There was a good deal of interest lately on the group survival concept and how best to achieve some manner of coming together. Unfortunately, many felt left out because of varying differences in their lifestyles,belief systems, or their gender. I think the main thing to work on is the problem and not try to play the blame game. We all have the same problem. We only need work on the solution.
I think small family groups(as many families are smaller now with the demise of family farms) of 20 or less would seem to be doable and in line with current family sizes. Ideally, a group as large as possible would probably work out better but may not be practical in the short term. Your beliefs(religious,political,etc.), your lifestyles(lots of crumb eaters or a collection of fully stocked gun safes) and your tastes(maybe you do like Spam) would be more in tune with each other and allow you to concentrate on accomplishing other important goals.
As travel may become difficult and quite possibly dangerous, a network of interconnected groups
may allow us to become more sufficient. Perhaps your group doesn't have that mechanical genius that can fix anything with baling wire and twine...no problem. Just contact the group near you that has one! Then trade,sell, or barter a service you have for what you need. Got a nurse or doctor in your group. Fantastic! Got a "whacko" gun nut(my apologies to everyone-it's just a figure of speech) in the group that really knows his stuff. Maybe a group close by needs firearms training really bad (I know I could use more!). Need a priest, Rabbi, or minister to counsel,marry, or to do a little preaching to someone in your group? You could check the local group network. Perhaps there is something your group needs that is further off than you are willing or able to travel. There may be a group that has an excess of something that you sorely lack. You may not be familiar with the terrain or dangers to avoid. I say no problem. Send or leave a message with one group and let them pass it on to next group and so and so forth until your need becomes known and let it come back to you in stages from one group to another. Maybe even some of the rugged individual types out there would be interested in a sort of freight service operation. They would get to travel(probably on foot mostly), meet new people(roving lowlifes and scumbags most probably), and maybe even shoot that fancy rifle(hopefully at game animals). Got a teacher in your group? That's great. Somebody has to be able to teach the little crumb eaters how to read and write.
The main point here people is that no matter what the size of your group is, be it large or small or an individual, there will be goods and services you will need to not only survive, but to grow and prosper. Working with each other to not only survive but thrive as well is going to be necessary. Cooperation and NOT confrontation is going to be the answer. You don't have to abandon your beliefs and lifestyles in order to survive. Work to build a network of inter-connected small groups. I see a definite possibility of groups located in another region or state even being able to communicate with or fill the needs of small groups. Could this be accomplished overnight, maybe and maybe not. I think the only limiting factor to this concept is that we need to recognize our differences, our strenghts, and our shortcomings and be willing to work together to be the solution and not the problem.
Stay above the water line!
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10 comments:
Michael's Handmaiden here--there's a series of novels by S. M. Stirling (Dies the Fire is the first one) wherein different groups of folks manage to survive. These groups do exactly what you say--they barter with each other, aid each other, send experts to train the inexperienced, etc. These are interesting novels, worth reading! Good post! HM
Very good thought! And you can have a new village every 2 or 3 or 5 miles down the trail. We'll have a million of them before we are done! It will go slow at first but the momentum will build. And don't for get the matter of in-breeding. After a few decades of no outside influence you can end up with a group of drooling morons. Those folks donw the road may be your genetic saviors!
Michael
To:Michael's Handmaiden
Haven't read those books but will try to find and read. Thanks. You need to post more comments. A different viewpoint...this is a good thing.
I may be a "useless eater" in the view of some(being an older guy) but I love to "babysit". The stories I could tell them crumb eaters. I may be needing a mailman.
Hmmm....Michael, the "Postman". I like the sound of that.
I think that for picking groups trust is the biggest single thing. When it comes to working with other groups/ trading/ etc I think there is something of a balance between the need for outside supplies/ expertise and the risk. If the kid needs a doc right now then I am going no matter what the risk is. However if I would like a quart of milk and there is some bad stuff going on down in that direction then I am going to have toast instead of cereal. In a genuine full on TEOTWAWKI once the fires burn down and the shots start to come one at a time and mean someone got a deer instead of someone got someone else people will come out to swap and barter.
To: theotherryan
Good point!
even the "OLD" have abilities and skills that are NEEDED!
Seems to me that the very thing you want to avoid in the new villages is the sort of over-specialization that will doom this civilization as it has doomed others before.
Of course we're going to need experts, experts of all types, but they shouldn't dominate, and they shouldn't be the norm.
As for aligning and organizing along lines of religion, class, culture, etc., I think that sort of thing is all right, but could lead to a sort of Waco-type deal. You need that mix of folks and types, and you need it everywhere.
So what if you think the contrails are sprayed by aliens and Jim the farmer thinks its the Illuminati doing it? You gotta eat and Jim needs you to finish building his barn; you need each other, so you need to get along.
For this reason, pet theories, politics, etc., really ought not be primary concerns in putting together a group or organizing a village or community. Proximity, common need, and human nature should be enough to knit the bonds of community just fine.
Everybody in one place, all sharing the same basic set of beliefs, sounds fine until you start to dig into it a little. Everybody needs a contrarian, just to keep the folks honest and their thinking clear.
My two cents.
TO: ricardos_law
Excellent point. I'll loan you a stick so you can beat a little more sense into this thick skull of mine. Just don't whack me too hard,OK?
In most situations you're going to have a lot of differences in any group and a high level of cooperation regardless is going to be needed to thrive and survive.
To: ricardos_law
BTW, it's gonna be a little stick!
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