Have we become too dependent on electronics?

TIMEGLASS JOURNAL – Editorial Article by Jim Lantern – 10:00 a.m. CT Friday 25 July 2014

This is a must see “Science at NASA” video about the 2012 solar event that came close to knocking us nearly back to the stone age.

If there were a direct hit by such force as that, then the following is some of what wold happen…

1. Air travel as we know it would stop long term, as well as most other means of transportation. You would end up walking, riding a bicycle, riding a horse or in a horse-pulled wagon, flying in a hot air balloon, traveling by train pulled by stream engine locomotive, stream engine boats, sail boats, paddle boats.
2. No more radio and television for the long term.
3. No more cell phones for the long term, as well as landline phones.
4. No more computers for the long term. The Internet would instantly cease to exist.
5. All payments by electronic transfer would cease. Your credit and debit cards, as is, would become useless. The old kind of credit cards with raised numbers for printing out bills and receipts for paper record keeping might be brought back. The U.S. Government would have to go back to mailing out checks to all who receive government money, such as Social Security, which could take too long – resulting in disabled and retired having no money to live on – many will die. No doubt people surviving on welfare or unemployment checks would be cut off, and then their survival would become dependent on charity or crime. As businesses fail and unemployment increases, more people will turn to charities or crime – except those few who know how to fish and hunt to get food to stay alive.
6. Charities would be overwhelmed and would have to set priorities for those who should be saved and those in most need of help.
7. Churches might become more active with charity than they already are, as well as for greater use as public meeting places and social centers. This would likely include public schools for children becoming meeting places and social centers.
8. There would be delays in production and delivery of food and beverages, as well as reduction of food safety and preserving food. Many people would have to go back to fishing and hunting to have food to stay alive. There would likely be violence and murders over limited food supplies and fresh water, with price gouging. Some people would very likely starve to death.
9. Wall Street would cease to exist, along with all stocks and stock markets. Unlikely that world would ever recover.
10. Most financial records stored electronically would be destroyed.
11. The IRS as we know it would drop dead. With no money coming in, the federal government would probably shut down, and no more money would be paid out to anyone.
12. Businesses dependent upon the “churning of money” would cease to exit.
13. Postal service would likely be first to recover with return to mail delivery by riders on horses or use of horse pulled wagons. Long distance mail would be carried by steam engine trains and boats. No more airmail for the long term.
14. People would have to go back to using totally mechanical typewriters, typing on paper, for anything professional. Otherwise, writing by hand on paper.
15. Newspapers would have to go back to totally mechanical print presses. It would take longer for news to reach you. Local news might not be a problem. national news could take a week. World news could take a month.
16. You would have to wash clothes by hand.
17. Water flow for indoor plumbing would be interrupted until water pumping stations could be changed over to pumps powered by coal or steam, but some are still like that so it might not be a problem.
18. No more electric lights for a long time. Sales of candles and matches would become big business.
19. Most home heat during winter would go back to burning of wood for heat. Or use of coal. Same for cooking food and heating water.
20. Military defenses dependent on electronics and electricity would be destroyed – an equalizer reducing all countries to the same level of old world defense means.
21. Police and others in law enforcement wold have to go back to riding horses or riding bicycles, or just walking. Most citizens would have to carry guns or other weapons for self defense – not just at home but probably everywhere – as violent crimes would increase. If the federal government is still functioning, then martial law would likely be declared. Many people would be taken to survival camps, which would probably become tent cities in the southern and warmer states.
22. Response from the fire department would be slowed down, and there wold be issues with water access for putting out fires.
23. It would take longer for emergency medical services to respond.
24. Health care would take a major hit as result of loss of all electronic systems and other devices requiring electricity. People whose lives are dependent on those would die. Manufacture and delivery of medicine would also result in many deaths.
25. No more radar and satellites for warning about approaching severe weather. Many people will die in storms.

How long would this go on? Some places would recover faster than others. Some places could take a year. Other places might take 20 years to fully recover. Same for certain kinds of businesses and services. A few places, such as “third world countries” and locations where people are still living without modern conveniences, would not notice the event, and their lives would go on unaffected. In a worst case scenario those people might end up being the only survivors. Further, some of those people are not interested in waiting for a natural disaster to knock the modern world back to the stone age. Some of them are looking for way to attack and destroy the power grids of modern countries dependent upon electricity to maintain their level of power – world influence by money, business, government, politics, and military.

As is, I believe we are not prepared for such a major disaster. Very few back-up systems, which do not require electricity, are still in place. A few individuals and families are prepared, such as “survivalists” who already have everything they need to stay alive, and to defend what they have.

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