(Recovered by Jim McDoniel)
Of course, there are some errors in the theory that must be correct, the largest of which is the idea that oil, in the form of gasoline, would be the most sought after resource. This is patently not true. Humanity survived for thousands of years without petrol, while at the same time it could not go two days without water.
That being said, access to oil does have its benefits. Generators can be run, homes can be heated, and as exemplified in the Australians’ simulations, automobiles can be driven. While horses will undoubtedly become our primary modes of transportation and labor, when it comes to covering vast distances to recover, discover, or pillage supplies anyone with a combustion engine will have a distinct advantage. As chariots, elephants, and 4G networks once were, so too cars will be.
So what should be our priority? After all, the areas of our country with oil are not known for their prodigious water supply and vice versa. Should we focus on securing refineries and drilling stations knowing that we can use our fueled vehicles to procure water? Or do we shore up our most basic biologic need after oxygen and hope that few will have the ability to process petroleum?
The answer is water. The first duty of government is the preservation of both the nation and its individuals. While raiding may hold some appeal, you will never achieve the same kind of cohesive social order without a sedentary culture. And besides, there is a way to have our cake and eat it too by using hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Not only would we have the motor vehicles needed for defense and exploration, but the byproduct would provide us with the very water we need. What’s more, whereas oil is a finite resource, hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Of course, separating it from other elements and maintaining it in its more stable liquid form is just as, if not more difficult than creating gasoline, which is why I recommend the government begin storing fuel cell vehicles and liquid hydrogen immediately.
Whale blubber has historically been rendered down to create oil. What’s more the head of the sperm whale is filled with an oily substance called spermaceti from which it gets its name. In a world where marauding bands are dependent on combustion engines, it is only a matter of time before they convert their vehicles to this slightly more harpoon-able fuel source. Even without a whale-burning engine, what they derive from these aquatic mammals could be used for heating and cooking, freeing up gasoline for looting and plundering. By depriving them of this supply source, we deplete their resources, hasten their collapse, and increase our own safety.
Comments are Disabled