And you are prepared, great, but what about your neighbors? They will be VERY hungry.
Alas, Brave New Babylon
(link to the Free Republic thread)
Posted on 10/14/2013 3:13:03 PM PDT by The Working Man
How I saw it.
Through the scope on my 30-30 I kept the reticule steady on the first of the insulators I was to destroy tonight. The Power lines leading away into the distance from the Niagara Power station to the Cities of the south were thin lines in the bright moonlight. I thought about what had brought me to this spot… Cold, hungry… Ah who am I kidding, I still had another twenty pounds of fat I could stand to burn through. My spotter hadn’t had a good meal in two days and I had given her my Jerky and portion of the trail mix we had scavenged three days ago. Sarah’s a good kid, a good spotter and Ohhh… how she burns with righteous hatred for those bastards far to the south of us.
It’s Christmas Eve and I prayed that everyone would be ready, if not… Well we would do our job, I had to trust that they would do theirs.
For years now I have been a semi-isolated man, I gave up trying to warn people of what I could see coming in the years ahead. I consoled myself with the adage that ‘A prophet is not recognized in his own land.’ But still it hurt to be rejected for what I could so plainly see coming at us in the mists of the future as seen by the history of the past.
But perhaps you can see it now too? Our politicians who we elect to ‘represent’ us… Don’t. I’m not really sure if they even represent themselves actually, it’s like they become absorbed into a collective hive mind when the reach the halls of power in Washington D.C. and the various Statehouses around the United States.
Through the power of the Treasury they bought the servitude of over half of the people through the power of ‘welfare’, Food stamps, ‘Free’ housing through the Section 8 program and so many other programs to ‘help’ the poor. Using the power of the Tax Laws they were well on their way to impoverishing those who moral character insists that they must pave their own way through life. But like all men who grasp at their vision of ‘destiny’ with the goal of becoming the undisputed ‘lords and masters’ of all they survey, the current group of politicians in power see the ends of their lifespans rapidly coming to an end and unlike their fathers and fore-fathers they don’t have the patience to work slowly and wait for it to all fall into the hands of their own children without a ‘fight’.
They want it ‘now’ and so they moved too fast and angered too many of the citizens ‘unnecessarily’. Through Obamacare they would have the final tool to control everyone. Why? Because if you can control ‘healthcare’ you can control all of the actions of a person in even the smallest way. You eat too much/little food, change your ways or you will go to ‘camp’ and we will change you for your own good. “Too much/little exercise, you do ‘dangerous’ activities like biking, hiking in the forests and mountains. You do… well whatever it is that the masters have decided is the wrong thing and you will pay in one way or another.
But I digress once again; please forgive an old man’s mental wanderings. As you now know it began in earnest in early December, there was the ‘prediction’ from the weather service for an extremely heavy and dangerous blizzard conditions in the Northeast. The people listened and yawned and continued on with their habitual activities. The snow came down and it was pretty to watch, the temperatures dropped and night came. They went to bed and thought nothing of it.
In a power distribution center the computer system had a ‘glitch’ and the electrical grid started to shut-down. Because everything is so interconnected the effects spread throughout the country, in less than ten minutes the country was powerless… electrically anyway. The Internet was down, no electricity remember? To the common citizen that is, the forces of the United States Government had their own independent systems.
Telephones? Well now… Cell service was out and those that had old style copper wiring for their connections found that with the advent of the wonderful fiber-optic lines their old-fashioned telephones were no longer connected to the ‘Central battery’ at the Telephone company, ergo no telephone service either.
In the cities of the Northeast the people awoke in the morning to no power, ‘No problem they thought this has happened before. I’ll just have a cup of coffee and wait a bit. It’ll come back on soon enough.’ Those who were fortunate to have a natural gas stove could cook food… Well they could if they had any in the refrigerator, so many of them ate exclusively at restaurants throughout the cities and those were without power too. At least it was now cold enough that the frozen and refrigerated food would not go bad quickly.
In much of America in one way or another this same pattern was repeated over and over again even those places that were fortunate to have temperatures that were comfortable without heavy winter clothing.
In Washington D.C. the orders were going out to prepare their forces for turmoil if the power outage lasted very long. And we now know that it did… and on purpose. The goal was simple, there had been a calculation made; a cold calculation. There were too many people in the United States, well… too many of the ‘wrong’ type of people.
They knew that the people in the sub-urbs, ex-urbs and rural areas were more self-sufficient the farther away from the city you were and you could add on to that that too many of them were of the ‘wrong’ political persuasion too. And now that everyone was cut off from each other, no warning could or would be given.
The raids began on the third day of the blackout. First would come a convoy of MRAP vehicles to surround a town and then the DHS ‘troops’ would go door to door collecting weapons, all the food from hoarders, in other words if anyone had had food for more than three days and especially those people who were known as Mal-contents. Since it was winter most people didn’t want to leave their homes in a power blackout and were perfect prey and those who did get some warning and fled were easily tracked with the thermal cameras.
But the worst thing they did was to confiscate the Gasoline, they were methodical about it too; an empty tank truck would drive down a street, every car was drained of fuel as they went, every gas station was emptied and the people were left to starve in the powerless days and nights to come.
The Goal was elimination of the populace, and any who dared to resist by words or actions was eliminated ruthlessly. The people of each town and hamlet wondered how these ruthless men and women could live with themselves and their actions. Finally one woman with a tight face and red eyes from crying said. “It’s either you or our own families and my kids are being held hostage against me. I’m so sorry… so sorry.” But still… she followed orders and did as she was told.
People on the far outskirts of the towns and counties were left alone, not because they were wanted or needed but because there weren’t enough ‘troops’ to do a 100% job. And they rallied and brought in firewood as needed, food that could be shared and they planned their own ‘revenge’ on the bureaucrats.
The ‘supplies’ that had been ‘donated’ found their way to the various cities so that the ‘right’ people would be fed and there would be fuel for the generators that the Federal Government had provided could run and provide necessary power to the Hospitals, police stations and Welfare food distribution centers. It took a week or so before the word filtered back to the cities of what was happening in those places they only heard about when the latest shooting atrocity occurred. The smarter ones began to wonder at first quietly and then loudly, if it can happen to ‘those’ people can it happen to us too?
The answer came swiftly, speak out against the government and you don’t eat, your EBT card wouldn’t be recognized or accepted any longer at the local stores and if you showed up at the Welfare center to claim your daily food ration you were asked to come inside for a ‘talk’, those who went in for a ‘talk’ never came out again.
An historical ‘buff’ soon recognized that this was the same thing the Spartans would do to the ‘outspoken Helots’ they would entice them to a secluded location with a ‘goodie’ of one sort or another and they would never be seen again. It was a subtle form of control of the populace by terror, but it worked then and it still worked to this day. His warnings fell on deaf ears and he soon disappeared too.
From what I’ve managed to piece together from the stories and rumors spread from person to person the DHS raids are still going on even now. It’s not like there are millions and millions of them because there aren’t. But they’re organized… really, really organized. And when they pick a target town or community for their latest ‘donation collection’ they clean it out of everything worth taking. The only things they leave behind are the people living if they are lucky, dead if they opposed them in any way.
For the longest time the ‘conspiracy theorists’ thought that the FEMA camps would be used to hold the malcontents. Ha! If only… if only that were true. No these people in Washington and elsewhere have a better plan, why feed those you plan on eliminating anyway, let mother nature do it for you. And if they resort to cannibalism to survive… Well there are laws against that and they’ll use those laws to the fullest later on as they reassert control over the countryside outside of their core cities.
The survivors of the looted towns and communities eventually worked their ways back to the cities. Most of their weapons were gone as well as their ammunition, Gasoline for Molotov cocktails was at a premium. With only a five gallon can here and there for lawnmowers to be found and they were mostly empty as it was winter and there was no need to run a lawnmower in winter… right? But still they came; they had figured out if they waited for spring then most of them would be starved to death or too weak to resist the hordes of 'thugs' that might be unleashed on them from the cities so it was a brutal winter march to the cities. And it was made even more brutal by the daily over flights of the Helicopters that would strafe the groups of ‘rebels’ as they walked down the empty roads to the Cities.
As the ‘rebels’ approached the no-man’s-land around the cities they soon learned another part of the ‘plan’. Anyone who wanted to leave the cities was allowed to do so. No weapons or food were permitted to leave and only the gasoline in their vehicles was allowed, no extra cans of gas were permitted to leave. But to get back in… “Sorry man, no-can-do!” Only those with a valid ‘city passport’ could get back in and those were reserved to the ‘troops’ or the bureaucrats.
It took time, but the ‘rebels’ were motivated now, they had once been American Citizens; now they were declared by their own elected government to be ‘rebels’ and ‘useless eaters’. They squirmed their way in through the nooks and crannies, the storm drains and sewers. Once in they waited for the ‘signal’ and prepared their own attacks. No one was to know what they planned because they didn’t know themselves going in. Not even the signal was known, they were just told that they would recognize it when it occurred.
In Washington there was… well not jubilation, perhaps it was the satisfaction of a good plan coming to fruition. Ninety-five percent of the military forces were overseas at the time and through tight control of information they were clueless for the most part of what was occurring in the United States. They had built a magnificent buffer zone around D.C. filled with their sycophants, hangers-on and Welfare recipients. No rag-tag bunch of ‘rebels’ could make their way through the buffer zone to affect them personally.
All that was needed was to wait and let ‘Mother Nature’ starve the ones they wanted most to get rid of. All they wanted was to cut the population by fifty percent. So far the youngest and the oldest were dying off in sufficient numbers. By summer they would be on target and then everything would be brought back to ‘normal’.
And with their total control of the News Media it was all working out perfectly. What the people under their control in the cities were fed information-wise was all that mattered and what happened in the still blacked out areas didn’t matter at all. They too would be fed the ‘right’ information and the ‘right’ conclusions would be made by them in the end and really that’s all that mattered… the end goal, right?
So here it was… Christmas Eve… The lights were back on in the cities and the Welfare centers had given out double rations for the day and the next one too so that their workers could spend the ‘winter holiday’ with their families.
“Ker-Rack, Ker-Rack, Ker-Rack” I fired methodically, all of them were good shots, the insulators and the transmission wires they had supported were down. Now to move on to the next location we had scouted out earlier on in the day. ‘Can’t make it to easy for them to repair the lines.’ I thought in satisfaction.
The long-distance Power lines were cut in a coordinated attack. The Water Distribution Plants were shut-down, anything one or two people could do. The Welfare centers were closed and the Guards were inside having a ‘party’ when the buildings caught on fire from the hoarded gasoline bombs once called Molotov cocktails. You would think it hard to coordinate so many people so that they would act in unison; but no it wasn’t all that hard to do. All it took was the power going out once again… that was the signal and those whose families had frozen and starved in the countryside outside the now-hated cities took their revenge.
In Washington there was at first a ho-hum attitude, their plan was still working; the populace was being thinned out even more.
Then the power went out… just as the snow began to fall.
Good thoughts on the various firearms and situations they are good for.
But think about this situation, The Feds have done their homework and have done their best to confiscate as many weapons and ammunition as possible. What do you do if you have managed to scrounge up a 12 gauge shotgun and you find in a closet in an abandoned home some .303. But no 12 gauge shells of any type. Do you leave the .303 behind or hope you find someone who needs that and has shotgun shells you can use?
In a SHTF situation there are so many decisions to make and a bad one might prove fatal.
Skepticism is good, as I said before it’s a thought experiment written as a story.
On the Power Front I used to work on Submarine Power Cables. I saw quite a few things that would make me go ‘Huh?’ There was always a good scientific reason for what occurred but the effects were... Hmmmm... sometimes ‘very interesting’. Especially when I would see an insulator being arced over due to salt deposition from the ocean air.
I remember working on a tower one time and the insulator turned to powder when we started to work on it. Just too many electrical strikes over time was the determination but still it made me wonder.
Or they can turn on their "minders".
Many more people have whole house generators now. 2% of the population and growing as the price comes down. So in reality, more and more people are self sufficient when it comes to power.
The electrical grid only stay up as long as the rural folks permit it. I’m not sure about the probability of this scenario, but for sure, the cities depend on the outside infrastructure for everything from food to fuel to electricity.
For how long?
After Sandy, we were out of power for 6 days and calculated that if we meted out power and conserved (stayed in 1 room instead of heating the entire house) we could easily last 3 1/2 weeks on the propane we have.
And you are prepared, great, but what about your neighbors? They will be VERY hungry.
Alas, Brave New Babylon
(link to the Free Republic thread)
This was a disaster zone after Sandy. Trees down everywhere, and we were concerned it would be weeks until we could get a propane refill. Amazingly, the cleanup took place very quickly and routes were open, power restored in a mere week. And it was truly a disaster zone.
We could last a month on the propane we have, and I have little doubt we would be able to get a refill within that time, barring a nuclear bomb going off or something equivalent.
But in that case, we would all be dead anyway. There is no way to prepare for everything. I have prepared as best as I can and can sleep at night knowing I took the steps i did.
When the SHTF, a generator running will be a signal for miles around that there's food, women and other stuff available at the origin of the sound.
Ditto, cooking ribs (or anything else) in the open air.
Just sayin'.
And those with generators might as well mount a beacon on their flagpole...and better live in a castle keep...
Or they can turn on their “minders”.
Fear and terror can have some very interesting effects. Witness the Russian Army with their ‘encouragement’ squads that would follow behind the front-line troops and execute anyone who tried to run or didn’t show enough ‘enthusiasm’ for the glorious revolution.
I read you, TWM.
Nobody should write here what you’re asking.
Don’t be frustrated by the comments; I think most are hip.
Nicely written; well done.
I don’t think the scenario has a chance in a ‘blue moon’ of coming true. But some elements... yeah, there is the possibility there.
yeah- ammo storage is a huge consideration
I know 410 is not a cheap as you would expect it because it is so much smaller, but I have not had a hard time finding it (yet) there always seems to be a full shelf
I may be the only one here who like a shotgun that small, but I originally got it with the intention of teaching my little daughters to shoot.
A 12 gauge would have knocked them right over
yeah- ammo storage is a huge consideration
I know 410 is not a cheap as you would expect it because it is so much smaller, but I have not had a hard time finding it (yet) there always seems to be a full shelf
I may be the only one here who likes a shotgun that small, but I originally got it with the intention of teaching my little daughters to shoot.
A 12 gauge would have knocked them right over
Loads of ammo and know how to reload and cast my own bullets so any hungry bellies had better think twice. what is the solution? Get rid of the generator and live in a cave?
bfl
Thank you, You are probably right. I was hoping for some more thoughts on ‘What if’s’ in such a scenario.
I pretty much went with the “us vs. them’ scenario. But I can see the ‘everyman for himself’ one and if that one was the case then the ‘Plan’ would have been a success as the death toll outside of the cities would have been near complete.
Human psychology in stressful situations can be quite terrible as the ‘lizard brain’ takes over and only short-term survival becomes dominant.
Regardless of the technical inaccuracies, your short story is an interesting thought exercise for a SHTF scenario indeed. As far as taking a section of the electrical grid offline, that would require insider knowledge of which plants are connected in the region, where and the number of feeder lines are, and the number of them you would have to disable to overload the rest to force the remaining feeders to fault out. Or, if you really wanted to diabolical, identify the baseload plants, and target the step up transformers that feed the transmission circuits. Take those out, and that plant won’t be delivering any power for a long time. And a .30-.30 might just pull that off, if
You can get close enough.
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