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303 comments on XTL: Promise and Peril

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JD on May 19, 2006 - 1:28am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
It's also why my focus is on "saving one's own ass" or (less hyperbolicly) "saving the ass of one's own tribe." That means the 15-to-30 or so people closest to you.

What are you saving them from, Matt? Do you honestly expect to see mass death in your neighborhood sometime soon?

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markincalgary on May 19, 2006 - 9:25am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I'm not sure he meant "saving one's own ass from death". I took "ass" to mean "as much quality of life as possible".
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mshortridge on May 19, 2006 - 11:46am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
This a different Matt here, not the AMPOD.
I think Matt's "Mass death" is perhaps hinging on the possible fracturing of the food networks that we in the US have made ourselves so dependent on.  Losing one link in the chain will cripple big chunks of the works.  When the grid goes down in a city for even a day or two, tons of frozen food gets landfilled.  What if it tanks for a month?
Natural gas to residential users seems vulnerable.
Cross country trucking, same.
Fuel prices for agriculture...
I agree that none of these seems to be about to force a collapse altogether, but I envision typical Americans being unable to cope if they lose their access to frozen pizza and the juice to run thier microwaves and keep the diet coke cold.  
We had an extended blackout here in DC after a bad storm 3 years ago--not the big northeast blackout--and people were utterly helpless.  We modern Americans have essentially no skills to function if any one of our technological lifelines is cut.  
So, I wonder, how long before people panic if they can't: drive their car, cook their food, buy food, take a shower, heat their home.  Just one of these things breaking down will freak people out in a major way.  
Not "mass death" right away, but the beginning of a growth curve of panic driven crime committed by people who would never have called themselves criminals in the current paradigm.  Unprecedented anxiety that seems unresolvable will trigger a lot of bad behavior.
-Matt, DC
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Squalish on February 11, 2007 - 2:38am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Were you in the area for the ice storm of '99? I spent three weeks without power, the 50% mark seemed to be about 1 week. Ice storms are usually noted for bringing neighbors one has never met together in a remarkable facsimile of community - mostly because some people have generators and some don't. There are quite a lot of nonspoilable dry and wet goods in one's home. Water could be tricky if it relies on electric pumps. I give the suburban neighorhood 8 weeks minimum (3-4 paychecks missed) cut off from the grid, the gas station, and the grocery store, before people begin to take note of who's a closet gun nut as much as they take note of who has a generator. The urban neighorhood... depends on location, but expect lines noone's seen since the fall of the USSR government store systems.

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