Ignoramus1439 wrote:

On 2010-11-12, Ecnerwal wrote:
F. George McDuffee wrote:
This should give us all pause as the size and population
densities of urban areas increase and we become increasingly
dependant on all-or-nothing "technology," where everything
works or nothing works, and the failure of some obscure
subsystem can bring the whole house of cards down.

Mother Nature is not overly picky - folks can simply stop breeding like
rabbits, or something _will_ come along to play foxes - mechanical,
something as contagious as H1N1 that kills like ebola, war, famine,
flood - she's not picky as to how it happens, just that it will, sooner
or later.

I would like to respectfully disagree.

Many cities, at various times, were bombed, lost electricity, water,
other services, had earthquakes, and so on.

Guess what, most people survived, cities were restored, and life moved
on.

With a few things that I have, such as a generator, very few guns, and
very modest food store, I do not expect to have problems beyond minor
inconveniences.

A huge ship on sea that is jam packed with people, is subject to a
completely different universe of risks.

For example, unlike a city, it could sink in 45 minutes.

Much of New Orleans "sank" in 45 minutes...