I wouldn't be surprised if those fishermen suddenly began developing illicit black market networks, as they'd realize the actual price they would be able to fetch selling their produce, and also have enough money to bribe whatever party bosses to keep their families safe.
A Shift in Priorities - Sequel
- Thread starter rast
- Start date
I wouldn't be surprised if those fishermen suddenly began developing illicit black market networks, as they'd realize the actual price they would be able to fetch selling their produce, and also have enough money to bribe whatever party bosses to keep their families safe.
You can't depend on your judgement when your imagination is out of focus.
(Mark Twain)
Kyōto didn't look good. The northern part of the city was seated 2.5 metres higher today than it used to be before the Great Honshu Earthquake. The main crack ran straight through the Imperial Palace. In addition, the lower town had jumped 4 metres to the east. The traditional Japanese buildings had withstood the convulsions quite well, but several quarters had been ravaged by fires that followed the joggle. The modern structures, erected in blind imitation of western architecture, had become death-traps. From a total population of 1.1 million, about 45.000 people had perished. The quake itself hadn't been the worst killer. The subsequent breakdown of all rescue and emergency services had dispatched many of the injured. A scrub typhus epidemic and commonplace diarrhoea had added to the toll.
Japanese minister of the interior, Yamazaki Iwao, was looking around with stony face. Reconstruction hadn't started yet. Citizens were dwelling in shanties, constructed from debris. – However, the roads had been cleared and rail transport was working again. That was an important achievement after all, because it ended the fragmentation of the country. Supply by sea had been essential for survival, but even an island nation like Japan couldn't function properly without railways and road traffic. Well, and the health situation had been stabilised. The epidemics had been quelled. – In summary, the situation had been prepared for a new start. But no new start was on the horizon.
It was a quandary. The economy was wrecked – while the nation was scrambling to face the challenge of the food crisis. In a way, it didn't matter, because international trade had collapsed anyway. But for feeding the populace certain basics had to be guaranteed. – The Japanese, island dwellers like the British, had arrived at a comparable conclusion: as long as the sea could be exploited, Nippon was going to survive. The Pacific Ocean was truly enormous, a wet horn of plenty. But for this end, the shipyards had to work again, cold storage and nationwide transportation were required. – The tsunami wave that had accompanied the earthquake had wrecked about a quarter of the fishing fleet. These losses had to be replaced, and large fishing trawlers – floating factories, sort of – had to be built. So, all resources available had to be poured into this venture. Therefore, people had to go on living in shanties.
(Mark Twain)
Kyōto didn't look good. The northern part of the city was seated 2.5 metres higher today than it used to be before the Great Honshu Earthquake. The main crack ran straight through the Imperial Palace. In addition, the lower town had jumped 4 metres to the east. The traditional Japanese buildings had withstood the convulsions quite well, but several quarters had been ravaged by fires that followed the joggle. The modern structures, erected in blind imitation of western architecture, had become death-traps. From a total population of 1.1 million, about 45.000 people had perished. The quake itself hadn't been the worst killer. The subsequent breakdown of all rescue and emergency services had dispatched many of the injured. A scrub typhus epidemic and commonplace diarrhoea had added to the toll.
Japanese minister of the interior, Yamazaki Iwao, was looking around with stony face. Reconstruction hadn't started yet. Citizens were dwelling in shanties, constructed from debris. – However, the roads had been cleared and rail transport was working again. That was an important achievement after all, because it ended the fragmentation of the country. Supply by sea had been essential for survival, but even an island nation like Japan couldn't function properly without railways and road traffic. Well, and the health situation had been stabilised. The epidemics had been quelled. – In summary, the situation had been prepared for a new start. But no new start was on the horizon.
It was a quandary. The economy was wrecked – while the nation was scrambling to face the challenge of the food crisis. In a way, it didn't matter, because international trade had collapsed anyway. But for feeding the populace certain basics had to be guaranteed. – The Japanese, island dwellers like the British, had arrived at a comparable conclusion: as long as the sea could be exploited, Nippon was going to survive. The Pacific Ocean was truly enormous, a wet horn of plenty. But for this end, the shipyards had to work again, cold storage and nationwide transportation were required. – The tsunami wave that had accompanied the earthquake had wrecked about a quarter of the fishing fleet. These losses had to be replaced, and large fishing trawlers – floating factories, sort of – had to be built. So, all resources available had to be poured into this venture. Therefore, people had to go on living in shanties.
I'm guessing all the dwellings that were destroyed in the disasters that Japan has suffered are the same poor quality, wooden ones that got bombed out by the US in WWII. World War II enabled Japan to rebuild its urban infrastructure from pretty much scratch, and construct buildings that were of higher standard. Seems like Japan's buildings still adhered to those substandard codes, and right now they seem on track to be poorer in the mid to long term future in comparison to OTL.
Russia did firebomb a number of cities though. I don't know how much of an effect it had on the infrastructure compared to OTL's bombings though.
Compared to OTL though, where by the end you had entire cities bombed to the ground, mass starvation and atom bombing, what Russia did was still kind of tame to say the least.
Still, if Japan is having these kinds of problems; namely the Korean nuclear meltdown, natural disasters routinely killing 40-100K people, people living in shanties, then something is wrong with their political system.
plus fish from the pacific now probably contains a sizeable amount of radio-isotopes from both the chinese event and the meltdown of the reactors (slowly poisoning the japanese population)
also i expect battles about fishing rights, everyone needs food, and when ships start infringing on other's fishinggrounds things will go bad.
same applies for the british, they will not be the only ones fishing.
a consequence of all this massive fishing going on will be extinction of species, and a marine ecological collapse.
also i expect battles about fishing rights, everyone needs food, and when ships start infringing on other's fishinggrounds things will go bad.
same applies for the british, they will not be the only ones fishing.
a consequence of all this massive fishing going on will be extinction of species, and a marine ecological collapse.
To go off on a tangent, what's become of our old gangster-turned traitor ex-US General Omar Bradley? I'd be interested in knowing how he likes living in Red England now
Wasn't he accompanying the British forces in west africa and was cought while trying to flee to the enemy? IIRC he was sent back to Britain as a prisoner/deserter and probably ended up in camp.
Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter.
(James A. Garfield)
It was the great moment of the southern farmers. The Great Plains were havocked by thunderstorms and torrential rain, the Mississippi Valley was a dismal deluge of water, the Californian Central Valley was a dusty desert – but the farm lands of the US South were left almost unimpaired by the global freak weather. Most farms were small and inefficient, the farmers – Whites and Negroes alike – were poor and uneducated, but they could grow the things the nation needed.
The area had long been neglected, as efficient farming had taken place elsewhere – on the Great Plains and in faraway California. Motorisation and mechanisation had only touched lightly, the Troubles had done a lot of damage, especially in Tennessee, Georgia and the two Carolinas, but now all was going to be remedied in a hurry – as funds were massively invested in this new national horn of plenty. – However, could the old South really save the US? Was the cropland sufficient?
The 1951 harvest had been good, but hardly that what was required to feed the US – as most southern farmers were subsistence farmers, or rather had been – until now... As experts and specialists were streaming in and politicians were scheming all over the country, the farmers were realising that their – hitherto tranquil – life was going to change drastically.
Well, the boffins were soothsaying, the fertile southern crescent alone couldn't save the US. But that wasn't really required, something was growing elsewhere as well. Even the mud bath of the Great Plains did produce some grain, and the fringes of the Central Valley Desert were yielding biomaterials. The New England states were suffering from the cold, but would also generate some foodstuffs. All this – and fishing, full–scale fishing – would do the trick. The US were going to survive.
Most states were determined to introduce rationing, notably those of the East Coast, the Central Lakes and the South, but also hard hit California. Several sparsely populated states, however, didn't consider it worthwhile. Soup kitchens would do. And most citizens were used to care for themselves anyway. – All in all, the US were lucky – compared to the nations of Europe and Russia – that their territory extended so far south into zones not severely hit by the effects of the GQDD.
(James A. Garfield)
It was the great moment of the southern farmers. The Great Plains were havocked by thunderstorms and torrential rain, the Mississippi Valley was a dismal deluge of water, the Californian Central Valley was a dusty desert – but the farm lands of the US South were left almost unimpaired by the global freak weather. Most farms were small and inefficient, the farmers – Whites and Negroes alike – were poor and uneducated, but they could grow the things the nation needed.
The area had long been neglected, as efficient farming had taken place elsewhere – on the Great Plains and in faraway California. Motorisation and mechanisation had only touched lightly, the Troubles had done a lot of damage, especially in Tennessee, Georgia and the two Carolinas, but now all was going to be remedied in a hurry – as funds were massively invested in this new national horn of plenty. – However, could the old South really save the US? Was the cropland sufficient?
The 1951 harvest had been good, but hardly that what was required to feed the US – as most southern farmers were subsistence farmers, or rather had been – until now... As experts and specialists were streaming in and politicians were scheming all over the country, the farmers were realising that their – hitherto tranquil – life was going to change drastically.
Well, the boffins were soothsaying, the fertile southern crescent alone couldn't save the US. But that wasn't really required, something was growing elsewhere as well. Even the mud bath of the Great Plains did produce some grain, and the fringes of the Central Valley Desert were yielding biomaterials. The New England states were suffering from the cold, but would also generate some foodstuffs. All this – and fishing, full–scale fishing – would do the trick. The US were going to survive.
Most states were determined to introduce rationing, notably those of the East Coast, the Central Lakes and the South, but also hard hit California. Several sparsely populated states, however, didn't consider it worthwhile. Soup kitchens would do. And most citizens were used to care for themselves anyway. – All in all, the US were lucky – compared to the nations of Europe and Russia – that their territory extended so far south into zones not severely hit by the effects of the GQDD.
While the fishing stocks are going to last for a while it sounds as though the world is short term going to massively overfish beyond sustainability. This may take a few years to really impact, but the issue will be if the weather comes back to normal enough so that the dependency on fish can be reduced.
There is also the very real possibility of armed conflict over fish supplies. Russia and Japan are going to be competing in the western Pacific, and there may be some back and forth in the South China Sea amongst Asian powers. In the Atlantic, the USA and Canada have had plenty of fishing grounds disputes OTL, here between the real food crisis and the political antipathy it could be much worse. Add to that Britain looking to vastly increase fishing, they could be in conflict with the USA and with other European states in the waters in the Eastern Atlantic.
Where there are severe conflicts over fishing grounds, you have the possibility of nations using naval vessels, not just fishery protection vessels or coast guard units to deal with this - this means rather heavily armed units facing each other not lightly or minimally armed ships. This could end badly. Famine makes war for food look like a better alternative than starvation, and those countries which are not suffering from weather related crop issues may be the object of attention by larger/militarily stronger powers which are short of food...
There is also the very real possibility of armed conflict over fish supplies. Russia and Japan are going to be competing in the western Pacific, and there may be some back and forth in the South China Sea amongst Asian powers. In the Atlantic, the USA and Canada have had plenty of fishing grounds disputes OTL, here between the real food crisis and the political antipathy it could be much worse. Add to that Britain looking to vastly increase fishing, they could be in conflict with the USA and with other European states in the waters in the Eastern Atlantic.
Where there are severe conflicts over fishing grounds, you have the possibility of nations using naval vessels, not just fishery protection vessels or coast guard units to deal with this - this means rather heavily armed units facing each other not lightly or minimally armed ships. This could end badly. Famine makes war for food look like a better alternative than starvation, and those countries which are not suffering from weather related crop issues may be the object of attention by larger/militarily stronger powers which are short of food...
many mainland europe coastal countries have a good sized fishing fleet, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain...
To go off on a tangent, what's become of our old gangster-turned traitor ex-US General Omar Bradley? I'd be interested in knowing how he likes living in Red England now
I'm curious what one of my only contributions to this TL is up to myself.
Fortunately for the US, they have both the western atlantic and the eastern pacific to play with. I think it would be interesting to see what military conflicts come up due to fishing disputes. Its England/Canada that will have the biggest problems..
I more meant the fact that this is already a third country mentioned in TL which wants to use fish as a source of food. What I am getting at here, is that rast is leading us up to something...
Yeah, they do. And of the two already mentioned countries Japan has access to one of them and Britain potentially to two of them. Japan will probably stick to western Pacific though.
i am suspecting that although many countries won't use it as the main proteinsource, i still think that the countries with a fishing tradition will increase the amount of fish in the diet considerable.
The amount of big fishing here will lead to a major ecological catastrophe, and also (military)conflicts about fishing grounds.
whales probably will go extinct, also main fish species will be reduced to minimal size. problem is, big fish eat small, small fish eat algae, krill etc, they will be in for "interesting times" with the marine ecosystem getting out of whack. and then there is of course the little problem of accumulation of radioisotopes from the GQDD in fish. The ones using fish as a staple will trade a quick death (starvation) for a slow death (from stuff like cesium-137 and strontium-90)
There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa.
(William Makepeace Thackeray)
It had been a gloomy return to Britain, back then in May 1948. Because he had been no soldier, they hadn't shot him on the spot – for attempted desertion. But a civilian defence consultant who had turned against his employer couldn't look forward to a benign treatment either. When the cargo boat had moored in Portsmouth, Palme Dutt had already been in power – and Field Marshal Fuller, his patron, had gone on pension. Without protection from above, his fate had been sealed: correction camp. Gone had been Emma Moore, his paramour and personal snitch, gone the house in Blackwater, gone everything...
But Camp Glen Trool hadn't kept him for long. He had been categorised as medical case, requiring expensive drugs – or being unfit for all tasks if left without... After hardly three months, they had kicked him out, a cripple of no use – who evidently could pose no threat to the system. But Omar Nelson Bradley was no ordinary Joe. He needed morphine for a life free of pain – and he was resolved to get it. He wasn't young and fit anymore, but he had gathered criminal experience galore...
Stealthy like a snake, he had slithered into London's underground. The criminal community of the British capital was rich in talents of all kinds, but a strategic head – a real expert for large scale operations – had been missing. It wasn't easy – and it took him almost three years, but these days he was the top dog in gangland, reverentially called The Brain.
Working in a communist system did require a special game plan. Money didn't really matter; there were no banks to rob. Commodities were what counted, articles people normally couldn't get, because they were reserved for party members or for controller hierarchy. The customers were paying in services. Therefore, Bradley was more of an entrepreneur than a gun–wielding gangster. A clandestine entrepreneur however, someone who didn't exist in the wonderful SUP world.
Right now, The Brain was working on the problem how to subvert food rationing. Counterfeiting ration coupons was not a problem. But stealing articles of food on a grand scale might become difficult – once the available quantities became assessable. Bradley had no affectations to become a second Robin Hood, nevertheless, he was planning to steal from the stocks that the controllers and minders invariably were going to set aside for themselves.
It was just professional ambition. Stealing from the stocks designated for the common people would be much easier, but taking skilfully from the well guarded supplies of the overdogs would be much more satisfying – well, and the quality would be much better... Yeah, this food crisis was going to be a very interesting time. Howsoever, Bradley didn't think that the crisis would incite the common people to get rid of their red masters. In an emergency, people tended to cling to the powers that were. And, yes, he had to admit with disgust, the communists might indeed be able to swing it. It was the type of regime one needed in such dire straits...
(William Makepeace Thackeray)
It had been a gloomy return to Britain, back then in May 1948. Because he had been no soldier, they hadn't shot him on the spot – for attempted desertion. But a civilian defence consultant who had turned against his employer couldn't look forward to a benign treatment either. When the cargo boat had moored in Portsmouth, Palme Dutt had already been in power – and Field Marshal Fuller, his patron, had gone on pension. Without protection from above, his fate had been sealed: correction camp. Gone had been Emma Moore, his paramour and personal snitch, gone the house in Blackwater, gone everything...
But Camp Glen Trool hadn't kept him for long. He had been categorised as medical case, requiring expensive drugs – or being unfit for all tasks if left without... After hardly three months, they had kicked him out, a cripple of no use – who evidently could pose no threat to the system. But Omar Nelson Bradley was no ordinary Joe. He needed morphine for a life free of pain – and he was resolved to get it. He wasn't young and fit anymore, but he had gathered criminal experience galore...
Stealthy like a snake, he had slithered into London's underground. The criminal community of the British capital was rich in talents of all kinds, but a strategic head – a real expert for large scale operations – had been missing. It wasn't easy – and it took him almost three years, but these days he was the top dog in gangland, reverentially called The Brain.
Working in a communist system did require a special game plan. Money didn't really matter; there were no banks to rob. Commodities were what counted, articles people normally couldn't get, because they were reserved for party members or for controller hierarchy. The customers were paying in services. Therefore, Bradley was more of an entrepreneur than a gun–wielding gangster. A clandestine entrepreneur however, someone who didn't exist in the wonderful SUP world.
Right now, The Brain was working on the problem how to subvert food rationing. Counterfeiting ration coupons was not a problem. But stealing articles of food on a grand scale might become difficult – once the available quantities became assessable. Bradley had no affectations to become a second Robin Hood, nevertheless, he was planning to steal from the stocks that the controllers and minders invariably were going to set aside for themselves.
It was just professional ambition. Stealing from the stocks designated for the common people would be much easier, but taking skilfully from the well guarded supplies of the overdogs would be much more satisfying – well, and the quality would be much better... Yeah, this food crisis was going to be a very interesting time. Howsoever, Bradley didn't think that the crisis would incite the common people to get rid of their red masters. In an emergency, people tended to cling to the powers that were. And, yes, he had to admit with disgust, the communists might indeed be able to swing it. It was the type of regime one needed in such dire straits...
Numbers
Why not contact some of the local farmers to fudge the crop numbers? Or contact the transportation and food storage centers to exaggerate the number of crops lost to 'waste and spoilage'.
Why not contact some of the local farmers to fudge the crop numbers? Or contact the transportation and food storage centers to exaggerate the number of crops lost to 'waste and spoilage'.