The "Ready-to-go"-Bag, which Fema recommends. Image: Red Cross/fema.gov
Disaster advice books thrive, more than a third of Britons have made preparations, a British astrobiologist clarifies what to know when nothing else works
The astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell, who also works for the British Space Agency, has published a book about the "Manual for rebooting the world", published in German by Hanser Verlag, a successful book for all apocalyptics who believe that the end of the world, or at least a major catastrophe or war, could be imminent. He promises readers "Everything you need to know when nothing works anymore". Survival training is a cult for the urbanized elite anyway, who also like to drive around the cities in SUVs and other land-going vehicles.
Dartnell ames a pandemic, after which few people survive, but this could also mean that everything is still going on, only people and their knowledge are missing. One could also ame a failure of the power grids after a cyberwarfare attack, which caused almost everything in the modern world to fail. Dartnell joins the authors of the first encyclopedia in the Age of Enlightenment. Also Diderot fantasized a catastrophe with the fall of Atlantis or the fire in the library of Alexandria. The task of the encyclopedia was therefore to gather together all the knowledge of mankind in order to enable a new start at any time and not to fall back into the dark Middle Ages.
Also to the theater, to the Volkstheater Munchen, it has its "post-apocalyptic guide" already done. This scenario is based on a fearful idea, but it has a basis that is worth considering. After all, we all live in a highly technical world, of which we understand at most partial aspects, but probably do not know how to secure our food, produce clothing, make fire or treat ourselves medically.
However, this goes, even if not politically, in the direction of the fear mongers often coming from right-wing circles, who, as in the circle of the Kopp publishing house, like to conjure up doomsday scenarios of "Germany is doing away with itself" About "Unrest in Europe – Your personal precautionary plan" up to the "Direct way to the third world war" read and in conspiracy theories like "The earth – a project of the aliens?", "The Lugenpresse" or "Mass immigration as a weapon" and then go to the store to read the "Encyclopedia of survival" or everything for the "Survival" and a healthy diet to the point of "Curing the incurable" to acquire. Udo Ulfkotte is there also not far and offers: "What grandma and grandpa still knew", because "the likelihood of a supply crisis arising from the economic and financial crisis is beangstingly rough" be. When it comes to securing survival, defense or attack with weapons is probably not far away.
Dartnell, at any rate, has for an appearance on the show "The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair" conducted a survey of 2,000 Britons in Birmingham. According to the survey, at least 36 percent have prepared for a disaster and have stockpiled some or. Precautions taken. 61 percent store food, 52 percent store medicine and 47 percent also store cell phones. But for Dartnell this is not very realistic to really stay alive. Only 22 percent thought of matches or 10 percent thought of a water bottle.
According to the disaster guide, a survival kit includes primarily a water bottle, a small knife, something to start a fire, and food. This, of course, does not allow for gross transactions with "Survival"-make products.
His advices are nevertheless nice. It would be interesting to know why an average supermarket should help us to survive for 55 years. There is also the suggestion that rechargeable batteries in a golf cart could be used to store electricity generated in some way. The guidebook also suggests going to a golf course, supermarket or beach in case of emergency. However, it had to be a sandy beach, because glass, which can be extracted from sand, is important for reconstruction, but other raw materials such as lime or seaweed can also be found on the beach. You can also make a lathe out of sand and old cans.
Difficulties with technology
Again, it is interesting to note that 68 percent believe they could provide good or. first aid, 61 percent want to be able to preserve food, and 53 percent think they can grow crops and raise animals. One seems to hope to know everything in order to be able to feed oneself with the work of one’s own hands in the countryside or in the garden in the city, although it can be amed that many of them, despite having cultivated their own gardens, urban gardening and many a community garden, have not been allowed to know so much and therefore overestimate their abilities. 46 percent believe they could make things out of wood
On the other hand, the knowledge of technology is considered much lower than the agricultural skills. 80 percent say they could not produce any chemical substances, such as fuel or alcohol, and 68 percent could not repair machinery. 32 per cent ame they could, but this was probably only allowed to affect the old mechanical and electrical ones. 68 percent believe they could not make or repair metal tools, likewise as many could not make their own clothing.
It can be amed that some people overestimate their skills, whether it is agriculture or technology. Dartnell thinks, however: "People’s survival instincts are strong, but without a greater focus on STEM (math, computer science, science and technology) knowledge, the speed at which we return to ‘society as we know it’ has been seriously slowed down. The country does not need to duck and cover, but to know how to survive and recover from a disaster." And you need to know how to make electricity, soap, charcoal, a lathe and glass.