http://green.yahoo.com/news/ap/20080524/ap_on_re_us/environmental_survivalists.html
While I am still pushing pixels and living a modern life mostly, I've
been thinking that about a post-carbon world for the past few years -
basically since I saw the doc "The End of Suburbia". As you might
imagine I'm somewhat extreme in what I think will like happen. I
envision a rapid cascading decline of our technological, industrialized
economy, accompanied by total dissolution of basic services - water,
electricity and police/fire protection. I don't know when it will
happen, but study any civilization that has declined (I suggest
Collapse by Jared Diamond) and it ain't a slow walk to the cemetery.
Its rapid and total. Here are the key effects:
- Hunger - without oil, we cannot maintain the existing centralized
food economy. That is we cannot grow food without oil. Period. For
every 1 calorie of food produced in the US, 10 calories were expended
by machines to harvest, spray pesticides, fertilizers, package,
preserve, cool and distribute. The average American lifestyle requires
the energy equivalent to owning 25 slaves each.
- Disease - without oil, things cannot be produced and distributed,
meaning that the portion of the population dependent on our healthcare
system for prescription drugs, surgery and treatments will not get it.
- Pillage - those with weapons will take food and other vitals from those without.
What I think this means (should we think our own survival more interesting than the alternative):
- Plan to reduce dependency on meat. Meat takes a ton of water,
time and energy to generate. Much more efficient sources of protein,
fat and carbohydrates are available from plants. This doesn't mean you
shouldn't eat meat or raise chickens (omnivores who make eggs and shit
great fertilizer) or goats (milk), but that cows, pigs and sheep are
just horribly inefficient at generating caloric value.
- Learn to farm. Raise seasonal organic veggies, grains, fruit
trees, etc.. Rice and beans are a perfect protein, as is the grain
quinoa by itself. Check out the book One-straw Revolution by Fukuoka.
- Learn to fish. Without centralized food distribution, commercial fishing will end and rivers will again be rich with fish.
- Begin to set up camp in a rural area, ideally near a plentiful
water source, in a climate with multiple growing seasons and a
topography suitable for home defense. Only 1-3 acres (depending on
number of growing seasons) of workable soil is required for a family of
four.
- Build a well fortified home. I suggest cement blocks and a metal
roof with hay bale insulation, for fire protection and energy
conservation. Build an outhouse, as well as a drinking water system
(two parts: collection and distillation).
- Build a library of practical and interesting books. Agriculture,
fishing, hunting, war, psychology, education, etc. Texts for teaching
math and language. Classics, philosophy, etc.
- Prepare your defenses from pillagers. Guns. I suggest an 8
shell 12-gauge shotgun and 500 shells of buckshot for each person who
can shoot. A couple semiautomatic rifles as well. Don't hunt with
these unless absolutely necessary. Save the ammo for killing humans.
Learn about basic wartime trench digging and fences.
- Prepare a survival kit for each person complete with tent,
sleeping bag, knife, first aid, 30 days of rations, water purification
tablets, etc. - important if you have to retreat from the
metro/suburban areas immediately.
- Begin studying nature - learn about the human condition in
extremes - prisons, war camps, isolation, war, post-Soviet era Russia
and Cuba. Apprise yourself of what man is truly capable of. Learn
about local animals and plants, growing seasons, etc. Check out the
books How to Survive Anything Anywhere and SAS
