mutiny on the bounty

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY


While I normally am rather scornful and rude to slow collapsers, yuppie survivalists, or others who refuse to read my pearls of wisdom and then go running out into traffic screaming that the end is nigh, I do like the Three Amigos over at http://tslrf.blogspot.com/, who seem to be pretty good eggs. They are Libertarian Survivalists, and while they could be nearly perfect such as myself and be Anarchist Doomsters, that is close enough to keep them from my Hated Enemies Of Bisonia list. You don’t want to be on that list, trust me. Anyway, there was a movie review of The Book Of Eli ( The Book of Eli ) over at their site and they mentioned a scene highlighting the problem of No Ammunition. This is not exactly new, since it was splendidly portrayed in The Road Warrior ( The Road Warrior (Keepcase) ) as the few hoarded shotgun shells either misfired or crumpled to dust ( remember Hockey Mask Evil Outlaw Leader dude with the briefcase containing the scoped revolver and its few cartridges? ). But it is a good reminder that while guns should last a long time, the ammunition will not. Which probably answers my question as to why the Afghan Freedom Fighters ( before they were magically transformed into Non-Christian Terrorists Who Have The Audacity To Thwart The Aims Of American Empire ) went from battle rifles ( good ) to assault carbines ( bad ). They might have been taking a beating tactically with their choice of firearm, but logistics is king on the battlefield. They went with the available ammo. I would say, let this be a lesson to you, but to be a pain in my ass you would just go out and buy an AR-15. So I won’t.

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Americans have always known resource abundance. We no longer live in that Happy Place, but few will admit that our reign is over and we have already entered into Energy Down. Even the best selling authors soft sell the collapse, trying to pass off the reality of rat skin wearing, bubonic plague ( The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe ) carrying flea scratchers beating each other over the head with salvaged rebar for tonight’s dinner with idyllic visions of Yeoman farmers peacefully feeding themselves with organic radishes, basking in the glow of solar powered energy efficient light bulbs. Doom doesn’t sell unless it happens to everyone else but you. The other side of the abundance coin is our reality being politics of peacefulness ( perception is reality ). I’m not saying there have never been exploited classes here. I’m not saying things have always been peaches and cream. I am saying that the majority believe the American Dream, which is largely summarized as More Abundance Always. We might fight tooth and nail with each other over luxuries but almost never over necessities. So the fighting is civilized. Lawyers rather than tribal slaughter. It colors our whole reality, that way of fighting. We don’t know real want, so we don’t know real conflict ( I’m talking subsidence wars, not wars to retain leadership which is what we’ve had for 300 years ). So, to finally get to the damn point here, our rose colored glasses do not prepare us for collapse conflict. Starting with the fabled survival group.

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We all pretty much envision our survival group to be a mutual support society. Even if we can’t find a co-op to bulk shop for survival food now, we figure that come the start of the collapse we can form a group of survivors ( Survivors: Complete Original Series 1975-1977 ). It hasn’t happened since the citizens of Nagasaki started glowing in the dark, but we are convinced we can pull it off soon. As one wag wrote ( sorry, I can’t think of who ), survival groups don’t work because everyone thinks they are going to be in charge. That explains why the groups don’t work, but what happens when they must work? No man an island. Man is a social animal. Man must group together to survive long term. Now, take it to its logical conclusion. We will be forced to group, but that means the Alpha Male ( Alpha Male Syndrome ) must fight for dominance. Which means, unlike our recent past where conflict could be leaning towards a more civilized path ( at least for the whites ), conflicts will be for keeps. When one tribe must die for the other to live, things get ugly. And when only one man can be king, and the losers become serfs, conflict turns ugly. Who amongst you will voluntarily live without heat through the winter, eating only grains and tubers, seeing your children die of simple infections? It goes far beyond living in luxury. It becomes one man living in luxury and his subjects living on the razors edge of death. To keep power under those circumstances requires total brutality. You might think that your devote little group of Jesus freaks will honor and protect you because it is the right thing to do, but you may wish to view exhibit A, the good works of the Roman Catholic Church such as The Inquisition.

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No group is too small to have this problem of leadership conflict. I’m not implying that a small group of six will degenerate into a war over The Man Who Would Be King. ( The Man Who Would Be King ) But there will be a tendency to lean towards unfair and dirty fighting over control at whatever level. And the farther down the level of supplies goes, the greater the tendency to want to control how it is used. Remember human nature? It will overcome philosophy, legal documents, good sense and even blood ties. Humans are programmed to fight their fellows for survival. If one member decides that, say, a sickly wife should be triaged, conflict starts. No matter the wives husband pooled a fair or larger share of supplies. Human nature ensures survival through fair or foul means. The others will be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt in their own minds that what they decide to do is right and just. And that is just survival. There is also the question of simple greed. Coveting another members wife, say ( and I’ll guarantee you, with the wife’s encouragement ). I’m not judging. I’m simply accepting people as they really are. A female sees a potential Alpha Male, she uses the money makers. A male sees his survival odds increase with his own more enlightened leadership, people die.

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I’m not discouraging groups, per se. I’m warning you that they won’t be peaceful. Most of you will die or submit, regardless of the original ownership or group dynamic or airtight agreement. Greed and survival. Save The Whale types always bemoan mans lack of natural predators. Hogwash. We keep ourselves in check.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutiny_on_the_Bounty
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