Good point about textile manufacture. That's been a bit of a worry for me since we have such a huge volume of both clothing and fabric. The salvage economy is already picking up there. There are so many YouTubers using second hand fabrics and showing how to alter clothes.
And yes, all surviving technologies will evolve into their most simplistic and easily repairable forms. The tricky bit about accumulating trade goods is trying figure out when (and, of course, if) it will be needed. People will adapt the technology they use as availability changes. I fully expect repair and recycling of used equipment to shift into high gear.
Making sure we have what we need and want for ourselves is a bit easier. I like your idea of using the abundance of today to supply ourselves with durable goods that last for the long term. After all once gramma and grandpa are gone and everyone else has been using chopsticks all their lives the titanium cutlery is still going to be valuable.
I also expect sewing machines to be a legacy technology. They fit all the criteria and will be so useful that people will hang onto them for as long as possible. Needles and pins are certainly a good candidate for stockpiling. They are so small that even an enormous stash will take up very little space.
I totally agree about skills in the short term (and in the long term). The trade goods thing is more of a fancy that a solid strategy. It's hard to determine what will be useful when and there is no way to make sure your descendants won't just pitch out or sell anything you stockpile. Still, it's an interesting speculation and it's very interesting to see what shows up in thrift stores that might be worth stashing.
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Re: Carts survived the fall of Rome
Date: 2024-06-24 02:05 pm (UTC)And yes, all surviving technologies will evolve into their most simplistic and easily repairable forms. The tricky bit about accumulating trade goods is trying figure out when (and, of course, if) it will be needed. People will adapt the technology they use as availability changes. I fully expect repair and recycling of used equipment to shift into high gear.
Making sure we have what we need and want for ourselves is a bit easier. I like your idea of using the abundance of today to supply ourselves with durable goods that last for the long term. After all once gramma and grandpa are gone and everyone else has been using chopsticks all their lives the titanium cutlery is still going to be valuable.
I also expect sewing machines to be a legacy technology. They fit all the criteria and will be so useful that people will hang onto them for as long as possible. Needles and pins are certainly a good candidate for stockpiling. They are so small that even an enormous stash will take up very little space.
I totally agree about skills in the short term (and in the long term). The trade goods thing is more of a fancy that a solid strategy. It's hard to determine what will be useful when and there is no way to make sure your descendants won't just pitch out or sell anything you stockpile. Still, it's an interesting speculation and it's very interesting to see what shows up in thrift stores that might be worth stashing.