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I'm kind of surprised about how many people seem to believe that societal collapse = go back to 'stone age' overnight. Yeah sure, if an area turns into a disas

I'm kind of surprised about how many people seem to believe that societal collapse = go back to 'stone age' overnight. Yeah sure, if an area turns into a disaster zone, many conveniences of modern life (water supply, power grid, supermarkets, gas stations, internet) may become unavailable for X amount of time. But all the materials & gear that modern society produced, doesn't just disappear. Houses would still be standing, the hand tools in your toolbox would still be there & do the same they did 20y ago, the groceries in your pantry are still there & your clothes would still be hanging in the closet. Your smartphone keeps working as long as you have any way to charge it. That 'installed base' of modern stuff can go a long way in dealing with challenges as they come. Especially if (for example through hiking / camping trips) you have learned to get by with limited gear. Eg. a swiss pocket knive serves many purposes & lasts for decades. It's just that many people are NOT prepared for modern conveniences falling away for extended time. One example - ask 'random' people: "If tap water goes out, how long until you run out of drinking water? And what you do if tap water wouldn't come back at all?". And be amazed at the answers. I mean, that's #1 survival material after breathable air. And neither difficult or expensive to get a grip on. What's that saying again? "When supplies break down, a modern city is just 3 days away from large scale riots & looting". If anything, it's people being unprepared or panicing that'll get them killed. Not so much whatever disaster that struck them.

runjake 3y ago
I don’t want to sound disparaging but I think a lot of the criticisms and naysaying comes from people who are naive. They are used to living within environments with all the modern conveniences. They can’t imagine anything different, when in fact your average farmer and his family have stuff like outhouses, manual wells, self-made tools and MacGyver fixes and hacks. While they’re not “truly” off grid, they’re effectively partially off grid and would totally do fine. As a white collar knowledge worker I try to soak in their blue collar skills and wisdom whenever I can. And in turn try to evolve my white collar skills into something that would be useful to them (eg being competent with a variety of radios and other stuff) if the SHTF. Conversely, I live 20 minutes outside of town. I work in town, but just on the edge of town, so I'll go months without having to go into town. It’s weird and neat when I go into “downtown” and I’m overwhelmed with the noise and activity and new modernities (the latest being these new electric scooters people rent and ride around and then just leave wherever. Before that was Uber. I knew these existed but it was weird to see them in person. Though I’ve still never used Uber myself.)
- HWR_14 3y ago
  Blue collar workers certainly have specialized skills. Why do you think they have specialized wisdom, and what's an example? In my experience, they are just as all over the place as any other group.

runjake 3y ago

I don’t want to sound disparaging but I think a lot of the criticisms and naysaying comes from people who are naive. They are used to living within environments with all the modern conveniences. They can’t imagine anything different, when in fact your average farmer and his family have stuff like outhouses, manual wells, self-made tools and MacGyver fixes and hacks. While they’re not “truly” off grid, they’re effectively partially off grid and would totally do fine. As a white collar knowledge worker I try to soak in their blue collar skills and wisdom whenever I can. And in turn try to evolve my white collar skills into something that would be useful to them (eg being competent with a variety of radios and other stuff) if the SHTF. Conversely, I live 20 minutes outside of town. I work in town, but just on the edge of town, so I'll go months without having to go into town. It’s weird and neat when I go into “downtown” and I’m overwhelmed with the noise and activity and new modernities (the latest being these new electric scooters people rent and ride around and then just leave wherever. Before that was Uber. I knew these existed but it was weird to see them in person. Though I’ve still never used Uber myself.)

HWR_14 3y ago
Blue collar workers certainly have specialized skills. Why do you think they have specialized wisdom, and what's an example? In my experience, they are just as all over the place as any other group.