MudMan

MudMan, 1 year ago

If property rights are still enforced in the turmoil probably indefinitely. Doesn't mean I'd enjoy it, though.

I come from a place where survival agriculture was the norm well into the 1980s. Would have to start having cows and pigs again, need to work out a salting station, which we haven't had for a few decades. I remember soap making was a mess. We got rid of our wood-fueled kitchen at some point, so that's a problem until society settles back in enough to start selling those again. We'd probably have to go back to setting up a corner for a fireplace in the meantime. That's before my time but it should be possible.

MudMan, 1 year ago

I swear American fantasies about societal collapse are so frustrating. Everybody assumes people would turn to violence and greed immediately. Either it's because it looks good in movies or they genuinely think they suck.

Meanwhile in real extreme conditions everybody is all "let's get all the famillies together to help each other gather our crops" and "I have too many lemons from my lemon tree, do you want some for free?" "Oh, only if you take some of this fish I got that may go bad instead".

MudMan, 1 year ago

Plenty of assholes everywhere, though. It's not about a moral compass.

That's another weird one, I guess. You get this notion that suggests that rural settings somehow have the moral high ground or something. They don't. Sharing and community building are survival strategies. You help with gathering because you need help with gathering. You drop off the excess fish because at some point something needs to make up for your lack of lemons.

Going into a mad max rampage the moment the lights go off isn't being mean, it's being suicidal.

MudMan, 1 year ago

That's fair. Having lived in both settings... well, yeah, the fact that food grows out of the ground with minimal coaxing is a distinct advantage if you have to survive a bad time.

But I've seen maps of the US. The fact that this is a culture-wide assumption goes beyond urban vs rural. You need a yard to make a bunker. Not many bunkers around here.