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"Rough Draft Of An Appalachian Survivalist" by Adam Chinchar
Disclaimer; this is all speculation on the author’s part; you probably shouldn’t make any plans according to this alone.
Panic! Chaos! The social contract is void, and man has lost his collective mind! Or has he? Is the post apocalypse mindset just the product of Hollywood cinema? In all honesty, your location will probably have the most effect on how the social order would rebuild after a long term disaster, regardless of the circumstance. Folks in the Appalachians may be more suited to a nuclear situation due to favorable wind patterns, lots of foliage, and an already closer to self sufficient mindset, at least compared to people living in an highly urbanized area, and people in Siberia would be untouched by plague due to lack of concentrated population.
Personally, I think the whole “post apocalyptic raiders in a wasteland” theme is a movie cliché, not applicable to real life. While hard times will most definitely make hard men, I do not think that the have nots will be able to take from the prepared. I know in the US there are more than 75 guns per 100 people, and when everyone is packing you’re not going to try anything hostile. “An armed society is a polite society.”-Robert Heinlein.
However do not mistake me for saying that things will be golden either, personally I like to use the fall of Rome as a precursor to what could happen if modern society collapsed. As a whole society we would regress, and compared to how things used to be, conditions would be awful. But this degeneration takes place over the course of generations, and who knows; maybe we could rebuild a better society in a more timely manner. But back on point, the individual did not have an unbearable existence after the fall of Rome, things just kind of settled into a more localized lifestyle. I believe this is how events would unfold in a rural environment, you may have a flood of refugees for a little while, but that initial wave of disruption would most likely eliminate those without the survival mindset, which I believe is a very small group of people. Then you’d have relative peace, people will have settled in, small scale trade most likely via barter would resume, groups would form, whether due to their religious persuasion, politics, or some other factor, and from there society would begin a slow rebuilding process.
Now if you’re looking for a DIY: Rebuild Society post, then...you’re in luck! I’ve had a few thoughts on the subject and I’ll try to give you a condensed version of them.
First off, prepare now. “A gallon of sweat saves a pint of blood.” Whether your preps are as simple as making a garden or as complex as building a shelter, do something. Anything to get you in the survival mindset is good. Personally I’ve made a garden, and am starting a greenhouse. In addition to these small preps I’ve made a micro-nation*. I think is a good exercise in small scale politics, much like what you’d be dealing with after TEOTWAWKI, a fermentor, and have purchased a cigarette rolling machine. I figure with all these, I should be able to at least scape by, if not thrive.
Secondly, try to get your friends to prepare for any disaster. In my experience you should break it to your friends slowly, ask them to prepare for blackouts, and small stuff like that. From there you can talk about larger preps. This will give you needed experience in taking the initiative, a critical leadership requirement, and build a base of loyal friends.
Thirdly, if you’re feeling ambitious, and a little crazy, think about collective housing. If you and a group of people can voluntarily start being self sufficient then you will thrive if anything does happen. Now that’s about the extent of peace time prepping (I know I’ll regret that statement in the comments.)
However, once a cataclysmic event has occurred, you have endless opportunities, which you should pounce on as soon as possible. First off...
1) Secure the necessities; food, housing, water, heat. Personally I recommend defunct high schools or community colleges, most have greenhouses. Moreover I know that my high school had a fully stocked medical classroom, athletic areas, metal shop, biodiesel manufacturer, (EDIT THIS TO CORRECT PHRASE). Furthermore many classrooms could be converted to housing.
2) Focus on solidifying power; While this sounds bad it’s necessary. If your group doesn’t have complete control over itself, and a way to ensure peaceful transfers of power there will be blood. How you do this depends on each group.
3) Expand; But be sure to expand in a supportable manner. If you have no food, don’t take in the refugees, however if you have food, and need labor, maybe a little forceful expansion isn’t such a bad thing? Remember you can expand in a number of ways too, if you’re powerful enough to expand you should advertise. Put up some propaganda posters in the closest town, start patrolling your borders, maybe issue flags to scavenging parties? Anything you can do to attract people is good.
* Adam Chinchar created the Apalachian Socialist Republic, you can visit it here: http://appalachiansocialistrepublic.yolasite.com
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