Sociological Conundrum

Sociological Conundrum [+ favourites]

Scenario:

World War 3 has ocurred and you live alone with your wife in a large house that survived the apocalypse. Everyone around you has dissapeared and since the end of the war you have not heard nor seen of any other humans. Both you and your wife survive reasonably healthily on recycled water, canned foods, and a small garden that you grow in your house. Your wife is the love of your life and although she is not a supermodel she is beautiful and exudes lots of femininity.

You cannot drive or use the phone as no electrical devices function. Simple things such as gunpowder and mechanical energy still work. You have a shotgun in the house with a limited supply of ammunition.

Assuming others will eventually stumble upon your household, how would you go about protecting your wife and your life from others given there is absolutely no police force or government that imposes rules on people?

Take into account the following:

a) You may encounter normal people who wish to share in your good fortune and mini-ecosytem you have set up.

b) You may encounter agressive normal people who wish to steal your resources and methods.

c) You may encounter ravagers who seek to rape your wife and take her with them as a travel whore, steal your food, and kill you.

d) You may encounter a "group" that chooses to impose their communist beliefs on you.

e) You may encounter men who wish to forcefully use your wife as a means of bearing children.

f) You may encounter diseased people who seek to use your resources to heal themselves.

As well as:

a) You are likely not the only one on the planet with a gun.

b) You have limited ammunition.

c) Your mini-ecosystem cannot sustain more people without depleting itself.

d) You do wish to help unfortunate people, but you do not want to jeapordize your own situation.

What do you do?

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

well, i'm no the type to just sit around. i would have to leave the house. as for the wife....it isnt really fair for me to judge on what to do about her for two reasons:
1. i like men, not women
2. i believe marriage is a waste of time
3. i don't believe in a strong love
so naturally....i would probably tell the wife that if she wanted to come with me then she had better get her own goddamn gun to help protect us with. but seeing as how she is the love of my life...i suppose that means i actually care for her
sooo....i would get two backpacks and fill them with food, supplies and ammo, and search the surrounding houses for more ammo. then i would set off to find a military base. hopefully an american military base.....then i could either help them out, or if the base is abandoned i would get any people i can find that arent trying to kill me and set up camp at the military base. you got ammo, tanks, LAVs, food, all the goods. this story could keep going on and on.......

"Don't sweat the petty things, don't pet the sweaty things."

Okay, first of all:

1. There are no "americans". There is no government and in fact you don't know if there are any other people, but you assume there is.

2. Regardless of how much ammo or food you find, you can only carry a very finite amount. This would limit how far you can travel in any given direction, since you would be travelling on foot. Further, it is nearly impossible that you would find any "military bases" within walking distance of you and the food/ammo you could carry.

3. Most importantly, how are you going to "only find" people who are willing to help you? You're going to have to meet people in general, and of those you meet some of them will want to kill you and some won't.

This is a realistic example where without order, people are unlikely to not take from you what they wish to have, even if they may seem co-operative in the short run. Given the possibiulity of finding a base and having people to help you, not everyone will agree to every decision made, and then who is to decide what happens? You? Everyone has a gun at that point.

Hence that solution is not a feasible one. There is no such thing as securing a military base and creating an army of the elite to protect yourself from the outsiders... there will always be bigger badder enemies as well as dessention within your own group.

Aside from all of that, your whole answer does not take into account your better half. Your solution is a "nothing to lose" solution, but by definition I have created an example where you have much to lose.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

do we have knowledge of the old days, or are we dumb and nieve

also, are there any natural resources around?

where do the other people come from if we're all alone and supporting ourself?

We are in a post apocalyptic reality. So we still have some buildings from the old time, but most of the fertile land is hazardous, and we live in the city.

You get whatever resources you'd have right now, minus whatever would get razed in lieu of a war.

And people may come around because they are dying, dick, or want to conquer. There are a variety of reasons why people would come around.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

ok then, this is what i would do.

Basic Concept: Use my little ammunation to make more ammunation.

Elaborated: Begin building basic mechanical machines that help gardening, mining, and all of the basic needs. This will hopefully lead to a surplus of food, and allow me to take in the working people; women, men, and children, no sick people in the begining. Use the little force i do have to make them work... not harsh, but all that is needed to survive and progress. I would have most of the people that come and join make more ammunition and set up defencive structures, such as walls and lookout towers, at this point of time the best defence... is a good defence. I would give the people promises of "the old glory days" for initiative.

Adventually, as the community grows and our defences grow larger, i would begin an education system. With this new education would come new technology and what not. Furthermore, i would now allow anyone into the settlement and boost up my defences.

After several years, i would create an offensive army and crush those who wish to crush me... now a good defence is a good offence.

I could go into more depth of all of this but i have a cut on my finger so its hard to type...

basicaly it's a repeate from the renaissaunce from here on out. With a few changes in government and foreign polocy that i dont wanna type out right now.

You would build mechanical machines for mining and gardening? And then you would somehow coerce people to work for you based on your words?

Lets try to keep this thread realistic. This is not a question about dreams of being the one guy to recreate civilization.

This is a sociological dillemma where you cannot escape the fact that you have used your intelligence to provide a limited form of existance for you and your loved ones, yet you have no feasible way of forcefully keeping others from wanting a piece (or all of it).

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

In the beginning my entire family would set out in search of more food/supplies. during that time if a person wants to join and use my resources i would require them to look for food and do anything else to be self sustaining (ie-create their own living space). threats without weapons will be put in to some type of slave labor captivity and fed sparingly. threats with weapons will be wounded by gunshot or otherwise incappacitated and taken prisoner and not fed until there is an abundance of food. if this does not happen they shall starve. if a threat is too overwhelming then we shall relocate. as the group inevitably grows, search parties will be sent out daily for supplies as well as other non threats joiners. governmental officials will be voted on. those who disagree with the way things are run may leave at any time but can only take a few days worth of supplies and may not come back once gone. eventually long searches will be conducted and vast amounts of supplies may be given out to people venturing for days or possibly weeks. people will be assigned jobs as they are needed until the community becomes large enough for freedom of choice. everyone must work to be as self sustaining as possible, moochers will be shunned. this will be voted on by the whole community.

hmm if ive left anything out let me know.

"I am Akba-Atatdia"

Wow, firstly, I'd thanks the powers that be for the fact that I've been designing post apocalyptic technologies since I was in high school.

Secondly, I'd thank the powers again that most of my designs work... including a flushing toilet!

I would make sure that I had a good geological knowledge of the area, what elements I have to work with. As the first thing I would do is build a small smelter. Metal is essential for any kind of construction I plan on doing later.

I would have to move the main living area underground, so the house itself can be made the 'door' to my possesions and my woman, ie. Traps, fake doors, possibly a maze.

Of course, for all of that, I'd need metal and wood. The metal can easily be scavenged if I live in a city, the wood may require an expedition to the remains of a park, or a particularly old part of town, where the buildings are still made of wood.

I'd say that once the initial underground is completed, more space can be made at a later time, if people come around with good intentions, and wish to stay. Their fee for food and shelter is simply to help with either construction or scavenging.

As far as the gun goes, it will mainly be for show. As I would train my missus in the art of Wing Chun, therefore making guns useless at close range. Not to mention the house will be designed with little hidey holes to jump out from and disarm an intruder quickly.

The mini-eco system could be expanded to occupy more of the house if noone is living in any of the rooms. Therefore, allowing more food. Very important in case someone comes by with things to barter. Building materials/Ammunition for Fruit... a fair trade in my book!

"Always give to the left, coz the right way is the wrong way."

*sigh*

To be totally honest, I find it really hard to believe that anyone here actually perceives that they could construct any sort of a defensive structure to CHOOSE who does what with their belongings. It's almost impossible to do that now... what makes you think you'll be able to do that then?

No matter how many fences, holes, trap doors or nets you set up, if someone really wants to steal your stuff, rape your wife or kill you in the process (which would be the most likely order of behaviour from those who have nothing to lose.... which would be most of the people who have suffered... which would be most of the people) they are going to do it.

And you are all ignoring the possibility of a community of people who beleive in a communist regime where everything is for everyone. By definition your little ecosystem would not sustain them and you, so their imposition would not be agreeable. What do you do if a hundred people try to steal your stuff citing you as selfish? What if there's a thousand people?

Without order, people will always naturally digress to a state of chaos, where they will exude the qualities of a child: they will be greedy in what they want, not ration what they have, and suffer once it is wasted.

You must all forget the possibility of "force" or defense structures to prevent a person or group from invading your space.

Assume you must deal with such people and that although you might have a grand number of tools, you have much more to lose than the "average" survivor, which makes them far greater a danger to you than you to them.

Again, this is a sociological question, not a scientific one. Scientifically speaking there is nothing you can do to keep an organized gang from breaking into your house and raping your wife/daughter right now, so what makes you think you'll be able to do anythign when there is no police organization or fear or retribution?

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

i have hope that i get lucky and happen upon "nice" people. and it wouldnt really be a matter of choosing who gets what, more along the lines of divying up everything equally. since i am a weak individual, i would most likely be heavily abused by anyone with harmful intentions, but i would definately go down fighting. of course i would do the same to protect my family. i would not be on any sort of crusade to restart the world, my strategy is simply to obtain strength in numbers by mostly any means neccissary. i suppose i would simply have to join a communist type camp/mob in order to survive. once one (strong one) is established, then changes can be made to allow for choice and freedom. i would attempt to influence others into wanting to make those changes... perhaps it would be futile but i would not give up.

to be perfectly honest, i would probably die within a week or two for one reason or another. i am unable to function in such conditions for various medical reasons. sorry if thats kind of a cop out, but its simply the truth.

"I am Akba-Atatdia"

in a time like this, words are the most powerful tools... hitler came to power because of his words. they convinced the people times would get better in a dark time.

almost every major leader came to power at a dark time in history, always using their words.

"No matter how many fences, holes, trap doors or nets you set up, if someone really wants to steal your stuff, rape your wife or kill you in the process (which would be the most likely order of behaviour from those who have nothing to lose.... which would be most of the people who have suffered... which would be most of the people) they are going to do it."

that is usualy not the case... people like that throughtout history have always taken the easier path. if you have any kind of defencive structure, they will go for easier prey. Rome fell to these people because previously they were attacking their northern towns and villages when the army was out east fighting the mongols.

The mongols won and weakened the empire thus creating it easier for the vandals to come in and do what they want.

The fact that the world is desolate means that if you have a defensive structure, they are going to be more attracted to what you have inside.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."