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No offence meant, but this sounds like those doomsday prepper fantasies where they store chainsaws and crossbows in the garage because they think they’d thrive in a zombie apocalypse.

I think that's a bit harsh. Past generations thought of these things and incorporated solutions into their lives that today would be called emergency preparedness. The silent and great generations did just dandy off-grid for years at a time very far from towns. Manual saws, axes, machetes, rope can get a lot done and keep someone strong.

There are some nutty preppers, some fear-porn youtuber preppers that scare people into buying things but then there are the rest of us that just accept things can go sideways. Anyone that has been watching fringe less-than-censored media have seen the massive fleets moving towards Iran. It's about to get real and when it gets real then it's too late to incorporate most off-grid solutions. I think it's great they are at least asking questions and thinking about options.

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> Past generations thought of these things and incorporated solutions into their lives that today would be called emergency preparedness.

Something which causes a whole continent to lose electricity for a year needs to be a catastrophe of epic proportions, it’s not a mere emergency.

> The silent and great generations did just dandy off-grid for years at a time very far from towns.

They didn’t live in an always connected world where everything runs on electricity and systems are explicitly designed to only work that way. There is a canyon of difference between living in a world where a technology doesn’t exist and one where most of society depends on one thing you suddenly lost access to.

> I think it's great they are at least asking questions and thinking about options.

I’m not saying they shouldn’t prepare. Being prepared is a good thing. I’m saying their scenario is unrealistic to the point there’s no proper helpful answer, like asking how to prepare for a meteor strike. If something like that happens your beans aren’t going to save you.

Something which causes a whole continent to lose electricity for a year needs to be a catastrophe of epic proportions, it’s not a mere emergency.

Call it what you want. It's a change in lifestyle. Humans did just fine for hundreds of thousands of years without all the current toys. Stock up on books, find outdoor hobbies, accept a change in lifestyle or don't. I'm sure some will not be able to cope with that big of a change and some will self delete. I am not going to try to save those people. We can't save everyone.

They didn’t live in an always connected world where everything runs on electricity and systems are explicitly designed to only work that way. There is a canyon of difference between living in a world where a technology doesn’t exist and one where most of society depends on one thing you suddenly lost access to.

Yup, never disputed that. The dependencies are entirely artificial. That's why now is a great time to learn older methods of living. Anything else is denial in my view. People in denial are going to suffer. Those open to change will survive. Some of them may even find happiness in the old ways even if it is a bit of struggle. I'm not suggesting everyone can suddenly adopt the Amish ways of life but it should be a stretch goal. Getting even half way there can mean the difference between survival and becoming a distant memory. That isn't a one person thing. It takes a collective of neighbors and that will be a struggle for younger generations that only text and stay indoors.

It’s like if someone asked what they should do to prepare for a meteor strike.

They did not ask about a meteor strike. That is a real threat given we pass through the Taurid meteor stream every year and have not even seen 10% of what's out there. Sure, if an earth sterilizing asteroid or comet hits beans won't help. Don't stress over such things one has no control over.

The probability of electricity going away for 1+ years is very high. One need only take out 3 major power distribution points in the US to end electricity nation wide. A HANES attack from a high altitude balloon could also take it out for 1+ years and we saw how poorly the government in the USA responded to that. China was certainly watching. We do not have spares for the really big transformers and they are made in China and most roads no longer facilitate moving them due to newer bridges. Ooops.