#i hate money shit i wish i lived on a self sustaining farm in a small village with a doctor and a cobbler or something

[skanecanyon]

Make Survival Preparation Great Again

Making Survival Preparation Great Again: The Survival Of The Human Species

            We are living in a time when any number of catastrophic events could affect large portions of the population. Some of these catastrophic events will be natural and some will be of our own making. Human activity as it stands is unsustainable and like it or not, it is changing the climate and the environment. It would behoove us as a nation, as a species, to come up with some sort of contingency plan for such catastrophic events. As it stands though, we are terminally distracted with our own vices. Far more interested in consumption, reproduction and short-term benefits. I tend to agree with astrophysicist, Brian Cox's explanation as to why we haven't made contact with another alien species yet. Maybe the same thing happened to them as what is happening to us. They pursued short-term benefits in exchange for long-term sustainability and thus burned themselves out before they could become capable of inner galactic travel. Maybe this is the path that all "intelligent" life takes, wherever it evolves in the universe. One would think that long-term survival of the human species would be a common interest among all of us, but it's not. I would like to see this attitude change, and so I propose to you the Make Survival Preparation Great Again campaign. A new hope for the survival and advancement of the human species.

 Post Apocalypse

           In the event of a major event, such as a Yellowstone eruption, the United States would essentially be destroyed. According to geological evidence from the last several eruptions, Minnesota, where I live, could be covered with anywhere from .4 to 1.1 inches of ash for a month long eruption. We would survive the immediate eruption, but life would not be pretty afterwards. Millions of people that live in Zone One, which is the area closest to the blast will die instantly. Ash would cover the entire United States and the world could potentially be thrust into a nuclear Winter scenario. Acid rain, ash, contaminated surface water, lack of sunlight, and freezing temperatures would kill crops and livestock around the world. There would be mass panic and migration in the aftermath. There would be extreme rationing of goods, and ultimately, people in the U.S. who wished to survive would have to migrate, most likely to Mexico and South America, possibly Canada. This is one possible scenario, and it's not that it might happen, it is that it's going to happen. It has happened regularly in the past and will continue to happen in the future, and when it does, the effects will be devastating. Yellowstone is not the only super volcano in the world, nor are super volcanoes the only possible global catastrophe. There could be another asteroid impact. We could experience another Ice Age. It might be something of our own doing. Global warming could increase storm activity; cause sea levels to rise, wiping out coastal cities, or kill off pollinators and make agriculture a lot more difficult. Overpopulation could cause widespread disease and pandemics. So you see, there are any number of catastrophic events that definitely will happen at some point, and we will not be ready for it. Not as things currently stand.

 Food Production Centers (FPCs)

            The main idea behind the Make Survival Preparation Great Again Campaign (MSPGAC) is the construction of several hundreds, possibly thousands of Food Production Centers (FPCs) across parts of the nation. These centers will be designed such that they can be totally sealed against the elements in a moments notice. They would be climatically controlled, filtered, and self- sustaining if need be. They essentially would be agricultural centers that could be turned into self-sustaining bio domes in a moments notice. The exact size and design of these FPCs could be debated, but the immediate idea that comes to mind for me is essentially a giant cement bunker, approximately one acre in size (about the same size as a football field), that is mostly underground and divided into two main sections, the agricultural section, where various crops could be grown, and the food production section, where those raw agricultural goods get turned into food stuff with long lasting shelf life. Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) if you will. I personally envision some kind of Soylent Green type of product, but made from peas instead of people. The nature and variety of these MREs are also debatable, but I envision a lot of granola bar type products. Maybe some canned goods. Maybe some dehydrated stuff. In the case of a near extinction level event, many species are going to die. Pollinators would become extinct as well. So you'd have a really tough time farming in a post apocalyptic world. Some of these FPCs could potentially be used to raise chickens, but large animal livestock is probably not feasible. The shit produced by the chickens could be used to fertilize the agricultural plots. Even so, items like meat and eggs would be extreme luxuries in a post apocalyptic world. Most people would be eating Soylent Green products. As for pollination in a post apocalyptic world, either natural pollinators would have to be kept alive indoors for several decades, or crops would have to be pollinated by hand, a job that could prove to be quite labor intensive and time consuming. This consideration would undoubtedly factor into choosing the types of crops that are to be grown. Regardless of what crops are chosen, these FPCs could also serve as seed banks, storing seeds from before the apocalypse, so that they can be reintroduced into nature at some future point. 

             Once on-line, these FPCs can immediately go to work producing quantities of MREs that can then be transported to various Emergency Distribution Centers across the nation, where they should be able to be stored and protected from degradation until their time of need. Distribution of packaged goods and/or raw materials could be done by conventional means for now, but in the case of a major catastrophe such as a Yellowstone eruption, ash, fallout and dust could end up fouling up combustion engines, so inevitably, all transportation should probably be electric. We could build a few of these FPCs each year until several hundreds or thousands of them exist across the nation, and a massive stockpile of MREs has been achieved, capable of sustaining a large population for decades. See artist's crude rendering below. 

            The only part of the FPC that would be above ground would be a giant, retractable, high-strength, glass roof, which sits on rollers, and is capable of sealing itself to the agricultural side of the building. When there isn't an emergency, the building can sit with the roof open to allow for natural rain and pollination. When there is an emergency, the glass roof can be closed and seal the structure against the elements. The roof would be made of high strength glass and would have a low profile to help it withstand high winds and debris. Any air entering the building through the ventilation could be filtered. Interior fans could keep air circulating.    

Location

           The location of these FPCs would have to be strategically planned. Access to water, and potentially lots of it, would have to be a consideration. In non-emergency times, any and/or all sources of water could be used. After such a catastrophe, however, surface water would become contaminated and wouldn't be able to be used for crops or livestock, but it could probably still be used to generate energy. Clean water would most likely have to be able to be drawn from underground aquifers, otherwise it would have to somehow be filtered and purified.

           These FPCs would require energy, even in a post apocalyptic environment. They could initially be wired to the grid like anything else, but would also have to have a self-sustaining source of power. Wind power, hydroelectric, and battery back-up all come to mind, but nuclear should also be considered. As much as I hate the idea of proliferating nuclear power plants, I have to confess that small, individual nuclear reactors would be the best way to ensure consistent long-lasting power in a post apocalyptic world. They wouldn't have to be up and running all the time, but they must be available should the conditions call for it. I would think that each FPC would require a reactor similar to what powers a nuclear submarine or aircraft carrier, maybe even smaller. Solar power could be considered, but wouldn't do much good in a nuclear or volcanic Winter scenario. Sunlight could be blocked for month, years, or even decades depending on the catastrophe.  

Economic Impact

           We are also living in a time when good jobs are becoming scarce due to automation, down-sizing, and outsourcing. The construction and operation of these FPCs would provide employment for thousands of people across a wide spectrum of abilities. I know what you're thinking. This is going to cost a lot of money and how are we ever going to pay for it? Well, for starters, you continue to tax the most inelastic luxury goods (ie: cigarettes, video games, smart phones) At the same time, you legalize currently illegal goods like marijuana, prostitution and gambling and tax the piss out of them. In addition to this, you could consider fundraising, and taxing the wealthiest among us who own and operate the corporations that are responsible for encouraging our consumptive behaviors in the first place. Anyone who donated time and/or money to this cause would be viewed as one of the ultimate heroes of mankind. I don't think funding it would need to be difficult. The FPCs would be pretty basic structures. I certainly don't imagine that any of them would cost any more than the average skyscraper. If we can talk about funding a post war New Deal, or a several billion dollar wall along the Mexican border, or investing billions into more nuclear weapons, or colonizing Mars, then we can talk about building FPCs across America over the course of several years or decades.

           Survival of the human species should be a common goal among all people world-wide. This plan would cost a lot of money, that is true, but it would guarantee a lot of diverse jobs for a long time while at the same time ensuring our long-term survival. If you say to me, "This sounds too expensive. Can we actually afford to do something like this?" I ask you, "If we are to survive in the long-term, can we afford not to?" We are currently an exponentially growing, global population of consumers, intent on obtaining short-term benefits in exchange for long-term sustainability. Barring all other possible catastrophes, this, in and of itself, cannot go on forever. It is a bubble waiting to pop. You can argue that all empires crumble, but I think it is largely human behavior that determines when that happens. It's time we stopped living in the moment and started giving some thought to the future. This is our home. We're not going anywhere.