4 ms·

Try days, not months. Especially in densely populated areas.

• mberning 2y ago
  The government has done studies showing that the vast majority of the population would be dead not long after a sustained nationwide power outage. All it takes is people missing a few meals before the fun starts.
  • N0b8ez 2y ago
    Do you have a link to the study?
    • mberning 2y ago
      I had to dig around but I think this the one I remember. There are two other reports linked in the comments. https://old.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/11tblpp/found_it_the_2008_study_on_the_effect_of_us_grid/ https://old.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/11tblpp/found_it_...
      • N0b8ez 2y ago
        Thanks! This is the doc I found the "90 percent of our population is dead" quote from, which is asserted indirectly: https://irp.fas.org/congress/2008_hr/emp.pdf https://irp.fas.org/congress/2008_hr/emp.pdf It's referring to a fictional story in that quote, but the scientist says that 90% is accurate for the real world if that scenario were to happen. Pretty chilling.
        • big_whack 2y ago
          This is an interesting read. I noticed also that Roscoe Bartlett, the rep running that hearing, moved entirely off the grid after retirement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Bartlett#Personal_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Bartlett#Personal_life
          • defrost 2y ago
            He was born in 1926, he grew up "of the grid" and likely spent most of his early life mostly off grid. It's not especially noteworthy .. to those of us that also grew up away from large connected services - you have your own sewerage, generators, mail, drive | walk to town to pick things up. Currently I'm "mostly" off grid - I have internet connection, a well, leach drains, solar + wind (electric) + wind (mechanical mill), etc and live in a rural community with a lot of people older than 60 who also grew up off grid.
          • jll29 2y ago
            > Their cabin lacks electricity, phone service, and municipal plumbing. Bartlett currently works as a senior consultant for Lineage Technologies, a cyber security group that seeks to protect supply chains.[39] Bartlett is a vegetarian and does not drink alcohol or smoke. He also grows his own organic vegetables. Reads more like a self-written personal home page than an encyclopedia entry produced by independent volunteers.
• wing-_-nuts 2y ago
  You do realize humanity has had countless famines before right? I grant you, a few of them brought out a regrettable side of humanity but by and large people come together during times of hardship, they don't tear each other apart. I feel like only those who've never felt hunger could contemplate such a savage reaction.
  • belter 2y ago
    And I hope you realize China had multiple famines with cannibalistic events as recent as 1959: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine
    • wing-_-nuts 2y ago
      I hope you realize that about a million people died during the Irish great famine with almost no events of cannibalism. Suggesting that it's a normal occurrence during famine is very insulting to the character of those that survived those famines while still upholding basic human decency.
      • decremental 2y ago
        [dead]
      • fullspectrumdev 2y ago
        Irish person here: the “almost no” is being disputed by more recent scholarship/research. And was even featured in a documentary from the national broadcaster a few years ago. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/role-of-survivor-cannibalism-during-great-famine-detailed-in-new-tv-documentary-1.4423323 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/role-of-s...
    • throwway120385 2y ago
      I hope you realize that these events are notable because they are unusual and not because they are the rule.