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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
So your bank account's wiped out
2009-06-12
The "upside" of an EMP, which is, for some reason, a topic I can't get off my mind of late...

Or to extend the old saw: if you owe the bank a thousand dollars, you have a problem. If you owe the bank a million dollars, the bank has a problem. If everyone owes a million dollars, civilizational survival has a problem. When I first heard about EMP a few years back, the big worry was that in a split-second it would vaporize trillions of dollars of wealth. From the perspective of 2009, vaporizing trillions of dollars of debt has something to commend it.
Posted by:Uncle Phester

#14  Now, wouldn't an EMP strike be an interesting way to erase a multi-trillion dollar whoopsie...?


wish we could've had one last November....
Posted by: Frank G   2009-06-12 21:49  

#13  That EMP attack is called hyperinflation.
Works like a charm, too.

Not too bad if you have a house, farmland, ammo and gold
Posted by: European Conservative   2009-06-12 21:30  

#12  ...Actually, Tom Clancy popped off a similar idea in Executive Orders - a virus wipes out (IIRC)two days of trading on the NYSE, and of course panic erupts because no one knows what went where because nobody uses paper trails any more. One of the characters solves the problem by pointing out that since there's no record of the transactions, legally they never happened - so just do them over. After some relatively minor hiccups, trading starts over again and all's well.

Now, wouldn't an EMP strike be an interesting way to erase a multi-trillion dollar whoopsie...?

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2009-06-12 21:17  

#11  #7sorry, Frank G , not Fred my bad
Posted by: 746 2009-06-12 10:21
#6 regime change, elect Fred!
Posted by: 746 2009-06-12 10:19


when I become king, it won't be by election, as I have no intention of campaigning - I'm too honest and too much of a snarky asshole to get elected. However, those who support me would be spared (life, not the snark)
Posted by: Frank G   2009-06-12 20:35  

#10  Redneck Jim, get rid of the wife. The car's not as noisy or smelly.    ;-)
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2009-06-12 17:41  

#9  Some days leasing an upstairs apartment gets to be a bit of a drag.

Yup, very hard to drop an extension cord out to power up an electric car when there's no way to park close, my "Back Yard" is rough overgrown lot-for-sale.

I own ten acres free and clear, some big shit happens and it's time to fill the truck with all survival junk and flee 3 miles to my land.

(Wife wants to get rid of the most usefull (Disastermobile" I own, another story.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-06-12 15:34  

#8  ...large segments of particularly blue urban society will find out what the bottom of the pile really looks like.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Posted by: Caesar Ulereng3236   2009-06-12 12:58  

#7  sorry, Frank G , not Fred my bad
Posted by: 746   2009-06-12 10:21  

#6  regime change, elect Fred!
Posted by: 746   2009-06-12 10:19  

#5  You know, the way some 3rd world countries eliminate their debt is thru regime change. The new boss simply repudiates the debt. Other than devaluing the currency to Zimbabwe standards it's unclear how we're going to get out from under the debt load that's increasing daily . . .
Posted by: Beldar Gleresing4009   2009-06-12 09:50  

#4  Yup, my life is gonna be a lot easier after the asteroid, or would, if I could ever get that survival shelter dug.

Some days leasing an upstairs apartment gets to be a bit of a drag.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2009-06-12 09:45  

#3  A lot of folks in the 'burg would end up on top if an EMP eliminated everything it could eliminate. Firearms and horses aren't affected.
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-06-12 09:00  

#2  Instant equality - the nirvana of the ivory tower Marxist Socialist. However, like the Big Bang, the basic elements of social order will eventually coalesce around 'natural' order in a Medieval sort of way which means the special interest groups and large segments of particularly blue urban society will find out what the bottom of the pile really looks like.
Posted by: Procopious2k   2009-06-12 08:50  

#1  Don't give Obama any ideas, now....
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie   2009-06-12 08:38  

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