Author Topic: Survival or Things we Take for Granted  (Read 3056 times)

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Chadly

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Survival or Things we Take for Granted
« on: November 30, 2018, 01:04:19 PM »
   Hi all. 

    Here is a little essay on things we take for granted. Every day i get up, I turn on my coffee maker, then i get in the shower.  What if one day I got up and there was so electricity? No running water? No natural gas to heat my house. I could'nt go to the store to buy groceries, gasoline for the car, etc.  Think about it. All we take for granted. No power means no fresh clean water, no sewage removal, no heat, no food, no medicine for illness. In a NY minute we would revert to a Agriculture society over-night as it was 200 years ago.  Suddenly people would deforest the woods to burn for heat and light. Clean water that's something we really take for granted, yet 2,000,000,000 today don't have it. Basic social norms disappear. It would be law of the jungle. People would kill for a loaf of bread, a gallon of gasoline, medicine, or just about anything. Yes there have been many books, tv shows, about movies about what i'm talking about.
   My question is this: Are you prepared for the above? Myself, I know how to hunt, fish, start a fire without the use of a lighter or matches. I can build a structure to keep me out if the elements. I know basic first-aid. I can Survive for awhile at least.  I used to laugh at the shows on tv about "Dooms-Day preppers." However I know some folks that have years of supplies put-away, that have self-contained bunkers, stocked with supplies/guns.  In a minute like in the movies we could be hit with a virus that kills off 99.9% of the human race. or plants, animals, or some kind of eco-disaster.
    Now I;m not trying to frighten anyone, but it makes me wonder why in this country (USA) we spend billions on weight-loss supplements, entertainment, military, and not on infrastructure, Space Exploration, renewable energy etc. What happends when the last drop of Oil is pumped from the ground, or coal dug from the earth?  I'm pretty sure that the Earth will survive us as humans, as it's been around for 4.5 billion years. Is it human arrogance to think that we can actually end all life on this planet? We have only been here for a fraction of time. Yeah, im sure the Earth will be here long after we go the way of the Dinosaurs....Chadly. 8)

   The point is that I am happy for the small things I have: my health, the health of my family, that I have food, a place to reside, etc.  I used to get pissed that I couldn't go on vacation to the beach, buy a sports car, buy some trivial things. The older I get the more Thankful I am for simple things.
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caldric

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Re: Survival or Things we Take for Granted
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2018, 01:23:22 PM »
Have you by chance read Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling?

Chadly

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Re: Survival or Things we Take for Granted
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2018, 01:26:48 PM »
@caldric I have not as of yet. However I have read and watched many movies/tv shows. Enough that frighten me. The Stand by Stephen King is an example.
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caldric

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Re: Survival or Things we Take for Granted
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2018, 10:25:58 PM »
Nice! Hopefully you like it. Just don’t question the premise too hard and it’ll be much more enjoyable...there’s a bit of hand-waving 🙂

Chadly

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Re: Survival or Things we Take for Granted
« Reply #4 on: December 01, 2018, 09:24:42 AM »
Ok. now the closest I have ever come to living like someone 200 years ago is this, about ten years ago in my county in NW PA there was a micro-burst Storm, Basically like a tornado. It knocked out all power to the county and most of north weastern PA, for about two weeks. Now back then I lived in the country a rurual setting. With no electricity I had no heat, lights, or power to run my well pump for water. So i lived by candle light, got water from the river to flush my toilet, and drinking water came from a natural spring near my house. I cooked on a Coleman stove, like one you would use for camping, Some folks had gas generators but not me. When I went to work we rung sales with paper receipts. To get food I drove a couple of counties over for dry goods and ice. The fridge lasted a coupke days before I had to throw most stuff out. For heat I used a kerosene heater and my fireplace, It lasted for like 10to 14 days.  So imagine going camping and "roughng it".  It was an experience to say the least. For phone service the telephone company used a gas generator to power the local box, and somebody stole it! Now granted the county I lived in was small about 65000 people. Folks acted like it was the end of the world, with no power, tv, or internet. Lol.  So if you like nature like me and enjoy camping out, thats how it was.  Almost like the tv series The Walking Dead, without the Zombies or murders.    Chadly.
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Re: Survival or Things we Take for Granted
« Reply #5 on: December 01, 2018, 11:19:48 PM »
It's funny to think about this.

Currently, I would die.

I mean, I hunt, I fish, I've camped in the wilderness.  But the fact is if I have no access to a dialysis machine, I'm dead in two weeks, max.  Most likely sooner.  My blood would become toxic, but I'd also gain so much fluid weight, I'd drown and/or have a heart attack from the stress.  I am kept alive by the grace of modern medcine and medical technology.  It's weird to live under such constraints, but that's my life.

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