Darkness Ahead, Like in Detroit

By Douglas V. Gibbs

There are dark days ahead, and I don't necessarily mean the tyrannical system that seems to be growing in power in Washington. Electricity is costly, and for the City of Detroit, Michigan, darkness may be one of a few temporary fixes.

The population of Detroit, under the hand of rampant liberalism, has been dropping to numbers that boggles the mind. Currently, the population of Detroit is less than 60 percent of what it was in 1950. Funds are short, manpower is short, and so the bureaucrats that have destroyed the city now want to herd the people, like cattle, into a smaller living space in order to save on costs, and better maintain peace. To do this, the leaders of Detroit plan to eliminate nearly half of its streetlights, dropping much of the city into darkness.

According to Bloomberg, 40% of the streetlights are already broken, and the city can't afford to fix them as it is. The city plans to borrow some money, fix what they can, upgrade what they will use, and reduce the number of streetlights in the city from 88,000 to 46,000.

This is nothing new. Other cities have gone partially dark to save money. But Detroit is taking this move to never before seen lengths, leaving the sparsely populated areas without lights at all. The goal is to concentrate the population in certain neighborhoods, while letting the neighborhoods with the lowest populations go dark.

One wonders what kind of areas the abandoned zones will become. Will they return to the wild? Will gangs run freely under the blanket of darkness?

I suppose when you are broke, you've got to do what you've got to do. In Europe they are resorting to austerity measures. In Detroit they are shutting off the lights. The result may be that the fearful residents will be secluded in their homes, afraid to leave at night.

In southwest Detroit individual resolve has set in, and the businesses in that area are working to fix the situation themselves. Government has failed, and burglaries are up. One business owner states that "In the dark, criminals are comfortable."

As Detroit goes dark, we may see the city itself fade away.

Is this the kind of darkness that is in store for all of us?

A total loss of all electricity is a possibility. The repercussions for a loss of power can be great. Imagine the chaos that would spread if entire grids went down. Shootings would begin to spread. Criminals, comfortable in the darkness, would begin their crusade of lawlessness. Businesses and homes would be vulnerable as their security systems go down. The fragile order of society would hang in the balance.

Flashlights, lamps, and lanterns may very well provide help, but in such a situation food, water, and armed defense will also be important. The darkness may bring riots in the streets. We have become so dependent upon electricity that we would not know where to turn. Our dependence on electricity has made us weak. It is a lot like entitlements. We have become dependent upon government's gift of electricity, and if we lose it, we will literally be in a world of hurt. And as in the case of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, in a grid-wide loss of electricity, killing, looting and plundering would turn civil neighborhoods into war zones. This is when pacifists die, and those prepared survive.

Low lights that don't bring attention to your house will be an important tool. This would include lanterns, battery powered or oil/kerosene fueled; and candles. I have a crank flashlight, which uses LED lights, that simply recharges the battery by turning the crank. It's bright, but easy to hold alongside my guns. There are lanterns that are similar, and they work wonderfully, using a crank to recharge their batteries. Low lights may be something that can be spotted at short range, but they are not bright enough to be seen far away. Lighting up your whole house with a generator may be more comfortable, but will draw the attention of those with ill intentions on their minds. Low lights will protect you by not making your home stand out, which would make it a target.

Food is another important thing to keep in mind when preparing for the possibility of a black-out. Understand, your refrigerator will become useless, so a non-perishable food supply is important. MREs and canned goods are a must. Keeping your other foods in the freezer with already frozen bottles of water should help keep the perishable foods good for a few days after the loss of electricity. Water on hand is also important, as is a non-electrical filtration system in case your supply dwindles, and you must retrieve your water from natural sources.

Keep in mind that these precautions are not just important for black-outs, but natural disasters, too. I have prepared because I live in earthquake country here in Southern California. Around the nation there is always the threat of ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, and earthquakes, so even if you scoff at the idea of grid-wide black-outs, even in the case of natural disasters, we need to be prepared.

There are more things, too, such as firearms, plenty of ammunition, a vehicle capable of driving off road (considering that roads will probably be blocked in an emergency scenario), and knowing your area and neighbors well.

All in all, the keys to survival are food, water, defense, and common sense (such as using low lights). I may not be a survivalist, but I do plan to survive. Precaution is the key.

Hopefully, we will never have to go through the possibility of a nationwide shutdown of electricity, or a grid-wide failure, but you know as well as I do, the possibility is strong, and only the properly prepared will survive.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Half of Detroit's Streetlights May Go Out as City Shrinks - Bloomberg/Yahoo Finance