How would you cope in a world where society has crumbled or is very flimsy?

[Lookingforwardtothesummer]

To a greater or lesser degree?

Irrespective of the reason why (war or zombies or plague or whatever) if there was only a very brittle skeleton of society and the safety nets left, how would you do?

As a person dependent on medication for survival I'd be fooked pretty fast. What I find interesting is, maybe if I was a different type of person I might be ok despite needing medication - but my personality just isn't wired for that sort of situation. Introverted, would be completely drained living in a group, just would want to run away from any sort of 'leader' type.

Whereas some people would probably thrive in a group dynamic, being constantly around people all the time, earnestly bossing folk around who they didn't think were taking the chores seriously enough.

Would your cope well with all the politics and trying to rebuild a better society?

this is my sort of mumsnet

Well I'm off to @OhmygodDont's house. Just don't shoot me when I get there! I'll be waving a flag with the Mumsnet logo on it.

Our plan is to kill ourselves and the children. Cheery eh 🤣

We’d be ok in that we live on a farm with a well, solar panels and a wind turbine. We have milk, meat , eggs and a reasonably sized vegetable garden and lots of fruit trees.
Unfortunately those things would make us a huge target. My husband and son can both shoot well and we can all ride . We’d have to build our own group quickly. I’m quite sure I could shoot someone if they threatened my family.
On my own I’d be fucked.

Maybe we should have like a secret song or something.

One of my neighbour is a tree surgeon so he has a lot of tools and huge wood stocks. His wife probably not much use but his daughter at under 5 is a mean crosser rider too. Other neighbours would be food or bait to attract men then use as weapons 😅 one’s son is a builder so handy though not that I’ve thought this though.

I know I wouldn't cope. I have some disabilities and health problems which mean that I wouldn't have survived if I'd been born 40 years earlier than I was (or at any time in a developing country), let alone in an apocalypse.

I have already resolved that if it looks like nuclear war, I'll be heading straight for central London, in the hope of being blown straight to kingdom-come rather than left to struggle in a nuclear winter or similar. But one cannot always anticipate disasters in time.

OhmygodDont , I think I want to move in with you 😀

Are you me?

I don’t think the survivors would want me around! Perhaps we could scare off raiders by being very cross.

I wouldn’t cope well in a group. I only like my own family and friends!
Seriously, I am one of those unsociable people who like personal space at all times. I do not like bright open areas in buildings. I only like pubs and cafes where I can sit in a booth, away from strangers. I cannot bare people sitting next to me.
Would I take orders from a random stranger? No. I’d prefer to die just glugging wine and reading a good book.

See, this is exactly what I mean! I nodded along to your points.

It would depend on the nature of the event I think. I Am Legend - fine. Quite resourceful, fit, fine by myself. Mad Max - terrible, would be murdered.

@Dacadactyl @Melbourne12
It's called Blackout...the drama documentary one. Filmed Blair Witch style!!

I'm so very excited to watch this it's tragic. thanks

@mbosnz I'm in shock and awe that you lived through something like that. scarey shit. it's a good reason to never let your car get low on fuel.

I've been reading about Jewish women who lived rough in the Polish & Belarusian forests durjng ww2 and became Partisans - it really was kill or be killed in that situation and only the toughest and luckiest women survived.

There were anomalies - the Bielski Partisan group is famous for being unusual in that they took in and protected helpless children, mothers & old people.

But the forests of Eastern Europe in ww2 are a grim example of women trying desperately to survive in a situation where civilisation has broken down and almost all men are the enemy (German soldiers & rival Partisan bands).

I can only find it when I download the all4 app on my phone. Can't find it on the all4 part on actual sky TV, for some reason.

Well I've got enough fat stores to face a famine and I'm a strangely pragmatic and calm thinker in a crisis so I think I'd do well in the first few weeks if it was just hunkering down and surviving. If it came down to pure physical effort though; running, fighting, building, escaping, squeezing into small places or jumping over high walls... I may as well just sit in the middle of the road and let the hordes take me. At least then I wouldn't be sweaty when I got ripped apart.

I'd love to live in a group but I think I would struggle if I didn't know anyone or didn't "click" with anyone. Assuming immediate end to all outside contact, I'd probably go downstairs to our neighbours who speak English and seem to be friendly with everyone as they would probably know what was going on.

DH would hate it but he would be more practical than me probably.

I read a book called “Powerless” about the electricity going off and never coming back on and how a family/village had to adjust to life without electricity.

Made me realise I really need a gun to survive. It’s on my to buy list…

This book sounds fascinating, but harrowing.

I think the time after ww2 was horrific in a similar fashion as well, wasn't it?

No idea. At least there won't be silly catastrophizing on social media though.

If anyone else is looking to watch Blackout, it’s on YouTube this link. s

Total fail with the link.

I already got a taste of it at the start of the pandemic. More people started behaving selfishly, aggressively and obnoxiously because they thought it was the beginning of the end and time to play survival of the fittest. I really wish I had that tough, nasty upbringing but I haven't so I wouldn't be much of a challenge as I am no good at confrontation.
However, I do lift weights. I think that I could surprise some of the louts in one-to-one combat because their lungs are often wasted through chain smoking since they were ten and they are often addled with drugs and there is no power behind the posturing. However, I cannot say for sure as I am sure that some of them also do weights at the gym and they carry weapons around.
Their main feature is that they hunt in large packs so their social organisation is completely alien to people like me and actually quite intimidating. My intellectual currency would be irrelevant to them but I would happily outwit them even if it never saved my skin. If I had the ability to get a flight out to somewhere else which was not faring badly then I could set up a permanent new base within weeks but I would hate it.

I would be awful. Short sighted, a howling mess without HRT, never been strong or fast, poor executive function, and would probably come to complete standstill once my adhd meds had run out.

I’d be pretty crap. No discernible practical skills beyond basic cooking/child rearing. Not particularly fit - rubbish at running for example. I wouldn’t like to rate my skills at building a shelter, hunting or even building a fire. I might surprise myself but don’t think so. I do have some skills in the negotiation/mediation area and could be useful as society developed but realistically I would probably perish in the early days.