Being able to make and repair actual things is going to be useful when the .gov pension Ponzis implode.
That’s true. Bond holders won’t take haircuts by themselves. The overspending on pensioners and employees could even be cut to stave off a bond collapse for a little longer. I was a little surprised that spending wasn’t cut even more in Greece, before so many bond holders and real taxpayers were cheated.
On making and repairing things, the low was -18, F, this morning. -16 now. Temperatures usually go down into the minus-30s at times in January and February. I’m at a high elevation on the Rockies, just where many preppy preppers say that they want to be. This winter, that would be nice, because it’s warmer and much less windy than usual so far.
But propane goes very quickly here and gets very expensive—about 2,000 gallons per year for most residents in small houses in the area. Last year, propane more than doubled in a short run price trial. Forced air heating would use monstrous amounts of power (electricity) from a home PV solar plant. It’s a situation, where building something unorthodox to use sunlight and/or smaller amounts of wood can be very important.
There are no quick, conventional fixes. Such necessities are complicated and require much thought, planning and designing in advance.
Gardening is also a technical challenge, although it can be done by someone willing to solve a few problems and do extra work. There are sometimes freezes during summer nights, high winds, intense hail storms in July and more. Because of NIMBY policies for decades here and no farming in the past, the soil is hard packed and sterile. Precipitation evaporates immediately. A lower elevation in a warmer place would be much easier.