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> one power outage away from food riots Tell us more about this scenario. You’re positing a situation where due to an inability to accept cashless payments, su
by jameshart 3y ago
> one power outage away from food riots
Tell us more about this scenario. You’re positing a situation where due to an inability to accept cashless payments, supermarkets refuse to sell food to people for an extended period, leading to mass unrest? In the UK?
The UK power grid is remarkably resilient. To the extent that a half hour long power outage in London over 20 years ago is considered notable enough to deserve a Wikipedia article [1]
An extended power outage affecting access to payment capabilities across a large region would be an emergency but it wouldn’t collapse civilization. There’s little reason to suspect people would not find some way to transact while power is restored.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_London_blackout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_London_blackout
- twic 3y agoMy local supermarket, in London, had an internet outage yesterday, and couldn't take card payments. Their cash machine was out of action too. They had staff outside telling everyone as they came in; some carried on in, many went elsewhere. Most people don't carry enough to cash to do meaningful grocery shopping these days.
- jameshart 3y agoDid a food riot start?
- Brian_K_White 3y agoDid this question have a point? It did not.
- jameshart 3y agoTo draw attention to the motte and Bailey nature of this argument. The Bailey: ‘cashless payment is fragile and a single outage would lead to riots in the streets’ The Motte: ‘internet and power outages happen and are annoying’ Evidence for the easily defended motte position does not defend the outrageous Bailey.
- Brian_K_White 3y agoAs suspected, no point. (nothing was validated or invalidated)
- jameshart 3y agoAn instance of one outage not causing a food riot is pretty clear evidence against the proposition that digital payment systems are one outage away from food riots.
- tester457 3y agoThankfully not. But imagine if power was out for several days or weeks, which will happen in the future as natural disasters get worse.
- twic 3y agoNo, but there was a reasonably priced French red wine riot.
- Animats 3y agoIt happened in Puerto Rico after the 2017 hurricane.[1] 11 months without power. Fortunately the climate there is good. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/us/puerto-rico-shortages-cash.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/us/puerto-rico-shortages-...
- jameshart 3y agoThe impact to cashless payment infrastructure ranked how high on the list of problems there?
- dinkumthinkum 3y agoMy understanding is that that situation happened in the past and not in a future in which Puerto Rico has an actual “cashless society,” is that not true?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- nonrandomstring 3y agoHow about you tell me more about how ""The UK power grid is remarkably resilient"? Because those are not the facts I am looking at. We just made it through a winter where the UK government put a 30% probability on rolling brownouts due to gas instability and put additional blackout emergency plans into place for the first time since the 1970s "Winter of Discontent".
- Symbiote 3y agoSomething having a 30% chance of failing for a short period over 50+ years seems very reliable to me.
- u32480932048 3y agoHow many rolling brownouts did you experience?
- nonrandomstring 3y agoNone whatsoever. I've also been riding my motorcycle without a helmet for 50 years, and never had a problem with that yet.