Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Surviving the Emberverse

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Surviving the Emberverse

    one of my favorite series, by SM Stirling, posits that on March 17, 1998, at 6:15 PST, the modern world ended.

    Electricity, the gas laws, gunpowder-- all that disappeared. so, no working IC/steam engines, no modern industry, no guns.

    in the resulting worldwide collapse over the next few months, 95-99% of humanity dies, from the chaos, hunger, and disease. many people are paralyzed in place, believing against all hope that the lights would turn back on. other people try to organize the survivors, which either succeeds or fails depending on their circumstances (you're toast if you're in Manhattan, no matter what you do; on the opposite side, if you live in Iowa, it's very hard to up and die).

    the few survivors band together, with access to the dead cities, some remembrance of 20th century technology, and history.

    in the US, pretty much all of the Eastern Seaboard/California collapses. Portland and parts of Oregon barely survive, along with parts of Idaho, Nebraska, and Iowa, although not in forms we would recognize today.

    so, the question is-- where were you on Mar 17, 1998, and what would you have done once you found out about the Change (through the falling airplanes, your guns not working, etc)?
    There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

  • #2
    I was in 5th grade. I'd almost definitely have been amongst those to die, since my folks are most definitely not the survival type.
    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

    Comment


    • #3
      BR,

      were you in israel then? pretty much the entire middle east goes kaput, of course.

      i'd imagine it'd be especially terrifying to be an israeli, because you can imagine the hordes of desperate arabs rushing in, desperate either for tales of imagined water or food or security or some sense of revenge. not that it would matter for either side outside several weeks, as the water mains die off and food is lost. (some people would most likely turn to cannibalism...)

      depending on how optimistic i was, i'd try to make for the greek islands or cyprus, which has a slim (as opposed to no) possibility of surviving. if not, falling on that knife or OD'ing on sleeping pills would probably be preferable to what would follow.
      There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

      Comment


      • #4
        1998 I was living on my boat in Seattle.

        Assuming the atmosphere didn't evaporate when the gas laws were repealed, and we still had wind, I could sail north to Alaska or south to Portland in search of the remains of civilization.

        I could survive on seafood and seaweed I guess, but it wouldn't be very pleasant. I would raid a sporting goods store for a bow and arrows and/or crossbows for hunting, and stock up the lockers on the boat with canned goods.
        "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

        Comment


        • #5
          Yeah, I moved to Israel in August 1995, when I was almost 9 years old. Incidentally, yesterday, July 6th, was my 15th year anniversary of moving to Israel.
          Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

          Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

          Comment


          • #6
            why wouldent guns work? its not like they take some kind of energy to work or anything. I guess i dont understand.

            Comment


            • #7
              gas laws don't work-- gunpowder loses its bang and becomes a fizzle. it's a story.
              There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

              Comment


              • #8
                ^^ Do we still have fire? I don't eat sushi.
                "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

                Comment


                • #9
                  And the hypothesis is better this way. :))

                  One thing for sure, gunnut would be in shock that his guns don't work so I'll go steal his food and live off him for the first few days.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    for myself, in 1998 i was living in the bay area, cupertino.

                    california is one large death zone, so i'd most likely be dead. if i were lucky i MIGHT be able to make it up to the wilderness of far northern california.

                    better than southern california, though-- anyone living there would die painfully in the world's most overpopulated desert.
                    There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I don't recall what I was doing that day, but that's the month I started working for AirTouch Cellular.

                      Guns don't work? I guess I would have to throw them at someone. Hey, it made Superman duck. :)

                      Wait, this would be 7 months after Judgement Day, so we would all have been nuked by then.
                      "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        highsea,

                        Do we still have fire? I don't eat sushi.
                        yeah, fire still works. in fact, while explosives no longer make a big bang they still create a slow burn.
                        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          gunnut,

                          Guns don't work? I guess I would have to throw them at someone.
                          the funny thing is that in the books, the british army is turned out on the second day with bayonets on their SA80s. upon finding out how inadequate this was, museum pieces are handed out to the regulars trying to hold back riots all across london.
                          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by astralis View Post
                            gunnut,



                            the funny thing is that in the books, the british army is turned out on the second day with bayonets on their SA80s. upon finding out how inadequate this was, museum pieces are handed out to the regulars trying to hold back riots all across london.
                            w00t! Bust out the Arisaka rifles with their 3' bayonets

                            I will use my Yugo SKS clone with integrated bayonet as a walking stick.
                            "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by astralis View Post
                              yeah, fire still works.
                              Okay, as long as I can cook my food I'll be fine.

                              Before I left, I would need to collect some wimmen to take with me. I would need my stolen crossbow in case there were any men around that didn't agree with my plan.

                              If I was able to, I would get as many of my family members with me as I could. But they are kind of scattered out and that might not be possible.

                              I'd sail north I think, with my all-female crew. Might not go all the way to Alaska, I could probably find an Indian tribe in British Columbia to join. I might have to trade a couple of the wimmen, but that's okay.
                              "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X