post-apocalyptic literature

Getting Around After The Apocalypse

Should we ever find ourselves in a post-apocalyptic (PA) world, what will we rely on for our transportation and cartage needs? Will it be the horse as many, if not most, PA writers speculate? Probably not.

But if we won’t be using horses in a PA world, what will be our options? Fortunately we have three excellent ones.

For the past four weeks I’ve been talking about transportation in a PA world. And I’ve made a point that we won’t be using the horse — books, movies, and TV shows to the contrary.

Horses are skittish, high-maintenance animals. In addition, they are not only dangerous but have pretty much always been the speciality of the rich. The poor and middle class used their feet or dog carts. Or perhaps rented a horse and wagon.

Even in the 1800s, when the horse was everywhere, most folks did not own a horse. They were simply too expensive to maintain. So why would things be any different in PA world, where survival of the human is going to take precedence over everything else?

In fact, the most valuable use of the horse, should we find one, just might be to fill our stomachs.

Aside from our feet, what are our land transportation options?

First off, we have man’s best friend: the dog. Dogs have been with us longer than horses. They are also far more manageable and versatile than horses.

Dogs can guard our possessions, warn us that intruders or predators are about, haul our goods, and, while we can’t ride them, they can pull us about in a cart or sled. In addition, most of us know dogs. The same can’t be said for horses.

Dogs. Probably the most practical animal in a PA world.

But when it comes to transportation, what we are most familiar with are cars and trucks.

Just because the gasoline runs dry doesn’t mean we can’t use our cars or our trucks. We simply need to think outside the box. And the answers are already before us: steam-power and wood gas. Both of which are established technology. No need to reinvent the wheel.

1970s Dutcher prototype steam car-owned by Jay Leno

Converting an internal combustion engine to run on steam would take a considerable amount of machining, but it can be done. In fact, it has been done many times over by steam-power aficionados. The tech is out there, and has been since at least the 1970s.

All the savvy prepper and survivalist has to do is find the info on the Internet and print out the instructions. Now, rather than later. Then, when the SHTF, team up with a machinist to rebuild engines and to make boilers and burners. Easy-peasy.

Steam cars. It’s really what we should be driving today.

Wood gasification is also established tech. Once again, no need to reinvent the wheel.

Wood gas can fuel our cars and trucks, be used to fuel our stoves and furnaces, provide us with lighting, as well as provide power for industry. And in a PA world, bringing back industry will go a long way towards building back a new and better world.

Many countries survived on wood gas in World War II. Why wouldn’t survivors do the same in a PA world?

Once again, the savvy prepper and survivalist simply needs to print off the abundant material available on the Internet (now, rather than later), and life will be good when the SHTF.

So, the next time you read a book, or watch a movie, or TV show that makes abundant use of the horse after the apocalypse just chalk it up to the writer’s love for westerns — because that’s the only place where the horse was king. And most westerns are the stuff of fantasy.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright, award-winning poet, and a fictioneer; as well as an armchair philosopher, political theorist, and social commentator. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

Share This!

Horses After The Apocalypse

Given the fact that horses are no longer a part of daily American life — and haven’t been for some 90 years — I’m always amazed at the common use of horses in many post-apocalyptic books, movies, and TV shows.

In actuality, most of us have little to no knowledge of horses. We are as familiar with horses as we are with the cows that give us milk and cheese. And cows are a lot more important to us than horses.

Urban People

We are an urban people. Heck, most of us don’t even know how our cars work, never mind our computers and smart phones. And those things we use every day.

We are technology users, but most of us know little about how that technology works. What makes any writer think we would be able to learn en masse about horses and horse culture overnight? It’s totally unrealistic.

Without a doubt, the writer of such post-apocalyptic scenarios has probably never had anything to do with horses. And not understanding how cars work, resorts to an even more unlikely scenario: people using horses as they used to use cars.

This is on my mind because I started reading a post-apocalyptic novel where horses, as usual, feature prominently. Everyone knows how to ride them, without ever having ridden one prior to the apocalypse. That was an immediate put off, and I quit reading the book.

The vast majority of us know nothing of horses, other than what we see on TV or read about in books. And oftentimes, the picture presented isn’t anywhere near accurate. Horses running at full gallop for long periods of time, for example. Impossible.

Horses

The US horse population reached its high of 20 million in 1915. Today, the number is much less. And their use very much restricted. Mostly, they are pets for the rich. Think about it, when was the last time you rode to work in a horse-drawn carriage? When was the last time you even touched a horse?

Today, the US horse population numbers somewhere between 1.9 million and 9 million animals, all depending on how you count them. Perhaps the most accurate number is 7.24 million as of 2016, which is some six years ago. And that number was down from 9.22 million in 2003. The number of animals may even be less than that today, in 2022.

Regardless of the number of animals, how many of us actually know anything about how to use and care for a horse? I’d wager darn few. Probably not a single person in any average neighborhood.

The last time I was on a horse was 64 years ago when I was in kindergarten. And I only sat on the horse I didn’t really ride it. Somebody walked the horse around a small enclosed circular track.

The last time I saw a horse up close in real life was perhaps 6 to 8 years ago when 2 mounted Minneapolis police officers rode past me on Nicollet Mall.

I know more about goldfish and cats than I do about horses. In fact, I know more about the theory of how rockets work than I know about the practical care needed for a horse.

What we’ll actually use

Which is why Bill Arthur, the hero of my Rocheport Saga, said horses weren’t the answer. We know about cars and trucks. They are the answer.

In any post-apocalyptic world, transportation will be achieved by cars and trucks — not horses.

But in such a post-apocalyptic world, where there is no gasoline or diesel fuel, and no re-charging stations, what will power our cars?

The answer is actually simple: steam and wood gas.

It is fairly easy to convert a diesel engine to run on steam. After conversion, all you need to add is a firebox or burner and the boiler. The great advantage of a steam engine is that it can use just about anything for fuel.

A wood gasifier is fairly easy to construct. It converts wood to burnable gas that can be used in a gasoline engine. Wood gasifiers were in fact used during the Second World War on the domestic front to provide fuel for tractors, cars, and buses.

We know how to drive cars. We don’t know how to ride horses. After the apocalypse, I’m betting we’ll be driving cars — not riding horses.

Another advantage of cars, either steam-powered or wood-gas powered, is that you don’t have to clean up any road apples.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

Share This!

Rational Anarchism

Lately I’ve been reading post-apocalyptic literature (among other things). Reading how other writers envision the future when humanity has a chance to start over is always interesting, for it reveals how these writers see themselves and their fellows.

One of my first published books was The Morning Star, the first book in The Rocheport Saga. The Saga is the autobiography, as it were, of Bill Arthur, who is a survivor of an unknown plague that wiped out most of earth’s human population. He begins to gather together other survivors in an attempt to reboot civilization. But not the old one that died, a new one that is better.

Much of Bill’s political philosophy is drawn from libertarian writings. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress being one. So I thought I’d re-post one of my writings from the very early days of this blog. Let’s look once again at Rational Anarchism. Enjoy!

Nearly fifty years ago, a writer by the name of Robert A Heinlein wrote and got published a book entitled, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. One of the principal characters in the novel is Professor Bernardo de la Paz, who describes himself as a “Rational Anarchist”.

What is a Rational Anarchist? Let’s take a look, because the words rational and anarchy seem to be contradictory. A Rational Anarchist:

- Believes the state, society, and government are concepts which do not exist apart from the physical acts of self-answerable individuals.
- Believes blame, guilt, responsibility, and answerability makes it impossible for a person to shift, share, or distribute blame.
- Being rational, the rational anarchist understands not everyone shares his or her views; yet, he or she strives to live perfectly in an imperfect world; completely aware he or she is not capable of achieving perfection.
- Accepts all rules society deems necessary to secure its freedom and liberty.
- Is free no matter what the rules are in his or her society. If the rules are tolerable, he or she will tolerate them. If not, the rational anarchist will break them.
- Is free because the rational anarchist knows only he or she is morally responsible for everything he or she does.

Why do I bring this up? Because Bill Arthur in The Rocheport Saga tries to create a new world along similar lines. He begins as an anarchistic libertarian, seeking on a societal level to create the ultimate environment for freedom. Eventually he realizes people are people. Even after a calamity which wipes out 98 out of every 100 people, those who survive haven’t essentially changed. The survivors are no different than they were before they were survivors. People want freedom, but actually crave security and will sacrifice freedom for security every time they feel insecure.

In the end, Bill Arthur becomes a Rational Anarchist. He concludes the Stoics were right over 2,000 years ago: all we can ultimately do is control ourselves.

Tell me what you think about freedom and security. Is Bill Arthur right?

Share This!