[Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague

[Allen Hall]

Hi Wulf and all,
 
Great comments.  Things can be right in front of us, yet we take them for granted and don't consider what they do for us...or how we could miss them when they're gone.
 
After pitching all that hay this summer, I got a VERY valuable insight into the work involved in cutting said hay, then moving it to storage for feeding in the winter.  A herd of cattle and/or horses would require a lot of feed to get through the typical Artemisian winter.  Got any scythes for cutting that hay, or a horse-drawn mower?  Yipes!  I don't.
 
We've got a lot of windmills up on the hills above town here...and all the generated electricity goes to CA.  Maybe some smart people to re-route the power to town for water, sewer and other such things...but maybe not if the plague got them.  Hmmm, passive solar?
 
Security would be needed for the herds of horses and cattle.  Others may want the meat or the transportation.  Recall that our medieval ancestors frequently had their livestock in the house with them.  THAT would be interesting...
 
In a prolonged situation, having the knowledge of medieval fighting skills would be most useful, as Wulf noted.  Heck, other folks don't even have the tools!  SCA folks generally have lots of tools for medieval defense, and some level of skills in how to use them individually and in groups.  If you haven't read the "Dies the Fire" series by SM Stirling, he discusses this in his series.  Kinda interesting, and the average SCA person finds the books fun speculation.
 
Robert Heinlein, one of my favorite authors said something like "revolution is only 3 meals away".  Something to consider.
 
Thanks for the contribution Wulf, good stuff!
 
Alan
 
> Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 22:38:49 -0700
> From: wulph_hagen at yahoo.com
> To: artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org
> Subject: Re: [Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague
> 
> This has been an interesting discussion.  Perhaps because I live within blocks of the Missouri, with new turbines in Black Eagle dam, and wind turbines on the horizon, water and electricity are two things I didn't consider.  Nor did I think much about transportation, with a couple dozen horses in the front yard, nor food (meat any way) with a small heard of cattle in the far paddock.
>  
> What would really be annoying is not being able to check the bank balance on line.  The US is fast becoming a cashless society and trying to rebuild trade and any kind of economy without specie would be near impossible.
>  
> His Grace's question, though was what advantages would medieval reenactors have.  First one: security.  If there isn't a lot of spare ammunition left around, as a reenactor I know that a crossbow has better accuracy and a higher rate of fire than a musket; and though less accurate than a crossbow, a long bow has an even higher rate of fire.  In hand to hand combat I know that part of the Roman Leagions' success was due to each soldier's actually swinging his sword at opponents for six minutes per hour.  Having myself fought melee games with rapier that have gone on for hours gives me a real appreciation for just how overwhelming an advantage that really was.
>  
> Why would this be important to know?  When a person gets hungery, s/he may remain retiscent, when his/her kids get hungery s/he gets desperate.  If production and distribution were somehow interrupted in the US, 300 million people would quickly get desperate enough to start hurting each other.
>  
> YIS
> Wulf