Local and National authorities reactions during the collapse

[vtsnowedin]

WI=women's institute

Thanks.
What good will a women's institute do if there are no groceries on the shelves at your super market?

[JohnB]

What good will a women's institute do if there are no groceries on the shelves at your super market?

They make cake, jam, chutney etc., and you certainly don't want them on the opposite side in a revolution!

[JavaScriptDonkey]

LOL.

I feel I should explain.

The Women's Institute are masters at making preserved food and stretching the last ounce of goodness from seasonal produce. In WW2 they were given special sugar ration allowances in order to make more jam. They are very organised and formidable.

Sort of like a women's Illuminati but with jam and more real power.

They are a symbol of a very British ordered society where everyone rubs along in order to ensure that no one gets too high or too low.

[vtsnowedin]

LOL.

I feel I should explain.

The Women's Institute are masters at making preserved food and stretching the last ounce of goodness from seasonal produce. In WW2 they were given special sugar ration allowances in order to make more jam. They are very organised and formidable.

Sort of like a women's Illuminati but with jam and more real power.

They are a symbol of a very British ordered society where everyone rubs along in order to ensure that no one gets too high or too low.

As I live in a household where the women outnumber me four to one I never underestimate the power of a determined woman ,but I think that the idea of some social society male or female insulating the UK from social breakdown in the event of a major economic collapse is charming and quite British but ludicrous.

[biffvernon]

but I think that the idea of some social society male or female insulating the UK from social breakdown in the event of a major economic collapse is charming and quite British but ludicrous.

It may sound ludicrous but it is our best hope.

[vtsnowedin]

but I think that the idea of some social society male or female insulating the UK from social breakdown in the event of a major economic collapse is charming and quite British but ludicrous.

It may sound ludicrous but it is our best hope.

I would think that positive actions to avoid the economic collapse would provide more hope. A carefully considered vote being perhaps the individuals best shot at steering the government towards more sustainable policies.
If your WI is to be truly the savior of the UK they need to become politically active and vet candidates for the soundness of their proposals.
President Obama in the US won reelection because women broke for him 55% to 45% over the issue of women's rights and abortion.
An organised women's voter block in the UK that insisted on sound fiscal policy could settle every election in the future.

[biffvernon]

I would think that positive actions to avoid the economic collapse would provide more hope.

Ah, well, some of us have gone beyond that sort of thinking, have given up hope that economic collapse can be avoided and are looking forward to economic collapse as the only possible means of avoiding catastrophic global warming.

When things fall apart and the centre can no longer hold, it is institutions rooted in localism such as the WI that may play a central part in survival. As the late David Fleming put it in Lean Logic
“Localisation stands, at best, at the limits of practical possibility, but it has the decisive argument in its favour that there will be no alternative.”

[vtsnowedin]

I would think that positive actions to avoid the economic collapse would provide more hope.

Ah, well, some of us have gone beyond that sort of thinking, have given up hope that economic collapse can be avoided and are looking forward to economic collapse as the only possible means of avoiding catastrophic global warming.

When things fall apart and the centre can no longer hold, it is institutions rooted in localism such as the WI that may play a central part in survival. As the late David Fleming put it in Lean Logic
“Localisation stands, at best, at the limits of practical possibility, but it has the decisive argument in its favour that there will be no alternative.”

An economic collapse complete enough to halt mankind's contributions to climate change would most probably result in some five to six billion people dieing and both you and I have a six out of seven chance of being one of those removed from the problem. Are you ready for that?

[adam2]

WI=women's institute

Thanks.
What good will a women's institute do if there are no groceries on the shelves at your super market?

I doubt that they can do much if the shelves are ALREADY empty, and if one has not prepared for this.

They could however help with preps BEFORE the shelves empty.
The WI are experts at food preservation, home cooking and related matters.

[RenewableCandy]

To give everyone some idea of history, the WI have their own college/Uni (Denham iirc) dating from before women were allowed on many Uni courses here.

Although I am from a generation who consider single-sex organisations a bit, erm, anachronistic, I have a lot of respect for the WI. Our Community Orchard works with them, for example.

[Little John]

I would think that positive actions to avoid the economic collapse would provide more hope.

Ah, well, some of us have gone beyond that sort of thinking, have given up hope that economic collapse can be avoided and are looking forward to economic collapse as the only possible means of avoiding catastrophic global warming.

When things fall apart and the centre can no longer hold, it is institutions rooted in localism such as the WI that may play a central part in survival. As the late David Fleming put it in Lean Logic
“Localisation stands, at best, at the limits of practical possibility, but it has the decisive argument in its favour that there will be no alternative.”

An economic collapse complete enough to halt mankind's contributions to climate change would most probably result in some five to six billion people dieing and both you and I have a six out of seven chance of being one of those removed from the problem. Are you ready for that?

Your numbers are misleading since they assume an equal probability of die-off for every person on the planet. The people of the poorer and militarily weaker parts of the world will suffer the lion's share of the die-off. I say this entirely independently of the morality of such an outcome. The only thing that would change that outcome significantly is if the first world superpowers decide to let off some fireworks and close the shop up early. In which case, it won't matter a damn what you have done to "prepare".

Your biggest fear, at least in the short to medium term, should not be of a die-off of the people in the first world due to lack of supply chains (though there will undoubtedly be some pretty unpleasant disruptions). It should be of a totalitarian, fascist government looming into view as the long-emergency grinds on into the future.

[RenewableCandy]

And with that in mind, Famille Reenwable have just finished watching Sacha Baron-Cohen's "The Dictator"

[biffvernon]

...most probably result in some five to six billion people dieing and both you and I have a six out of seven chance of being one of those removed from the problem. Are you ready for that?

I'm actually a bit of an optimist on the mass die off thing as I think we may find that there are WI-type thinking groups all over the world who will make a good fist of acting locally to keep themselves and their neighbours alive. That's the message in Fleming's localisation.

As for being ready, we can't tell whether our preparations will do the job, but getting ready for tomorrow is something of a way of life for today.

[featherstick]

If your WI is to be truly the savior of the UK they need to become politically active and vet candidates for the soundness of their proposals.

They finished off Tony Blair with a slow handclap. They were too polite to hang him from a lamppost though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0HgJIkSIXY

[vtsnowedin]

Ah, well, some of us have gone beyond that sort of thinking, have given up hope that economic collapse can be avoided and are looking forward to economic collapse as the only possible means of avoiding catastrophic global warming.

When things fall apart and the centre can no longer hold, it is institutions rooted in localism such as the WI that may play a central part in survival. As the late David Fleming put it in Lean Logic
“Localisation stands, at best, at the limits of practical possibility, but it has the decisive argument in its favour that there will be no alternative.”

An economic collapse complete enough to halt mankind's contributions to climate change would most probably result in some five to six billion people dieing and both you and I have a six out of seven chance of being one of those removed from the problem. Are you ready for that?

Your numbers are misleading since they assume an equal probability of die-off for every person on the planet. The people of the poorer and militarily weaker parts of the world will suffer the lion's share of the die-off. I say this entirely independently of the morality of such an outcome. The only thing that would change that outcome significantly is if the first world superpowers decide to let off some fireworks and close the shop up early. In which case, it won't matter a damn what you have done to "prepare".

Your biggest fear, at least in the short to medium term, should not be of a die-off of the people in the first world due to lack of supply chains (though there will undoubtedly be some pretty unpleasant disruptions). It should be of a totalitarian, fascist government looming into view as the long-emergency grinds on into the future.

I think a bit of western arrogance is showing there Steve. Those that are used to unrestricted consumption will be the least able to adapt to having less. Also the consumption of countries living at the American standard is so out of proportion to the rest of the world they will be the targets of the have-nots. Take Americas resources and distribute them in India and China and you could double the standard of living of everyone there. And just living in a powerful country is no guarantee. After all the Jews living large in Germany in 1915 were in the gas chambers in 1940.