Global Peak (Part 11.0 up 05/29/09).

[Alferd Packer]

I asked the question because, assuming that it did, I think business elements in the FedGov would eventually start exploiting the poor-ass labor force and good remaining land areas in the South and Free States, possibly through proxies. After all, while they may be heavily superstitious and unfit for a technological society, they could still be put to work as plantation laborers.

I don't know that there's all that much to exploit in the FSU territories, and that's because of one thing:

Kudzu.

They don't call it "the vine that swallowed the South" without reason, after all. Kudzu grows fast (up to 1 foot a day), and it has incredibly dense and deep root structures. Right now, the only thing that keeps kudzu infestations from becoming too problematic is a concerted, systemic, undending effort throughout the South to destroy the plant.

Now, kudzu can be killed a few ways. You can keep chopping off new growth until you exhaust the reserves in the root structure, or you can destroy the root ball. The root ball can be destroyed either by removing it from the soil, or by a good, hard frost.

Now, let's consider the state of the South in 2071. You've had 25+ years of institutional anarchy. You think that a dedicated kudzu removal team exists outside of major cities, if at all?

And mother nature isn't going to be much of a help, either. Global warming probably ensures that most locations up to Atlanta go several years without a frost, to say nothing of actually getting a cold snap strong enough to freeze the ground. About the only thing that will stop kudzu at this point is prolonged drought, but at that point, what agricultural surplus can the South offer the North? They'll probably have plenty of problems feeding the local population, which gives rise to all sorts of new health problems and privations.

I take from these vignettes this: the higher your latitude, the better off you are. Virginia is probably just far enough north to be out of the expanded malarial band, as well as to receive enough rain to irrigate its substantial agricultural base. Similarly, it's close enough to old FedGov turf that trade between the two old enemies must be undertaken, even if only on a local, small-scale basis. So, in that regard, former FedGov territories could exploit the northernmost of the former FSU territories. I submit, however, that the Deep South is properly and permanently fucked, at least for the foreseeable future.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Well, the FedGov does remain an organized state in the postwar period after a brief civil conflict.

[Pelranius]

I asked the question because, assuming that it did, I think business elements in the FedGov would eventually start exploiting the poor-ass labor force and good remaining land areas in the South and Free States, possibly through proxies. After all, while they may be heavily superstitious and unfit for a technological society, they could still be put to work as plantation laborers.

I don't know that there's all that much to exploit in the FSU territories, and that's because of one thing:

Kudzu.

They don't call it "the vine that swallowed the South" without reason, after all. Kudzu grows fast (up to 1 foot a day), and it has incredibly dense and deep root structures. Right now, the only thing that keeps kudzu infestations from becoming too problematic is a concerted, systemic, undending effort throughout the South to destroy the plant.

Now, kudzu can be killed a few ways. You can keep chopping off new growth until you exhaust the reserves in the root structure, or you can destroy the root ball. The root ball can be destroyed either by removing it from the soil, or by a good, hard frost.

Now, let's consider the state of the South in 2071. You've had 25+ years of institutional anarchy. You think that a dedicated kudzu removal team exists outside of major cities, if at all?

And mother nature isn't going to be much of a help, either. Global warming probably ensures that most locations up to Atlanta go several years without a frost, to say nothing of actually getting a cold snap strong enough to freeze the ground. About the only thing that will stop kudzu at this point is prolonged drought, but at that point, what agricultural surplus can the South offer the North? They'll probably have plenty of problems feeding the local population, which gives rise to all sorts of new health problems and privations.

I take from these vignettes this: the higher your latitude, the better off you are. Virginia is probably just far enough north to be out of the expanded malarial band, as well as to receive enough rain to irrigate its substantial agricultural base. Similarly, it's close enough to old FedGov turf that trade between the two old enemies must be undertaken, even if only on a local, small-scale basis. So, in that regard, former FedGov territories could exploit the northernmost of the former FSU territories. I submit, however, that the Deep South is properly and permanently fucked, at least for the foreseeable future.

If you're really desperate, you could dig up the roots to use for starch, and can be used as a sort of very inefficient animal feed.