Sold Cloak | Episode 3 - The Unbreaking

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Dan, Ethan, and Jack actually do talk about recovering from collapse in this episode. Good on them. Points of discussion include:

• Assuming there has been a collapse, how would we handle it?
• Ethan’s hypocrisy in adjusting his microphone.
• Just as there are stages of preparation, there are stages of recovery.
• Texas’ more primed posture for secession (er, cot… [https://www.ercot.com/] oops).
• Rebuilding from the smallest unit (individual, family, or homestead), and expanding.
• Going Galt: the anecdote of the missing honest handymen.
• The aging workforce of regular, blue collar jobs, and the shift in public education away from blue collar work.
• Your group, its members, and their skill sets and locations.
• Dan’s droopy mic stand.
• A disadvantage of the “grab the go bag and flee to the lake house” plan compared to the homesteading plan.
• The Walking Hungry – the urban fallout after instant collapse.
• The unfruitful fruit of our modern produce.
• “Apocalyptic” does not mean everyone is dead.
• The long-term fate of the cities.
• Rebuilding Republic: discerning when to connect with other groups, and when not to.

Corrections:

• Ethan stated that Vermont was independent for a couple of weeks. However, the State of Vermont was technically independent for 14 years [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Republic] but sought to be annexed by the United States and never intended to remain independent.
• Ethan was mostly correct regarding the Texas secession bill, but some of the details were wrong. The results of the referendum would have been non-binding. Even if the people voted to secede, the Texas legislature could still decide not to.
• Ethan needs to catch up on the last 2,355 years of history; the city of Tyre used to be as he described: old city on the coast, new city on the island. However, Alexander the Great built a causeway that eventually became an isthmus making the island a peninsula. The city has spread beyond those ancient bounds. Minus a serious history point for Ethan.

Notes and Links:

• NERC map [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Nercmap.JPG] showing the power grid regions of the U.S. and Canada; Texas has its own interconnection.
• Texas Independence Referendum Act HB 3596, 88th R.S. (2023) [https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB03596I.htm] - 2 year exit strategy. It appears almost identical to the Texas Independence Referendum Act HB 1359, 87th R.S. (2021) [https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB01359I.htm] - 5 year strategy.
• An article on state dependence on the federal government [https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700], and an article explaining why such articles can be misleading [https://towardsdatascience.com/american-states-the-federal-government-and-dependency-1d799f9425e] (if you have curiosity and time).
• The different fates of once-similar cities: modern Ashkelon [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Ashkelon2022No1.jpg] and modern Gath [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Cafit030.jpg].