this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
158 points (97.6% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26279 readers
1276 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I was having this conversation with my daughter and thought it was an interesting topic.

If an EMP or solar flare took out everything electronic in the whole world (permanently), how long do you think it would take for you to die, given your current location and circumstances.

I believe my daughter thinks we would live a lot longer than I do, but she is thinking about how long she can live without the internet while I am thinking the world will quickly descend into anarchy.

With no traditional forms of transport, so supplies would dry up, limited resources, health etc, law and order would be a challenge as things become more desperate.

I think I would live for about 3 months. I would try to get the family somewhere safe and remote and come back later, but I think most people would have the same idea.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Hard to say.

The biggest challenge would be to get out of the city and make the trip to my family's farm safely. It would take about a week on foot/bikes using less known roads with all the supplies/weapons that would be crucial.

If I could get to the farm, rest would be fairly easy. I can farm, fish and and hunt. Heating works with wood. Fresh water is not a problem, nor is refrigeration with an ice cellar. My family has an old mill that we could restore to get flour and I think I could retrofit it to produce hydroelectricity in a year or so.

I'd trade access to electricity to get horses and other farm animals.

Almost every neighbour is related to me, so forming a defensive alliance should be possible.

I have the gear and the knowhow to make things work, it's the not-getting-killed part at the start that's hard.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

The trouble isn't that you can't do all that. It's how many other people have that same idea. Rural areas will be overrun by people who think getting out of the cities is the best idea -- not that they're wrong -- but it will run supplies low outside cities too, and home gardens and the local deer population can only take so much pressure. That's not even to mention the road traffic. If cities can't handle rush hour, 2 lanes will certainly be gridlocked as everyone looks for the next road not taken. The locals would not take kindly to such an influx either.

The best strategy in my mind would be to stockpile food and other necessities wherever you are now and prepare for a long wait, hoping power gets restored. It would be horrible and dangerous no matter where.

3 months is when my insulin runs out. I doubt I'd make it that long in the USA.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

Like I said, the start would be the hardest part. Cars or any other motor vehicles would be out of the question.

f this scenario would happen during the winter, it would effectively block all the lesser known forest roads for vehicle use. Doing the trip with skis would easily halve my travel time, even with the supply sled and heavy backpacks. 30-50km per day would be easy, when one wouldn't have to go around all the lakes and rivers. We don't get much daylight here in the far north so travelling in the cover of darkness would be ideal. I can find my way in dark forests with ease.

In the summer, the trip would be much more problematic. My country has countless number of old, unmarked roads and forest paths that are usually suitable for mountain bikes. This would be my first option. The second would be crossing the forests by foot which would be very safe, but it would take time.

My relatives would take care of the farm until I would arrive, of that I am certain - and they are very capable of doing so. My family has stuck around those parts for hundreds of years and we aim to keep it that way in any scenario ;)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

And then there’s me. I either get some of your food, or I die. The hunger is growing in me like crack withdrawal. I also have survival skills and I’ve used every tool you can imagine and I’m really good at sneaking around.

I’ve probably got a gun by now.

I’m just gonna come and take ten pound of your corn. That’s all I need, then I’ll be on my way.

What do you say? Are you gonna give me some corn?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Depends.

Maybe you're willing to chop some wood or help out in some other way in exchange for the food. Win-win for all.

Or then one of my children on watch duty shoots you with a .308 when I subtly signal them that the negotiations have stalled or you pull your gun out.

Maybe we both die. Those would be very uncertain times.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I don't know how well I would do even if I escaped to my inlaws farm. It is pretty low tech but they are depending on city water which involves pumps and a moped to even get to the farm from their house still requires a battery.