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A Theory on Long-Term Survival.
The Breakup of Society.
An
event so catastrophic that it causes a collapse of society as we know it is
something that none of us would ever want to happen. The survivalist is someone
who understands the possibility that it could happen, and who prepares for it in
some way just in case it does. (No real survivalist would EVER advocate the
deliberate creation of such an event.)
If something like this ever does happen it will be like nothing that we’ve ever
had to deal with before, and because of the nature of such an event there will
be a lot of traps and mistakes that will need to be avoided.
For reference, these are only my personal views/beliefs, and they are based only
on my understanding of society as it is at the moment.
In an event like this there are a number of things that I believe will happen.
The first is that society will break into a number of groups. No group is set in
stone, and people may even drift between the groups.
The Quitters:
These are the people who can’t or
don’t want to think about having to live a life so different to what they’re
used to that they just give up. Mostly there is nothing we can do for people
like this. We can try to inspire them with confidence and hope but generally I
don’t think it’ll work. In fact they could bring down the morale of those around
them.
The Innocents:
These are the people who are caught
unawares by the event. They want to live, but generally don’t have much idea of
how to go about it. They have no real ability to make it on their own, and for
this reason they gravitate towards the more charismatic groups like the quitters
or the predators.
I think this will be the largest group. The people in it might not do so well on
their own, but they will form the basis of whatever new communities will spring
up.
The Predators:
To begin with this group will
consist mainly of young men, but others will join them when they see the lack of
consequences to their actions. It will start with looting and maybe smaller acts
of violence (especially against the innocents) but it’s likely that they will
grow bolder as they start to form larger groups, and become far more dangerous.
These groups will probably have (especially later on) members who don’t like the
lifestyle but stay because it’s safer.
The Deposed:
I’m not so sure about this group
because it’s an element of society that I’m not familiar with. Basically it’s
the people who used to wield power, whether they be politicians or armed forces
or just wealthy. They’d probably remain behind bunkers (in a metaphorical as
much as a physical sense) and try to exercise their former power when they can.
The Survivalists:
And then there’s us. We’re not
special in any way, we’re just better prepared and equipped. We’d have a unique
opportunity to help with the rebuilding of a society and perhaps iron out some
of the things that were amiss with this one. Along with this comes a huge
responsibility. To try (to the best of our abilities) not to fall into the same
traps that we did in the past.
Structure of a New Society.
Personally, I
believe that survivalism goes beyond just keeping one’s family and those close
to us safe. It also means that we need to do what we can to ensure our survival
as a race. (It should be noted that the event I’m talking about is the sort that
completely rules out the possibility of a return to the way we are now.
Something that effects a significant section of the world’s population.)
We can’t just hide up in the mountains or some equally secluded place.
Eventually we’ll need to come together and rebuild our communities again and
when we do it will need to be in stages. Each stage has its difficulties and it
opportunities to do things better then we did before.
Early on when groups are small and scattered the most important thing will be
survival but we’ll still need to keep thinking ahead. Things like where are we
going, and how do we get there safely need to be considered as well as the
basics of food and shelter. You can stay where you are but make sure it’s the
best and safest place you can be. If you live in a city you might want to think
about leaving for the country, I think the cities themselves will become
battlefields (especially early on).
If you’re on the move and you need to hunt for food don’t just rely on firearms
(if you have them). While you can, practice alternative methods like trapping or
bow hunting. This will build up skills as well as saving valuable ammunition.
Always keep trying to build up your group. Eventually you’ll either get where
you’re going, or your group will become so large that you’ll need to settle into
an area.
When we start to build permanent settlements is when we also need to give
careful consideration to how we want them structured. It’s very easy to fall
into a dark-ages mentality and get into the old habits of just burning up fossil
fuels and forgoing education in favor of physical labor. But things like this
need to be avoided. Also, in a survival situation we’ll all have to get used to
recycling whatever we can.
For example when we need heating, we should try and come up with alternative
methods to just burning wood. (For instance electric motors can be hooked up to
a windmill or water mill to generate electricity, or decomposing waste can be
harnessed for its natural gas.)
But I think the most important thing we can do is to make sure that we keep as
much of our current knowledge as we possibly can. It would be very easy to let
an event of this size be the trigger for a backwards slide but that is exactly
what we need to avoid. Children should still be taught to read and write, and an
understanding of things like science and the natural world should be encouraged.
I know it might not seem relevant in a survival situation to give much value to
books (or even computers) and it isn’t, but when the need for basic survival is
gone and replaced by the need to rebuild safe and productive communities then
books and other methods of storing information should be given a high priority.
So here’s my basic theory.
If an event like this ever occurs the first priority for anyone should be to
ensure the safety of themselves and their loved ones. When this has been
achieved the next priority should be to establish a secure area for a community
and then try to combine with other groups of survivalists and innocents to
expand that community. (Predators will eventually move out of the cities [there
will always be groups of people who will use violence to try and get their way]
and a community needs to be able to protect itself from them.)
And all the time we should be fostering knowledge and technological advancement
in a way that is as renewable as possible.
As survivalists I think we can play an important part in this, but we can’t take
an ‘I told you so’ attitude because ultimately it’ll be self destructive (It’ll
be like a new class system). We can’t expect to just manage by ourselves, we’ll
have to get together with other people, and if possible pass on what we know to
them. (Without taking some sort of moral or social ‘high ground’.)
Mark Ottow.
[That’s my 2 cents worth. I apologize for rambling on, but this
was written (as many of these sort of things seem to be) late at night. Like I
said, I am in no way an authority on society or survivalism, I’m only putting
into words my own views on the subject, and the way I think things could turn
out.
I’d welcome any kind of feedback, but don’t expect responses to flames. :-) My
email address is ]
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