Centaurus you paint a pretty bleak picture there of GA. My guess is that some idiot left the master switch on. It's one of those stoooooopid things most pilots are guilty of doing occasionally, and the reason we keep spare batteries fully charged.
At home base it's just annoying, but out in the bush it could be a lot more incovenient.
Which is why I disagree with those who think PPLs should learn checklists off by heart. IT's always the ones who say "I don't need a checklist I can remember all the checks" who leave radios on, control locks neatly tucked into the seat pockets, master switch on etc.
As for hand swinging, it's totally banned in my ops manual. No way jose.