Living with blackouts

Why do we need crypto when we don't have electricity?
This and many other apocalyptic questions have been running through my head for some time. Maybe because of the last apocalyptic movie I saw - Leave the World Behind.

I don't usually watch such movies. I've had enough of my personal apocalypse. I can live it every day as long as I allow myself to think about it.
At the same time, however, Bulgarians also, in principle, often live in apocalyptic conditions.
For the record, last weekend there was no power again in many places, simply because of the next snowfall (nothing special for these latitudes otherwise).

"There will be no blackouts," my partner had told me when it started snowing again. "Two weeks ago, the power had stopped only because of accidents caused by the presence of leaves on the trees, which aggravated the situation."
Yes, indeed, with such an explanation they appeared on television then, trying to excuse the work not done for years and decades and the complete irresponsibility on the part of the electricity distribution companies and also on the part of the state in the face of the local government.
I have always marveled at his over-optimism and ability to put on his rose-colored glasses at times when it is absolutely impossible for that. Because it was clear that the electricity would stop again.

And it stopped. For the next four days. Fortunately not in the settlement where we live, thank God again! But there were settlements in which, within those 3 most cold weeks, there was no electricity, heating, internet, telephone, and finally no water for 8 days.

"Welcome to the 21st century", as a young family from the affected areas said in a television report.

Our life is completely dependent on electricity in every single aspect. As on the Internet space, all virtuality, all these things are interconnected.

And in this statement there can be nothing unusual and disturbing if we read it from a well-developed, social, civil and humane country.
The worst thing here is that we are rather talking about the fact that our life is completely dependent on the lack of electricity, which is a common phenomenon in an underdeveloped country like Bulgaria.

I started the post with the crypto, but what happens when there is no electricity and we cannot pay with a card if we want to buy something - for example in a store. In fact, this store will most likely not be able to function and will be closed then.
There were cases during the previous blackout when medicines could not be sold to seriously ill patients due to inaccessible electronic prescriptions. In such a situation, one depends entirely on the good will and humanity of the pharmacist one comes across and their creativity to devise a way to deal with such a situation.

The point is that, in principle, one cannot rely on humanity even under normal conditions, but that is another matter.

One should always have cash. Maybe each of you is thinking - we are so technologically advanced, we don't need to carry any papers with us anymore. But in these situations, and in many others, and in many, many shops and restaurants, as well as in all markets, you cannot pay by card. While banks in Bulgaria have long introduced a fee for withdrawing money from an ATM.
I don't want to pay a fee to have cash, but I just have to. So when I see people at the tills in Lidl pulling out their wallets and starting to count notes, even for larger bills, I am aware of one thing - this person is either working without an employment contract or working as an officially registered part-time employee at the minimum wage or full-time, again at the minimum wage. The rest that is paid to him, he receives in hand.
Because no one would carry so much money with them if they could pay with a card and their money stayed in the bank, and then they had to withdraw it from there (with a fee).
Of course, this is a fraud, for which only the workers will pay later, but that is another topic for another post.

I think that every single average resident of Western Europe will not understand me. About how apocalyptic things would look when the power went out, when also in addition someone hypothetically hacked the global system, when there was some outside intervention that messed everything up. The ordinary and average man does not think about these probable possibilities because he has probably never encountered them and cannot make sense of them and accept them as probable.

Thank you for your time! Copyright:	@soulsdetour
	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.

Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|