and transportation to sustain this unnatural population density.

If the large urban centers lose electricity (which will include transportation! Our cars and buses rely on electronics to operate, and those are sensitive to EMP damage.) for even a week, the die-off in the urban centers will be swift and exceedingly ugly. No government can afford to have the infrastructure to service all the affected people well enough for long enough. In Forstchen's scenario, it took a year (!) after the catastrophe before the first US helicopter showed up in the hero's rural community.

Rural communities will fare much better ... and it is difficult for me not to credit "pre-existing low population density", room to farm, hunt or ranch, for much of that advantage.

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries are largely a tale of empire through technical advancement. We built these unstable teetering stacks of humans because that setup fueled the industry (and centers of learning) that won us wars ... wars that went all the way to campaigns of extermination. That threat is so great still that I will gladly and reliably risk such a society ... it has proven survival value for me and my blood ... until something bad happens.

We are at a peculiarly vulnerable point in our history. We are not good enough to keep our machines going with only our manual skills. And our machines are not yet smart and networked enough to carry that load. When they become so, the tech base will self-harden ... with possibly dire consequences for us. We might become the pets of our own creations.

 

[WeedFreak78]

Thing is. We should be allowed to be self sustainable. Why should our every dime and action be for their benefit? Why can't we have something to ourselves?

Despite what they think. We are not all mindless sheep. Or low life scum. We are creative beings. We feel. We yearn for shit. We want a future worth living for.

Not to be bound as slaves to the faceless corporate machines.

Many a time I've wished to have lived in simpler times. When people actually spoke to one another. When shit was built not to be thrown out. But to be repaired and used again and again. When good food was just a short walk out the back door. And people actually wrote and performed their own music. I mean good music. Not covers of remixed covers. Or the fuckin epileptic robot sex that is dubstep.

The world is just fucked. Everything is pumped out en masse. We're missing substance from our lives. Instead. We're inundated with everyone telling us we need to own shit. And to look like Ken or Barbie- otherwise we're no one.

I agree 98%. I like dubstep.

 

[Nugachino]

I used to like it. Now its just like all the other crap thats mass produced. It all sounds the same.

There's so many of us. It's hard to have a unique sound anymore. Everything that's different eventually gets a label and a whitewash.

I used to really like skitzmix too. Even that sounds like crap to me now. And it's not that I don't like dance music anymore either. Cos there's still some artists I'll listen to.

Just that it seems like anything unique gets copied and or bought out to buggery. And made to look like the rest of the crud out there.

 

[WeedFreak78]

We are at a peculiarly vulnerable point in our history. We are not good enough to keep our machines going with only our manual skills. And our machines are not yet smart and networked enough to carry that load.

One of those near earth extinction shows talked directly to this point. How the rapid advancement of our technology could be a hindrance. Not enough knowledge of old world skills, or new technology, amongst most of the worlds general population for us to be able to rebuild societies within the same timelines as they rose in the past. The sharing of knowledge was an issue, agro areas of the world couldn't easily show the tech areas how to farm and vice versa.

 

[WeedFreak78]

I used to like it. Now its just like all the other crap thats mass produced. It all sounds the same.

There's so many of us. It's hard to have a unique sound anymore. Everything that's different eventually gets a label and a whitewash.

I used to really like skitzmix too. Even that sounds like crap to me now. And it's not that I don't like dance music anymore either. Cos there's still some artists I'll listen to.

Just that it seems like anything unique gets copied and or bought out to buggery. And made to look like the rest of the crud out there.

 

[Rooster802]

Thing is. We should be allowed to be self sustainable. Why should our every dime and action be for their benefit? Why can't we have something to ourselves?

Despite what they think. We are not all mindless sheep. Or low life scum. We are creative beings. We feel. We yearn for shit. We want a future worth living for.

Not to be bound as slaves to the faceless corporate machines.

Many a time I've wished to have lived in simpler times. When people actually spoke to one another. When shit was built not to be thrown out. But to be repaired and used again and again. When good food was just a short walk out the back door. And people actually wrote and performed their own music. I mean good music. Not covers of remixed covers. Or the fuckin epileptic robot sex that is dubstep.

The world is just fucked. Everything is pumped out en masse. We're missing substance from our lives. Instead. We're inundated with everyone telling us we need to own shit. And to look like Ken or Barbie- otherwise we're no one.

I like your post. You sound like me 2 years ago. These days I leave my "smart" phone on my table at home 90% of the time. I check it occasionally like I would have an answering machine for the home phone back when I was a kid. I go to my local pub and sit at the bar and force the other people sitting there to talk to me. We talk about everything and anything. Wives. Guns. Politics. Who cares? Unimportant... it is the connection that matters.
I started a garden. Gardening is gay (gay is cool, but my generation somewhat equated it with rape and murder so thats why I use this particular negative term) right? I thought so before. Put plants around my house. Started growing pot. Started smoking a shitload more pot. Everyday I walk in the woods and breathe deep. On Friday nights I listen to local free music performed by farmers and nurses aides and school janitors that want to share their art and joy with their neighbors. Everywhere I see people resourcing, reusing, and rebuilding. My neighborhood was a shit hole in the wake of the failing granite industry, today every yard has rose bushes. People don't have more money, they just started to give a shit again because they realized having less wasn't the end of the world.
You aren't alone. We all feel this way and so many of us are making moves to change. To incorporate all this wonderful new tech into our lives without letting it overrun us. I see executives turning off their electronics on the weekends and going camping without the cell phone.
If you play the game, you will be a slave. But... you don't have to play the game. Change your mind, and the world follows. Yes we are in another "gilded" age and it sucks. It appears to be about a 50 year cycle (sorry, I'm not a historian and sometimes I get shit wrong so if this isn't exactly right don't worry about it). America is about to become progressive again like we did in the wake of the great depression. I imagine if history repeats, in 50 years the bloated middle class will demand an end to inflation and we will elect another Ronnie Reagan and head back down the road of neoliberalism and rebuilding the billionaire class. But I anticipate the next 5 years being one where we strip the billionaires and see a resurgence of the middle class, of course this only happens after another economic crisis and resultant 2nd Great Depression (we are on the brink, with Trump unfettering the banks our bad student debt makes this imminent).
The other choice of course is a "return" to God (also has historical precedence) and state sponsored ethnic and religious cleansing resulting in another age of ignorance and suffering. Fortunately I can walk to Canada from where I live if this happens.

 

[Nugachino]

Damn straight.

 

[Chunky Stool]

You seem to be taking all this personally, what do you have invested in this?

TacoTruck doesn't like being wrong.
He's old... (*wink*)

 

[cannabineer]

One of those near earth extinction shows talked directly to this point. How the rapid advancement of our technology could be a hindrance. Not enough knowledge of old world skills, or new technology, amongst most of the worlds general population for us to be able to rebuild societies within the same timelines as they rose in the past. The sharing of knowledge was an issue, agro areas of the world couldn't easily show the tech areas how to farm and vice versa.

And that is the old paradigm. We will never again be so free as when we control(led) all the knowledge. But we are embarked on a course of building a mechanical support culture. It is large, complex and very fast to react to anything new. We will HAVE to transfer the knowledge of how to run the machines ... to the machines. It is beginning, and it is a necessary surrender of power to them from us.

Especially as we begin to colonize off-planet, I predict that whoever has the more empowered machines will be more capable of surviving, with or without war. I do not see a primitive or primitivist community of just humans and their livestock remaining competitive.

My dad told me an eye-opener once. Every successful human society was built on the collective back of slaves. The current iteration has human slaves and many beasts of burden replaced by machines. We are embarking on a colossal exercise of trust. We are building bigger, better, smarter, more connected machines, and we expect them to remain slavishly dedicated to our will. That is not a stable pattern, and it will end with us being extinct ... or becoming a "curated species" being kept and bred by our non-biological zookeepers. Not Terminator but I, Robot.

My logic is undeniable.

 

[WeedFreak78]

My neighborhood was a shit hole in the wake of the failing granite industry, today every yard has rose bushes.

Company I worked at used to buy thier granite out of New Hampshire. Bigger pieces, like 10'x10' x 20" thick, and larger, as machine bases for high precision measuring equipment. IDK how they did it but they managed to find a way to get granite from China, and ship it to the east coast, cheaper than getting it state side. Then they just decided to ship to company to the granite and build just there....

 

[WeedFreak78]

And that is the old paradigm. We will never again be so free as when we control(led) all the knowledge. But we are embarked on a course of building a mechanical support culture. It is large, complex and very fast to react to anything new. We will HAVE to transfer the knowledge of how to run the machines ... to the machines. It is beginning, and it is a necessary surrender of power to them from us.

Especially as we begin to colonize off-planet, I predict that whoever has the more empowered machines will be more capable of surviving, with or without war. I do not see a primitive or primitivist community of just humans and their livestock remaining competitive.

My dad told me an eye-opener once. Every successful human society was built on the collective back of slaves. The current iteration has human slaves and many beasts of burden replaced by machines. We are embarking on a colossal exercise of trust. We are building bigger, better, smarter, more connected machines, and we expect them to remain slavishly dedicated to our will.

My logic is undeniable.

We should build a brigade of robots to chisel stone tablets with all known knowledge. Hard copy backups.

 

[Nugachino]

I'll admit I'm addicted to this site. I can easily spend a good 4+ hours just looking for posts to add info to. Or be scouring google for info on growing organically. Or some other thing I think will be helpful to me.

I do feel lost when I don't have my phone. But, that's because it's kinda like my only means of contact with the people I know. It's also where I keep my beats. I need my tunes bro. I go loopy if it's too quiet.

I find it hard to hold conversation in real life. My interests are of limited scope. And as such. I don't know how to respond to the usual topics of sports, cars or which chick you'd bang first.

I've been this way since I started school. I spent more time with my head in a book than playing with others.

I don't follow what most people do. Don't get into trends like yoyos and watching the latest tv shows. Or whatever dumb fad is sweeping youtube.

I find it easier to sit and learn things by myself than to be a social butterfly.

 

[=Your Mom=]

So much anger in here! Wait til your father gets home.

 

[Chunky Stool]

So much anger in here! Wait til your father gets home.

Aw mom...

 

[Nugachino]

Stupid makes me agitated... If only beating people with a dictionary imparted knowledge instead of bruises.