right up until the point where the GP says "I don't know how to fix that". So I think we've had a side-ways discussion here. I would like to say one last thing before I depart this thread. 1. people are not created equal 2. people will excel at one thing while performing poorly in others 3. attitudes towards specific demographics of people really shine when one is offended. 4. everything is circumstantial 5. there will always be someone who think's he is the leader Thank you for participating in my tiny sociological experiment. I have gathered the information that I need.
actually, this stemmed from a conversation with a friend of mine. Who would you want to join a community with. 1. Every day people 2. Preppers 3. Survivalists 4. Men 5. Women. There is no ball. You all added good points and I am addressing some fallacies in my logic as a result. Originally, I thought it would be best to just go with the everyday people around me.. now, not so much. I'm leaning towards trying to find people that understand roles, role substitution, leadership where autonomy cannot exist and autonomy where leadership cannot exist. So far that falls with a group of ex military guys that I know. General Population just scared the **** out of me. If you want to think of it as me taking my ball and going home, that's fine. I gathered the information that I needed and yes.. I'm leaving. I have my answers and I needn't go any further.
I have only one single word. Cross-training. Knowledge sharing in the tribe is going to be crucial. This isn't about keeping what you know to yourself to become more 'valuable' or 'indispensable'. Because as soon as you feel you are indispensable you are a liability. If you are the only one with a skill that we must have, and you are unable to perform the task due to injury or death, the rest of the tribe is doomed. So share or we have ways of making you share. Yes, everyone has different abilities/capabilities but we should do our best to share that knowledge with our tribe so we can collectively become more self sufficient. Some will do the task better than others but over time the skill level of the whole will rise. Many hands make light work in some cases. As for who is in charge, Only one at a time. Years in business i've learned oh so well that too many chiefs you ain't getting **** done. This stuff needs to be thought out before hand, before the crisis. Right now, in my circle i am the chief. But i am willing to let someone else lead, if the next chief has better abilities than I and has the interest of the group as a whole infront of their own interest. Otherwise there are ways to redress the situation of bad leadership, some not so pleasant. 'Dude you get to sleep on the outside of the wire for a while'. With that said 'Go make me a sammich woman!'
I pick all of the above. A group is going to need some diversification and it will take all walks of life to achieve this. Nobody knows it all and nobody is indispensable. Diversity and cross training of individuals is going to be pertinent, you are going to need a back up plan on top of back up plan in case of injuries or death. Sharing of information and skills will be of the utmost importance.
Well, right off the bat, the every day people scare the crap out of me. Eventually they'll climb the list as they "evolve" from cannon fodder. But damned if I hunker down with them unless I know them personally. I cannot and will not excuse cross training or cross information gathering so let that be a last note. None of my intent is to strike that from the group. I just find that my ex-mil buddies seem more suited for panic and chaos than the GP. I'm still mulling some stuff over on this however.
I think that traditional gender roles are the only easy to go in TSHTF BUT it's important to remember the rules actually. My grand father cut wood and bright it home, worked the field and hunted, if he was hungry when grandma was gone he cooked some food and if the kids needed tending he pitched in there. Grandma did the cooking and the cleaning and most of the tending to the kids and when they ate chicken she took her.25 auto out of her apron and would shoot the chicken in the head from the hip 20 feet or so away though she did miss and hit one in the throat ONCE and got teased about it for years. Then she would butcher it and cook it. The chicken hawk that got after he chickens was found 1/4 mile down the road in pieces after she shot it out of the air with the old 30-40. If grandpa was short handed in the field then she worked the field, if she needed wood split she found the ax or the kids when they were older. When it was time to birth the kids she got stuff done until it was time delivered them her self then cleaned up, put the baby in a sling and got back out to help grandpa in the field and introduce the new mouth. ETA I do take care of more of the heavey lifting as Im much larger and stronger and she takes up the slack in other areas so I have the time, besides she gets upset that I out do her when it comes to baking and such. Traditional females were only frail cooks and maids if they had rich husbands. The traditional frontier and farm wife stood beside her man and kept up or they both died along with the kids. My wife helps me butcher and when her health let her hunted with me and worked tree trimming with me. We both cook, both work on the cars both can sew our own clothes though I do better with no pretern or machine than her and am a better house keeper. For the most part we go with the fairy tail roles when we can where I work and she cooks and cleans and I do the heavy lifting but we also switch to the true traditional roles when that don't work well and both jump in and do what needs done, her in a dress and me in overalls.
The only traditional gender role heavily evident in my house is the fact that while I'm the one leaving the house to provide for my family, my wife stays home to care for our children. Aside from that, we both share the duties (for the most part) of head chef, launderer, and housekeeper, among other things. I know that she doesn't share my beliefs or enthusiasm for a SHTF scenario (not to make it sound like I'm looking forward to one), but I know that when that day comes she is capable and willing to do whatever it takes to keep her family going, whether it be boiling water or reloading shells. Everyone, I believe, should possess the knowledge and skills to remain sustainable, should isolation actually occur.
LOL. I was wondering the same thing chello. You must have been having an off night - but you're here now!
Judging by the Revolutionary War, in the Carolinas women played a greater role than History books document. Messengers carrying vital information through enemy lines. They saved whole militia units by warning them. Two women took out a Loyalist courier. Getting the courier's message saved a unit from bumping heads with a real big unit they were preparing to attack. If one takes the time to read, history is an eye opening education. Short form, women made a major contribution to the Revolution. Same as in the Revolutionary War, when Irregulars engage Regulars, they will shoot and scoot. If the Irregulars don't, they're dead. In a SHTF world, man or woman, shoot and scoot is the wisest move. Avoiding is far wiser for either sex. That applies to war and shtf. Monkeyman My great-grandmother and grandmother used a buggy whip to knock a chickens head off. Family legend says as the chicken runs headless for a bit. While it runs the chicken evacuates its bowels which made them easier to clean.. If anyone knows if that is correct or not as I don't know, I'd enjoy hearing.. I do know that the price for not laying enough eggs was the stew pot.
Good old Molly took her husband's place upon his death. She fed the cannons just as she had seen her husband do. We all accomplish that which we care called upon to accomplish, even when there are those who believe it impossible. Cheers for Molly!
I knew about Molly Pitcher, long before I discovered there where others. "Cowpens. Ever heard of it? Well, it's in South Carolina. A battle there helped bring about the end of the Revolutionary War. It was l781. The British, under command of General Cornwallis was out to crush a group of Patriots commanded by a General Morgan. General Morgan, realizing how out-manned he was, appealed to Catherine Moore Barry for help. She knew every inch of the land she lived in. She knew all the short cuts, the trail, where Patriots lived, and how to contact them. Single-handedly, Catherine rounded up the necessary local Patriots to join General Morgan's troops. With Catherine's help, General Morgan laid a trap for General Corwallis and his men. The plan worked. General Cornwallis was defeated, retreating into the hands of General Washington (you've heard of him, haven't you?) at Yorktown, Virginia. With his surrender there, the colonies won their independence from Britain. Again, a woman's hand had assisted the Patriots in their war effort. Thank you, Catherine. Women in The American Revolution - Catherine Moore Barry I was just at Cowpens a few weeks ago and there wasn't a mention of Catherine Parker. As other than a few there wasn't any mention of men; they all received the "right to be forgotten" forgotten equally.
Pulling onesy twosey's out isn't supporting jack. Exceptions to the rule, there are always many. Bottom line.. no your role, shut your hole and pull the wagon when no one else can. Nuff said.
My household has always been a little light on traditional gender roles... I am the best cook, my wife the best fisherperson, she is the best long term planner and I am the crisis manager. When it comes to general housework, we have both been able to manage and have never considered getting it done to be one or the other's responsibility. I have always been physically stronger, but that matters less these days because neither of us is suited these days for heavy lifting, carrying, chopping or other heavy physical tasks...however, my "helpers" in those areas these days are of both genders (though more male than female for the lifting and chopping). There are only 2 people in the world I trust 100% to cover my back, and my wife is one of them. Heaven help anyone assuming that she is unable to defend herself, her kids or her home because of her gender. She is also the one that gets the job if it is in any way esthetically involved...paint, finish carpentry, etc. One of the things that bothers me about a lot of prepper literature is the heavy assumption of traditional gender roles. I believe that, when you start limiting responsibilities by gender is that you run the risk of not having the most effective person in a job merely because of gender based assignment.
