1978: Could You Survive Without Modern Technology?

“Because it’s inconceivable that it won’t isn’t it?” That’s what struck me most in this BBC clip from 1978 further below. Although I recommend watching the entire several minute discussion, that statement is a nightmare for all of us, preppers included. Because as much as I believe in stockpiling supplies, having food storage, and even transforming your smartphone into a survival tool, without power as the backbone to modern life, we’re little better than animals without it.

And while I agree with many of the questions posed in the video below, the questions didn’t go far enough. Perhaps there was more to the original video than what was shown below, but it concludes with the belief that you must be able to farm to survive. And, while I agree, what about your safety, medical needs, sanitation, and even entertainment? There are, after all, a myriad of wonderful “miracles” that modern life offers us besides those I’ve mentioned, all of which will be sorely missed if/when they go away.

What I can say is this: if you aren’t preparing for hard times now, while there’s still an abundance of the items you might need, you’re not thinking far enough ahead. Yes, there’s always a reason to be concerned about the future, and there’s often reasons to believe those fears are overblown (at least in the short term), but this isn’t a video game; there’s no reset button or a do-over. We, humans, have built our lives to NEED power.

The fact is that energy in all of its forms has only become more intertwined in our lives since 1978. The global supply chain, as discussed in the video Wednesday, is equally cruical to our survival. And while the benefits have increased from just-in-time delivery and global supply chains have increased, so too have the consequences when something happens to disrupt it all. This is precisely what I try to explain in my book, Why We Prepare, if you haven’t read it yet.

So, you either prepare to do without power as much as possible or you provide your own. Better yet, you do both. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that the future may be short-lived without power … even for us preppers.