The Western Cape has been hit by the 100 year storm, except that this happens every ten years or so now.
I live in a small village in the Overberg region and when the storm was raging like the fury of furies, I reflected on the proper naming of things and that we would see the devastation that follows nature’s rage and hubristic humans are asked yet again why they build close to water and on flood plains.
But this is not about the weather. It is about the impact of the weather on security based entirely on internet and non analogue connections. I am used to no electricity because in South Africa a few years ago it was a reality. And the smaller the town the more likely you are to be overlooked when the system fails. So we waited. 72 hours or so later some power was restored, but other towns had more than 10 days of no power to cope with. With electricity failure, there follows water failure because without electricity you cannot pump water to fill the dams.
I have worked in the sustainability fields for 15 years now and all the predictions I was bleating on about then have come true today. It’s like being in a slow car crash, you see all the signs, all the damage ahead but there is nothing you can do do get out of it because you are in it and you are part of an insane narrative with leaders who are so corrupt and greedy they have lost their sense of civic duty and responsibility.
Once upon a time there were land lines and unless there was an earthquake, they worked. I could phone anyone with one at any time. Now I access my “phone” but first have to wait for it to download updates, deal with spam calls (most of my call log is spam or suspected fraud) and inane message on groups I don’t want to be part of but am forced to because of “needing to keep informed” about issues and for work, but mostly it is blah and wasteful – every post uses water and electricity but we don’t consider those costs.
I digress. I was not able to make any contact and nor could I receive any news. Then there is the security threat evident in South Africa. When the lights are off the bandits roam and ours are not the Robin Hood kind. Our social demographics and economic failure often mean crimes are violent and finite.
So I was worried about the ‘wind’ they called it, the ‘storm’ they advised about but what isn’t solved is my ability to connect without the internet.
SA has leapfrogged connectivity issues because of technology, but there is a great point to consider what alternatives there are should this grand tech god we worship fall over due to no power.
More and more warnings are being issued about AI and it’s threat to human ability. Well what about the tech gods and their inability to service their sheep should this key component fail?
And here is a very scary move being planned to turn us all into digital beasts please add your voice and stop this from happening
