Didn't Arthur C. Clarke write about this - like right before the Monolith ignited Jupiter? ;)

Yes, the Internet is 'essential infrastructure' since most food, gas, and supplies are based on the 'Just In Time' inventory model. No Internet and no orders are placed to fit that model and it all grinds to a halt; this is one of the reasons even a minor Carrington Event would kill off a metric crap ton of people after 3 days.

Equally so the Internet since most food, gas, and supplies are based on the 'Just In Time' inventory model. No Internet and no orders are placed to fit that model and it all grinds to a halt.

"You disagree with a law doesn't give you a moral right to break it." Civil Rights would have died a quiet death if this was true; we have an obligation to ignore or break immoral laws, unjust legislation, and government oppression and over reach and we should do so through peaceful means until that option is untenable and the moral requirment to invoke the 2nd Amendment comes to play.

I'm thinking a MUCH earlier and incompatible version of ADA.

Use a computer set aside for the purpose - and have the ability to do a shock wipe once the door kickers show up.

In an era where segments of the population would refuse to take The Chip for religious or political reasons, they would have no choice but to turn to something like Dark Market to conduct daily commerce, find work, and otherwise function on a barter system.

Combine ADA, Floppy Disks, and Mainframes with the usual SCI 'air gap' and that sucker isn't going to be breached anytime soon.

...but until someone fesses up to owning an actual, *working* interstellar drive this is kind of useless.

As geeks, we need to assume the worst and plan from it. Besides, a Carrington Event makes electronics useless.

You're assuming access to gas here.

Very little beyond coals, heat, and tools is required; Tillers is doing overseas work in Africa and showed the class pictures of a makeshift forge using a hole dug in the ground with coals and a make shift bellows from a trash bag. I suspect that in a SHTF scenario with the leftovers of an industrial society I could use a portable forge (Google it), use an existing forge (assuming it's not in use), or make my own. Oh and as far as metal goes, car springs are prime metal. (Read Gordon R. Dickson's 'Wolf and Iron' which put me on a quest to try to find this class)

The class had us make our own tongs and chisels. I am going to attend the foundry class and try to make my own hammer. I know I need more experience but that only comes with spending time on the forge.

I just did a blacksmithing class and it's not that simple and certainly not done on that small a scale.

No electricity = no soldering anything