Let’s say that, through whatever improbable means you wish to postulate*, you learn that our current technological culture will collapse on 1 June 2009. Every technological device invented since --oh, let’s say 1439– will be irreparably disabled on that date, and though it will be possible to make new ones in theory, in practice that’s going to be a tough row to hoe without a supporting infrastructure. By device, by the way, I mean dynamic artifacts such as automobiles, shotguns, telephones, and so forth. Skyscrapers don’t immediately collapse, and roads remain whole–but no existing elevator will work after midnight (Greenwich) time on the aforementioned date, and GPs satellites remain in orbit, no longer transmitting, until their orbits decay naturally. And so forth.
The mechanism that leaves you convinced of this also leaves you convinced that you are powerless to avert the coming crisis, and, having neither a time machine, reality jumper, or starship you are also powerless to escape. Only you have this information, and despite your certitude you have no way to prove you’re right.
What do you do to prepare?
*We don’t really need a setup, do we? 'Cause I really don’t feel like blathring about time warps and Fabulous Creature’s dastardly plans and all that other crap, but I will if you force me.
I do all I can to secure a home owner’s loan in that amount of time. I buy (or build) a small, cheap, sturdy home (think, one room or two) in a rural area with access to running water at or near the source, wood-burning heat, and plenty of space around me. I’ll also stock up on non-perishables, seeds, and so on.
When the shit hits the fan, I’ll be in a fairly stable, non-urban area with food, water, and shelter, and heat for the winter. Couldn’t ask for much more I don’t think.
I’d also do a bit of reading about gardening, seed harvesting, root cellaring, and the natural flora and fauna in my area.
I’d stockpile a bit more food, and I might move closer to one of the centers of my extended family (probably southern Ohio, because that’s where my aunt who raises horses is, and horses are going to be the most reliable form of long-range communication until someone rebuilds telegraph systems). I don’t think I’d need to do much more than that, actually: My extended family is both very large and very close-knit, and between us, we have all of the skills necessary to survive. By banding together, we’d be able to protect ourselves against the roving bandits/mutants/zombies, and to start rebuilding a society.
Oh, and for all practical purposes, the GPS satellites’ orbits won’t decay naturally, certainly not in the 500 years or so it’ll presumably take us to catch back up to the space age. They’re considerably higher up than most low-Earth-orbit sats.
I began to respond, “Fool of a Took! Read the OP, and this time for comprehension!” But then, doing that myself, I realized that I left the matter ambiguous, so it’s a reasonable question. I’ll answer it thus:
For Dopers in long-term committed relationships–your SOs and any children who live in the same household with you underwent the same experience, so they know everything you do.
Otherwise, you do not know if anyone else is aware of the coming catastrophe. You observe that there’s nothing in the mass media about it, but you don’t know whether that’s because only you and yours have the info, or because other persons have it and are keeping mum.
OK - so we are getting advance notice of a “Dies the Fire” situation?
Fencing (last taken 20 years ago)
Archery (last practiced 5 years ago)
Books on farming and animal husbandry
Purchase farmland (borrow the money - who cares!) with constant water source for irrigation, drinking and driving a water wheel.
Build a home that is made for defense (stone / walls /etc).
Try to build a community around me in advance as well.
Collect every possible book on medieval crafts, etc.
Build a huge inventory of finished goods such as plows, horse collars, seed stock, wagons, etc. Build a similar inventory of bows, swords and other quality weapons.
Get the basics for a blacksmith, and other crafts of the pre-tech period - even if someone else ends up using them.
One day before the shit hits the fan, throw a massive party for every truly committed ren faire / sca type, farmers, craftsmen, etc. in the area. Invite everyone to the area to pitch a tent while I secretly wait for the Alien Space Bats to jack up all technology.
Seems to me the thing to do is to build and equip a working smithy, and learn the basics of blacksmithing. There’ll be vast amounts of scrap metal around (all those post-1439 devices that no longer work), and the person who can make steel tools will be better situated than the person who needs steel tools to scratch out a living off a little plot of land.
It does seem rather odd to me that existing simple, purely mechanical devices like say McCormick’s reaper will be disabled whilst new copies will work, and yet existing copies of simple, purely mechanical devices invented before the printing press, like say a windmill, won’t have been affected at all. This discrepancy makes it hard for me to plot a strategy, since the means by which this is all to happen will surely have a significant impact on viable strategies.
Oh, okay. Let’s say that by “disabled,” the OP means “gathered at hyper-speed by Fabulous Creature’s flying monkeys and shot into the sun, and, by the way, FC’s head was chopped off by Buffy the Vampire Slayer half a second after he put the evil plan into effect, and thus the victory of the good guys was only moral.”
Though I was trying not to make this thread about ole what’s his name.
It would probably be about that time that I would discover the appeal of being Amish. As well as starting an impressive collection of pre-gunpowder weapons.* And the complete collection of Foxfire and similar books.
If I had a box of parts that, when assembled, would be a muzzleloading rifle, could I assemble said rifle after zero-hour? Or would I just have a poor club?
ETA: I see that others have asked similar questions while I was distracted by work, but nonetheless, the question stands
My family owns a cabin on a lake that is set up for this situation. It has a good cast iron stove for heat and cooking, a lake full of fish and a surrounding forest full of tasty animals however I would need to get a well dug with a hand pump. I preparation I would research the life of Native tribes that are indigenous to the area to see how they survived the winter, and see what kind of livestock I could realistically keep on hand.
I would probably build a hut of smoking meat and another for general storage.
For my stockpile list I would have
Fabric
Wool
Sewing, knitting, and crochet needles of various size
Books on survival and edible plants of the area.
Seeds for a garden
Shovels
Ice Auger
Axes
Bow and arrows
Blankets
Cookware
Fishing supplies
Knives and sharpening stones
Flint
Candles
Rope
And don’t forget the toilet paper!
Only for extreme values of “completely disassembled.” That is, it must exist in such a state as would have been possible to achieve in 1439. So you won’t be able to save your computer by disassembling it, as the monkeys will say, “Hey! Circuitry! Into the sun with it! Also, fling some flaming poo at that guy for trying to be clever!”
Well, okay, that deprives the survivors of a vast quantity of scrap metal that would be available if the items were just disabled. Also note the “what if I have parts for X and assemble them afterwards” question. I realize you didn’t want to get into the details of what happens, but the details are largely going to determine the best strategy.
I’d put every penny into crop seeds, figure out the best available means of brushing my teeth and wiping my ass in ancient times, and settle back.
Oh, yeah, and I’m gonna assume that global warming continues on schedule, so I don’t need to move south.
I figure with crops and carefule hygiene, I’ll be as well off as I can be. I’ll try and talk some of my bulkier neighbors into helping defend the crop in exchange for a cut of the food.
That whimsical super-villain Fabulous Creature is behind everything; it was one fo the evil plans that he was working on in between plotting the seduction of Kim Rhymer. Anywhistle, the mechanism in question (a) vaporizes any electronic circuitry and any telecommunications device what-so-damn-ever, down to the model telegraph in my father’s attic that I got for my eighth birthday; and (b) smashes any mechanical device not covered by (a) as if it had been put through a, um, smashing thing. (I’m having a brain fart and cannot thing of the proper term–I’m thinking of those cartoon junkyard things that turn a car into a 3’ by 3’ cube.) Disassembled parts will be destroyed too if they are recognizably part of a greater device, so that machined rifle barrel you’re planning on is toast.
I hadn’t thought about global warming. I wonder what would happen in that regards if all industry suddenly ceased? (Assuming FC’s dastardly device magically emits not a calorie of waste heat or a gram of carbon dioxide.)
I’d move to Washington State, buy the farm next to my cousin’s, and learn smithing. I’m already a fair hand with a bow, so the rest would be laying in of supplies. And books. Thousands and thousands of books. All of this on borrowed money, of course.
