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wingedbeastI've spoken about the perils of becoming a pre-apocalyptic society, that is a society that longs for the end of civilization. In today's society, some of those are represented within a subculture of those who plan to survive a civilization-ending event and its aftermath. These "Doomsday Preppers" ("preppers" for short) include a range of personalities and not all are fairly described as desiring of an apocalypse. They also range in the apocalypses they expect, the reasonableness and thoroughness of their preparations, and what they want out of the Apocalypse.
That last one is strange, but important. Some want the apocalypse to happen and, through their preparation, make themselves the ones who "come out ahead". In short, they want to be the winner and for you to be the loser.
Toward this end, they'll stock up on food and water, to be able to survive. They may think to stock up on medicine. They even might stock up on gold for trade. They will definitely stock up on guns and ammunition in order to fight off what they think of as the hoards that want to take what's theirs.
Those hoards include you and your rebuilding civilization full of people just trying to survive and, hopefully, make a life worth living. The way they become the undisputed kings of their domains is by either fighting off your group or taking over.
They might even have an argument for taking leadership of your society, that they were the ones who saw the end coming and were the ones who prepared. People are always predicting the end of the world. Since WWII, they've always been predicting the end of civilization. Being right is less a matter of intellect and correct socio-political philosophy and more a matter of picking the same number in a game of roulette. Eventually that number is going to come up.
Otherwise, their resources may be valuable, but here's where the point of thoroughness of preparation comes into play. Perishable resources, such as food and medicine, are still perishable even if canned or dried. Part of preparation, when stockpiling perishable items, is to use them and replace them, cycling out the earlier expiration dates, so you have the most time, possible, when relying upon those supplies.
That potential gold, by the way, has only the value of other people wanting it. And, that's no safe assumption after an apocalypse.
If they want to trade, be sure to always personally verify quality first, including looking at the expiration dates. If they want to take over, don't let them, not even with purchase. If they want to isolate themselves away from everybody else, let them.
The biggest mistake you can make with a survivalist after the apocalypse is overvaluing what they have. It's not worthless, but, if you've survived any length of time without them, it's unlikely to be worth trading your life for, however they might want that to happen.
That last one is strange, but important. Some want the apocalypse to happen and, through their preparation, make themselves the ones who "come out ahead". In short, they want to be the winner and for you to be the loser.
Toward this end, they'll stock up on food and water, to be able to survive. They may think to stock up on medicine. They even might stock up on gold for trade. They will definitely stock up on guns and ammunition in order to fight off what they think of as the hoards that want to take what's theirs.
Those hoards include you and your rebuilding civilization full of people just trying to survive and, hopefully, make a life worth living. The way they become the undisputed kings of their domains is by either fighting off your group or taking over.
They might even have an argument for taking leadership of your society, that they were the ones who saw the end coming and were the ones who prepared. People are always predicting the end of the world. Since WWII, they've always been predicting the end of civilization. Being right is less a matter of intellect and correct socio-political philosophy and more a matter of picking the same number in a game of roulette. Eventually that number is going to come up.
Otherwise, their resources may be valuable, but here's where the point of thoroughness of preparation comes into play. Perishable resources, such as food and medicine, are still perishable even if canned or dried. Part of preparation, when stockpiling perishable items, is to use them and replace them, cycling out the earlier expiration dates, so you have the most time, possible, when relying upon those supplies.
That potential gold, by the way, has only the value of other people wanting it. And, that's no safe assumption after an apocalypse.
If they want to trade, be sure to always personally verify quality first, including looking at the expiration dates. If they want to take over, don't let them, not even with purchase. If they want to isolate themselves away from everybody else, let them.
The biggest mistake you can make with a survivalist after the apocalypse is overvaluing what they have. It's not worthless, but, if you've survived any length of time without them, it's unlikely to be worth trading your life for, however they might want that to happen.
