I think too much and have a functional imagination that has been choking on dystopian literature for the past four years. I came across a few books that focused on futures (in America, because all bad stuff happens in America) that had communities warring over resources. I believe in angry people, starvation, water shortages and gang mentalities as reasons why it’s a good idea to invest in a bunker. Humans are the common denominator in two scenarios that create the perfect conditions for you to wish you had a bunker.
The first scenario is climate change. We dump pollution into our rivers, chop down our earth lungs (the Amazon Rainforest and The Congo River Basin) for fun and pump carbon dioxide and methane into the air like it’s going out of fashion. We’re having the biggest party now but we're on the trajectory to experiencing the worst hangover possible. Can you imagine a future where droughts and severe storms are regular weather events? I would imagine that it’s rather difficult to grow food when there is no water or there is too much water. When food and drinking water shortages arrive you'll become the star of your own series of Survivor. It’s just that the other contestants might not play nicely if they have guns.
The second scenario involved an extended nationwide blackout. In one book, countries grouped together to detonate electromagnetic pulses that destroyed America’s major power stations. I occasionally had nightmares about this story but I allowed myself to believe that I'd never have to experience something like this in South Africa. We're so unlike America. Our earthquakes knock over chairs, our tornados can only carry sand and we have a different approach to foreign policy. We do have Eskom though. We also have worries that a single infrastructure failure at an Eskom power station could cause a nationwide blackout. We don't know how long it would take to fix a situation like that but if the blackout lasted for weeks then we could have a few problems. Imagine your life without electricity (obviously), cellular and internet connections (unless our service providers can power themselves using love), running water (our pumps won’t work) and fresh food (major farmers will not be able to irrigate their farms without electricity or running water).
Things will be okay for a while because everyone will expect power to return like it usually does. If the power doesn't come back you'll begin to experience panic over the lack of drinking water and food because someone will have already ransacked your local Spar. At this point you better be prepared to fight or flee because others will take whatever resources you have left by force.
The main characters of stories like these have survived because of three principles: preparedness, speed and location. Preparedness saw the characters learning how to fight, owning an arsenal of weapons and cramming survival skills. They also stored tinned food and learned how to grow food in different conditions. Speed was indicated by them high-tailing it out of major cities. They filled up their vehicles and didn't stop driving until they were far away from populated locations. They chose to settle in areas that were undesirable for human settlement because if they didn't want to live there then it was likely that others wouldn’t venture there.
I look at all of this and realised that two plans could be made from those principles. If the disaster hits your country, surrounding countries are fine and flights, ships or buses are still operational then I would vote with getting out of the country very quickly. If the problem is widespread like Mother Nature bitching all over the place then you better hope there is bunker waiting for you in a swamp, on top of a mountain or in a desert.
The first scenario is climate change. We dump pollution into our rivers, chop down our earth lungs (the Amazon Rainforest and The Congo River Basin) for fun and pump carbon dioxide and methane into the air like it’s going out of fashion. We’re having the biggest party now but we're on the trajectory to experiencing the worst hangover possible. Can you imagine a future where droughts and severe storms are regular weather events? I would imagine that it’s rather difficult to grow food when there is no water or there is too much water. When food and drinking water shortages arrive you'll become the star of your own series of Survivor. It’s just that the other contestants might not play nicely if they have guns.
The second scenario involved an extended nationwide blackout. In one book, countries grouped together to detonate electromagnetic pulses that destroyed America’s major power stations. I occasionally had nightmares about this story but I allowed myself to believe that I'd never have to experience something like this in South Africa. We're so unlike America. Our earthquakes knock over chairs, our tornados can only carry sand and we have a different approach to foreign policy. We do have Eskom though. We also have worries that a single infrastructure failure at an Eskom power station could cause a nationwide blackout. We don't know how long it would take to fix a situation like that but if the blackout lasted for weeks then we could have a few problems. Imagine your life without electricity (obviously), cellular and internet connections (unless our service providers can power themselves using love), running water (our pumps won’t work) and fresh food (major farmers will not be able to irrigate their farms without electricity or running water).
Things will be okay for a while because everyone will expect power to return like it usually does. If the power doesn't come back you'll begin to experience panic over the lack of drinking water and food because someone will have already ransacked your local Spar. At this point you better be prepared to fight or flee because others will take whatever resources you have left by force.
The main characters of stories like these have survived because of three principles: preparedness, speed and location. Preparedness saw the characters learning how to fight, owning an arsenal of weapons and cramming survival skills. They also stored tinned food and learned how to grow food in different conditions. Speed was indicated by them high-tailing it out of major cities. They filled up their vehicles and didn't stop driving until they were far away from populated locations. They chose to settle in areas that were undesirable for human settlement because if they didn't want to live there then it was likely that others wouldn’t venture there.
I look at all of this and realised that two plans could be made from those principles. If the disaster hits your country, surrounding countries are fine and flights, ships or buses are still operational then I would vote with getting out of the country very quickly. If the problem is widespread like Mother Nature bitching all over the place then you better hope there is bunker waiting for you in a swamp, on top of a mountain or in a desert.
It’s all so morbid, yeah?
