10 Reasons Why Building a Community is Key When the SHTF

SHTF Plan ^ | 7/24/12 | Survivor Mike

[Kartographer]

You’re living in your suburban home. CNN has just said that the stock market is dropping for the ninth day in a row and people are now racing to their banks to empty their accounts. Couple this with an unstable euro, an unstable Middle East, and a worldwide economic recession and you get the start of the shit hitting the fan. How does your neighborhood react to this? Who in your neighborhood do you trust?

Now take that a step further and imagine a state of civil unrest. Homes nearby are being looted and undesirables are now common in your neighborhood. You have a weapon, but the occupants of your home include you, your wife, and your two small children. You have a front door, a backdoor, and the garage door. How do you cover all three much less the first floor windows?

What I’ve described above is the situation you will be faced with when the SHTF. So, do you need to build a community of liked-minded folks when the shit hits the fan? I believe there are 10 reasons why building a community is key when it all goes down.

[Kartographer]

1) Strength in Numbers

2) More Hands, More Work Done

3) Pre-planning

4) Multiple Locations

5) Additional Resource Network

6) More Supplies

7) Never Stop Working

8) Companionship

9) Never a Bad Thing… More Guards

10) Scouts / Reconnaissance

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!!

[Uncle Ike]

Specialization and divison of labor in cooperative effort is more efficient than individualism and duplication of effort...

Eke out a subsistence as an individual, or thrive as a member of a community....

[marron]

While Katrina is a lab example of what didn’t work, its also a good example of what did. In the neighborhoods that held together, neighbors helped neighbors. They formed up a neighborhood watch or “militia” and guarded the security of the neighborhood. Strangers were not welcome unless they knew someone on the inside, but there was no looting and no violence.

When the banks fail, or a storm takes down essential services, and you have to live on what you have in the pantry and what you have squirreled away in the sock drawer, neighbors traditionally do help one another through.

Thats what happened especially in the areas outside New Orleans after Katrina.

The apocalyptic “mad max” scenarios happen when neighbors and families don’t stick together. Again, like some of the more horrific film footage we saw from Katrina.

You won’t have to watch three doors simultaneously because you and your neighbors will take turns standing watch and it will be fine.

[mountainlion]

Cities are already starting to fail and hardly anything has happened yet. I will miss my compeer or at least the Internet but things will go on.

[dog breath]

I have several friends who believe that a remote site is best, one has land deep in the mountains of West Virginia. I have always wanted to argue that a small town was the safest place for there is strength in numbers. If you look at the bloody periods of fighting in American history like the 20 yr Indian wars for the Ohio country, isolation was often fatal. The trouble with extreme disasters scenarios is that unless you have moved out to the area before hand or have relatives there, they most likely will not let you in. I will throw this concept out also, even somebody without such a small town could start some trade up create a fortified flea market, or any secure trading center, let those who need something trade honestly what they have for what they need and you will have less violence. Hire some fleeing homeless young veterans or police with families for security. If you let the families move into the compound they will defend it with their lives. If you keep some type of economy going you help more people then anything else you might do.

[Sirius Lee]

No disagreement here. Or with my neighbors/fellow firefighters. We've had this discussion - even the flaming liberal of the bunch is a prepper.

Strange times.

[Lowell1775]

Sound wisdom.

Can you add me to your ping list.

[robowombat]

NOLA during the aftermath of Katrina presented an odd picture. The mobs of desperate people seen on the TV were from flooded out areas. And the flooding was deep and severe. Just blocks away from the Superdome people in the French Quarter barbecued meat as fast as they could and had some generators. The mobs never surged out attacking the intact areas. The very upscale St Charles Ave area was untouched. The WW2 museum was broken into by people desperate for food and the vending machines were emptied. Focused looting of car dealerships, some luxury goods stores, big box stores near in and places selling guns and ammo occurred. For the rest looting was sporadic. A better example would be to wonder what would have happened if the great NE power outage had lasted weeks instead of days. What happens when nothing works is the big terror. Most natural disasters or man made problems can be ridden out with a bit of planning. A serious sabotage of the national power grid or a biological warfare incident or the deliberate disruption of the Internet that lasts for weeks are all scenarios from hell and few can cope with these for a long time.

[bgill]

We’ve been inundated with wacky libs. I don’t trust any of them. A couple days ago, one decided to be a he-man and stain the deck. He didn’t get but a tiny patch done before his glass of white wine ran out so he quit.

[I see my hands]

An alternate view:

When hunger pangs hit or when thirst is not easily quenched the only souls you might trust are blood, first degree blood.

Shit hitting the fan isn't the beginning of community, it is the opposite. Being prepared is understanding that others are not prepared and that they will kill you to live just one more minute.

Hunker, hide, live.

[Kartographer]

For your consideration:

Selco’s

Strength is in the numbers!

http://shtfschool.com/protection/strength-is-in-the-numbers/

[I see my hands]

[Secret Agent Man]

This is the thing that doesn’t always make what the author writes, correct. You need to work with people that won’t be a total drain on you and do nothing or hardly nothing. I would not give firing weapons to people that didn’t know much about guns. You want useful people, not those that just stand around and do nothing, and know how to do nothing.

[antisocial]

bflr

[I see my hands]

You have a nation of 300,000,000 people. Calamity strikes and chaos ensues.

You retreat to your community of 10 or 100 people. Calamity strikes and chaos ensues.

Now what do you do?

[Kartographer]

Well for one thing how many days can you stand a 12 night watch?

[bicyclerepair]

After hurricane Wilma, we met our neighbors and helped each other cut up the trees that fell on our houses.

They neighbor guys helped me kill my keg before it got too warm. And we sat around and had coffee. We have city gas so we had hot water and stoves still working.

And it was cool enough so no a/c was no problem. It wasn’t that bad actually. Very dark and weird with no airplanes coming and going though.

[LibsRJerks]

I get sad about this, because we live in a really pitiful neighborhood, in terms of neighborliness and people coming together. Hell, no one even SPEAKS to each other on a daily basis, much less has the ability to organize or help each other out. It would be a sad deal if it happened here. Our oldest son is at college as well, which also scares me, and our daughter lives in NYC.

We’ve got crazy fat out of shape libs on the left, and crazy mixed with elderly and just plain crazy every other house. Or, we’ve never met them.

My husband I REALLY want to find a way to join a community of like minded prep people ...preferably with military backgrounds and conservative ideals like ourselves. I have no idea how to go about it. Family lives far away — not that any of them would be any help.