PowerSwitch

Sorry if this has been posted here before, but I found this interesting insider's view of the social aftermath of the Argentinian economic crisis:

http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/cgi-bin/ ... 044387;p=1

It is grim reading, but I was interested by these observations:
- Survivalism isn't about moving to the woods and making sure no one finds you, but about adapting to the situation wherever you happen to be. There are advantages to living in a city.
- You can't be on your guard constantly, day and night, however many guns you have.
- Things have to get really REALLY serious before money becomes worthless.
- Local money schemes are doomed to failure because anyone can forge notes on a computer.
- A single riot doesn't destroy a city.

Well found, I'd been wondering how things went in Argentina after theri economic crash - lost of parallels there.

I like the "A battery charger that has both solar panel and a small crank." idea. Would one of our resident electrical wizards comment on whether it is possible to have a battery pack charged both by Solar PV and a "crank" powered by a bike? might be better than nothing as a backup?

I wanted to read it a second time before commenting, but since no one else has, wow.
That is a pretty worrying piece.

It just seems so weird that people still go to normal mundane jobs, and gangs of 20 men with assault rifles kidnap then on the way home.


Re the battery charger.

It is possible, dont know if they exist though.
Dont expect more than a couple of hundred watts for couple of minutes though.
You should be able to maintain 100w for quite a while though.

DominicJ wrote:I wanted to read it a second time before commenting, but since no one else has, wow.
That is a pretty worrying piece.

It just seems so weird that people still go to normal mundane jobs, and gangs of 20 men with assault rifles kidnap then on the way home.

Yeah I just read it all the way through.
It's not too far off of Alex Scarrow's story but arrested somewhere before the total collapse happens.

It's MORE worrying though because Alex Scarrow's story seems more like a zombie movie whereas this is happening right now.

The "kidnap express" thing worries me too, but I wonder if it's likely?

Seems to be a latin american thing. Does anyone know of kidnap express type things happening in russia or eastern bloc countries?

On a more evil note: perhaps kidnap express is the solution to being evicted!!!

Ludwig wrote:Sorry if this has been posted here before

It has:
http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/vie ... php?t=3380

After a few years there does seem to be a lot of repetition at Powerswitch, and it feels like we're going round in circles sometimes. Don't get me wrong, it's great to hear new opinions on old topics, but sometimes I wonder: Have we now covered everything ?!

Erik wrote:

Ludwig wrote:Sorry if this has been posted here before

It has:
http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/vie ... php?t=3380

After a few years there does seem to be a lot of repetition at Powerswitch, and it feels like we're going round in circles sometimes. Don't get me wrong, it's great to hear new opinions on old topics, but sometimes I wonder: Have we now covered everything ?!

Sorry for reposting. I guess I should have done a search on the URL.

I stopped coming to PS regularly a few months ago, partly because I felt I'd got a picture of views on the subject, I'd made such feeble preparations as I felt able, and logging on was no longer achieving anything but making me depressed.

Erik wrote:After a few years there does seem to be a lot of repetition at Powerswitch, and it feels like we're going round in circles sometimes. Don't get me wrong, it's great to hear new opinions on old topics, but sometimes I wonder: Have we now covered everything ?!

Probably have.

I'm not a PS regular but I've been a regular at other PO-centric discussion forums and there is definitely a pattern of pacing through the same disturbing ground again and again. That's to be expected though. New people join in all the time.

I stopped coming to PS regularly a few months ago, partly because I felt I'd got a picture of views on the subject, I'd made such feeble preparations as I felt able, and logging on was no longer achieving anything but making me depressed.

Me too.

I have blocked PowerSwitch in my router to ensure I don't spend my waking life here.

In fact this is my first day back after several weeks of neither reading nor posting ... and to be frank I don't seem to have missed much.

I have used the spare time reclaimed to read, chop wood etc.

The PC has been turned off much of the time.

Blogs are a thief of time.

(So I'd better sneak off soon for another few weeks of stress-free spare time before I become addicted again!)

Vortex wrote:In fact this is my first day back after several weeks of neither reading nor posting ... and to be frank I don't seem to have missed much.

I thought things seemed a little odd around here lately, and now I know why: Powerswitch was Vortexless!

I certainly appreciate and enjoy Powerswitch but I shudder to think of all the hours I've spent here and what I could have been doing with those hours instead. Still, at least I don't hang around places like "doomer.us" where there is a danger of not only spending too much time on line but also of gradually turning into a psychopath!

I am utterly shameless and come on here whenever I damn well please because it's interesting, I enjoy it and it's free. I've taken to using the "news" threads as a substitute for Beeb News At Ten (which is past my bed-time). I can handle it I could give it up tomorrer if I had to ejktehgfflt....