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This is one of those situations where there are no backups, and no one has any plans to make any backups. A power outage disaster-hardened country has a popula

This is one of those situations where there are no backups, and no one has any plans to make any backups. A power outage disaster-hardened country has a populace that's deeply knowledgeable about self-governance, organized combat, agriculture, medicine, sanitation, power generation, engineering, textiles, supply logistics, and construction. If the citizens of a western country like the US somehow earned the free time and energy to start regularly studying and executing these skills for themselves and their neighbors, it would be disastrous for the profit margins of most industries. People would necessarily have to spend fewer hours in the workforce (@David Graeber, "Bullshit Jobs") completing nothing worthwhile and more time running a nation-state without money changing hands at every transaction of labor. I have given up any hope of "power-outage" hardening at a large scale and have resolved to stash my own house with supplies, although I'd be quite vulnerable to raids in the long term.

gjsman-1000 4y ago
My family jokes that, while everyone stocks up on “survival” products… cigarettes and alcohol will probably be in high demand. Got video games, maybe some solar power (just enough for a TV and a Switch)? Parents will want those to keep the kids sane. Got Blu-rays, DVDs? When people can’t stream, you might get some good resources for them. Got a PC with some offline CAD software? Makes planning making things out of wood easier. And so forth.
- quacked 4y ago
  That's a smart idea. Cigarettes, condoms, porn, gum, the sorts of things you bribe third-world soldiers with (often people with experience living without power for a long time.) Edit: I saw you added CAD software; I actually think that people would go back to just drawing things on paper before they'd go to "solar rig to PC with CAD software on it". Civilization did run just fine without computers up until they crashed the scene, and most of the really memorable buildings were designed on paper.
  - gjsman-1000 4y ago
    Yeah… I don’t know how many CAD users there would be in the apocalypse. I’m just listing some everyday things we already have that are pseudo-prepper to do… ;) EDIT: I just realized, how many people will have blank paper in the apocalypse? How many people print anymore? Man this rabbit hole never ends… For heavens sake though, digital media is so anti-resilient that it’s just crazy…
- sixstringtheory 4y ago
  Wouldn’t an EMP destroy photovoltaic cells, inverters etc? Maybe keep a couple panels in your underground bunker to bring up to the surface after the blast…
- lettergram 4y ago
  My favorite is people who think gold and silver will matter. Nope. Ammo, instant coffee, antibiotics. Cheap now, can keep for years, light weight and useful to everyone.
  - PlasmaOInterest 4y ago
    >My favorite is people who think gold and silver will matter. Nope. Seems like they'd matter more than the electronic number of a non-existent/inaccessible bank account of one's so-called wealth? But I agree that all such instantly barterable items are a better commodity.
- Milo0841 4y ago
  Antibiotics and oxycodone.

gjsman-1000 4y ago

My family jokes that, while everyone stocks up on “survival” products… cigarettes and alcohol will probably be in high demand. Got video games, maybe some solar power (just enough for a TV and a Switch)? Parents will want those to keep the kids sane. Got Blu-rays, DVDs? When people can’t stream, you might get some good resources for them. Got a PC with some offline CAD software? Makes planning making things out of wood easier. And so forth.

quacked 4y ago
That's a smart idea. Cigarettes, condoms, porn, gum, the sorts of things you bribe third-world soldiers with (often people with experience living without power for a long time.) Edit: I saw you added CAD software; I actually think that people would go back to just drawing things on paper before they'd go to "solar rig to PC with CAD software on it". Civilization did run just fine without computers up until they crashed the scene, and most of the really memorable buildings were designed on paper.
- gjsman-1000 4y ago
  Yeah… I don’t know how many CAD users there would be in the apocalypse. I’m just listing some everyday things we already have that are pseudo-prepper to do… ;) EDIT: I just realized, how many people will have blank paper in the apocalypse? How many people print anymore? Man this rabbit hole never ends… For heavens sake though, digital media is so anti-resilient that it’s just crazy…
sixstringtheory 4y ago
Wouldn’t an EMP destroy photovoltaic cells, inverters etc? Maybe keep a couple panels in your underground bunker to bring up to the surface after the blast…
lettergram 4y ago
My favorite is people who think gold and silver will matter. Nope. Ammo, instant coffee, antibiotics. Cheap now, can keep for years, light weight and useful to everyone.
- PlasmaOInterest 4y ago
  >My favorite is people who think gold and silver will matter. Nope. Seems like they'd matter more than the electronic number of a non-existent/inaccessible bank account of one's so-called wealth? But I agree that all such instantly barterable items are a better commodity.
Milo0841 4y ago
Antibiotics and oxycodone.