/end

[Chronos]

So I've been playing Left 4 Dead a little bit lately, and it's got me thinking;
in a post-apocalyptic society, what would you be able to produce / contribute?

How many people would actually be able to build a computer?
Heck, i don't even know how to work on a car.
There could be resources available (libraries, books, etc...) but in certain types of apocalypses, venturing out solely for the sake of finding learning resources would be suicide.

How far back would we regress?

 

[Outlaw]

Alot really, you need people monitoring everything that produces electricity but those people will be dead/zombies/etc

And with no electricity you lose loads of convenience.

 

[Veedrock]

No Pokemon? Nooooo.

Not really. Desperate times call for desperate measures and it would bring out a lot of hidden potential in people. However, survival of the fittest would be...depressing. I wouldn't want to just give up on somebody (like, hospital patients) just because they aren't in any condition to carry on.

It would be interesting to see the effect (of course, I say this now before it really happens).

 

[akuchi]

I'd be the girl in charge of the new USSR, comrades

 

[obi]

You'll have to define "post-apocalyptic" before there can be any real discussion on this.

 

[Wes]

If you define post-apocalyptic better like Obi said, this could become a really nice discussion. So only the smogonites survive?

 

[Morm]

I wouldn't call left 4 dead a society by any means.

The parameters of this question also really need to describe the kind of apocalypse. A different apocalypse would certainly entail a different post-apocalypse.

For example, a post zombocalypse would mean zombies everywhere, or at least the chance of them in many places. A nuclear holocaust would entail a much different scenario...since the recovery process from that is potentially alot longer or colder.

 

[Chronos]

By post-apocalyptic, i mean a world in which all major governments have collapsed, either as a result of a nuclear war, viral contagion (i.e. zombies, bird flu whatev), or environmental disaster.

This doesn't mean that all society has collapsed; you'd still have individual societies, allbeit largely sparse and separated.

 

[akuchi]

I don't see an anarchist utopia as post-apocalyptic.

 

[Bourbon]

not gonna lie, I would actually be stoked if society crumbled. There is so much stuff I disagree with that's going on in the world, I could put up with some zombies or whatever in exchange for some earth shattering change.

I would probabaly miss microwaves, halo and facebook though, but I'd get over those eventually.

 

[Chronos]

I don't see an anarchist utopia as post-apocalyptic.

I guess what i meant by lack of government is that production of main resources has ceased (i.e. no more factories, must salvage for food, etc.).
I figure if some government was still around, they'd try to bootstrap production of materials.

 

[akuchi]

Your vision makes no sense. Just because there's no government overseeing production doesn't mean anarchism is unworkable - in fact, lack of government is pretty much central to all anarchist theory. Why can't people form small communities and produce the goods they need? Is there something stopping them? I don't understand.

 

[Iamslow]

The world finally understands itself. This is the exact opposite of an apocalypse.

We just had to listen to everyone and come to terms with what made us hate them while finding something to love about them to create an even ballance.

This is hardly too good to be true but I still understand why one would think so.

 

[Chronos]

Your vision makes no sense. Just because there's no government overseeing production doesn't mean anarchism is unworkable - in fact, lack of government is pretty much central to all anarchist theory. Why can't people form small communities and produce the goods they need? Is there something stopping them? I don't understand.

No, there's nothing stopping them. I agree with you.
I'm just saying if you're in that small community, what would you contribute?

 

[akuchi]

from each according to her ability, to each according to her need.

I'd do whatever I had to - my actual skills thus far rest on intelligence, feminist polemic and the ability to drink far more alcohol than anyone else currently logged onto the forum. I don't think many have practical skills that transferable into a post apocolyptic world; though perhaps my knowledge of pharmacology would come in handy, I could serve some pharmacist/doctor function.

 

[Shiv]

you could just be there to mother the next generation :)

 

[Deschain]

i thought a lot about this after i saw The New World.

then i wrote this:

The Face of Neglect/5.15.05
what will become of you when the world is over?
Those of us who wear not the clothes of sheep are no wolves.
We are dogs.
Asleep by the hearth of progress.
What will fill your idle stomach when your masters heart is still?
When the shops are vacant and the merchants departed?
When the forests have burned to dust,
where will your warmth derive?
Will you rebuild?
Are you able?
What do you know by way of shelter?
Your roads (the ones you did not pave),
will sit unused as the vehicle you did not assemble decays.
You are without fuel anyhow.
The lines are cut,
and the paltry knowledge you thought worth keeping
slips through the cracks
of the mind you never had to use until now.
You know of so many splendid inventions that would improve your predicament,
but your fingers are ignorant.
After the end of civilization,
what will you contribute,
aside from an empty head
and a pair of soft hands?

 

[tape]

Since I wouldn't mind dying, I'd probably be reckless and enjoy the apocalypse the best possible out; I'll see how I will do when it happens.

 

[Morm]

not gonna lie, I would actually be stoked if society crumbled. There is so much stuff I disagree with that's going on in the world, I could put up with some zombies or whatever in exchange for some earth shattering change.

as if you'd survive
See: Survival of the fittest

I'd do whatever I had to - my actual skills thus far rest on intelligence, feminist polemic and the ability to drink far more alcohol than anyone else currently logged onto the forum

Feminisim wouldn't get you far, people with radical ideas are oft shot in those instances without protection. Also I can outdrink you so hard...I'm Canadian, after all, and went to university!

I think alot of people are and will continue to post about how rad it would be, but I assure you it would suck alot of ass and be much less glamorous than Shawn of the Dead would have you think.

Edit: Speaking of which, zombie strippers just arrived in the mail for me. I'll be throwing that down tonight, I heard it's funny.

 

[Bourbon]

I see what you did there ;)

I was thinking more along the lines of Fallout type apocalypse TBH. OP wasn't exactly clear on what kind of devastation the world would experience.

Regardless I've had such conversations before and I know exactly what I'd do.

-There is a metal pipe in the entry way closet that could be an improvised melee weapon; it is quite heavy, but not so much that you couldn't swing it around crazily. After grabbing this I would head across the street to the grocery store, break in, and grab supplies.

PLAN A: hotwire a car in the parking lot, drive somewhere warmer. Seriously, it gets like -40 C here in the winter. I'm not sticking around if there's no heat or anything.

PLAN B: Burn pallets in the back of the back of the grocery store and try to "camp out". Kill as many human beings as necessary to keep food and wood stash safe.

Eventually it would become warm enough that I could attempt to go somewhere. Probably the nearby town of Grande Cache, it's 1-1.5 hours away driving highway speed, so even if I ended up walking I could make it in a few days.



To answer the OP's other question, I don't really care if I had any relevant skills or not. My only focus would be to survive, alone or otherwise. The world can revert back to the stone age for all I'd care, as long as I'm the one with the food and weapons it's good enough for me.

 

[Pyr0]

My skill-list:

Can make a weapon (we're talking gun-like) out of random scrap things, seriously, I made a rail gun with a car battery and a few metal pieces in 20 minutes or so.

Can make some decent bombs (not that big of a deal, but its useful).

Can work most of the remaining computer devices if there is a need for them.

I can come up with combat strategies (human group vs human group at least, doubt you can use much strategy vs zombie hordes other than chokepoint up).

Overall, I would rate myself as a really good asset to a post apocalyptical survival group.

 

[Morm]

Cause you know how to do all that stuff from playing fallout 3, right Skiddle?

Kill as many human beings as necessary to keep food and wood stash safe.

cause nobody else will think of this and you won't be out competed by someone who has all their epiphyses calcified?

Also why would you pick Grande Cache? There's a much more isolated and desolate place, even the undead won't want to go to, 300 km up the QE2...but seriously, look even further into the mountains. I'd be gunning for Kimberly but likely end up at like Field- one way in, the bridge. Just blow up the bridge!

My relevant skills would be wilderness experience (incl GPS, Compass etc), close combat experience (former wrestling champ), off road driving experience, horseback experience and of course having all the gear at my beckon call. Plus my geo pick would suck to take in the face....

I think he wants real

 

[Surgo]

There's a really good chance that I'd die right away, due to whatever is causing this 'apocalypse'.

If I make it past the first week, though, I think I'd be okay. I don't have much in the way of skills with manual labor (not the same thing as being opposed to doing it of course; but if you can't built a suitable shelter you don't have much of a chance of making it past the first week), but I could contribute engineering and general creativity in that capacity. Which makes me think that if I survive past the first week, I'd be okay. But damn, surviving that first week would be hard.

In the long-term, your skills with cars won't matter. Having a GPS will help for a lot longer but not more than 10 to 20 years I would say? I think the ability to fly an airplane would help in the short term (which I can do, safely even!) but anything you take is basically a one-way trip to what you're suspecting is a better area to set up base.

 

[moi]

I'm not going to lie, being realistic here, I'd be pretty much screwed.

I have enough trouble breathing as it is, so even if i do survive what it was to cause this, most of the things that would happen (meteor, volcano, nuclear war) would cause so many problems in the air that i'd be screwed.

even if i do survive, my skills would be almost non existent. i'm not fit, and just using intelligence wont be great for getting you anywhere in an apocalyptic situation. that is, what little intelligence i'd have being absolutely scared shitless and driven insane by what would've just happened

 

[akuchi]

as if you'd survive
See: Survival of the fittest




Feminisim wouldn't get you far, people with radical ideas are oft shot in those instances without protection. Also I can outdrink you so hard...I'm Canadian, after all, and went to university!

Ahh, but I'm an alcoholic. :P
I think really what feminism/other political beliefs would do is help to establish a small, new society/collective based on more equal lines with like-minded individuals.