Ensuring post-apocalyptic survival at TL8?

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by riprock

I'm not throwing reality out the window, I'm throwing capitalism and democracy out the window.

Democracy says that you have to get the whole bell curve of the population in there. Democracy almost always throws freedom of association out the window, whereas frontier communities have some freedoms of association that big cities lack. (Of course, frontiers also lack anonymity, an important component of many freedoms of association.) Democracy says, "Galt's Gulch is possible, and therefore it is forbidden."

Capitalism says that you have to have jobs (or at least stable social positions, such as "prison convict") for people who are not smart enough to understand algebra.

Earthships are a proven technology. Aeroponics is a proven technology. And the whole community doesn't have to advance the state of the art, it just needs to keep the power running and the replacement parts plentiful.

Is there a reality-checked source that says human manure doesn't work as compost? Is there a reality-checked source that says fireproof buildings (such as most earthship designs) are worse than government-run professional fire-fighting organizations?

Ahem, we're talking about maintaining TL, i.e. reproducing techy stuff (at least the essentials of those TLs - i.e. machines, [primitive] computers, plastics, hydroponic farms etc.).