I want to start a SHTF group with members who live in Oakland and neighboring cities

[xrMike]

don't worry about women...
give them a can of chili for some head

I never said I was going to rape,loot,and pillaging on this forum

I said scavenge

Dammit! Now, when SHTF comes, I guess we can forget about finding any canned chili in Bay Area...

[redrex]

your naive for now but wait to SHtf you wont be so sympathetic, It will be those who have and those who dont

You are very right. I am a horribly niave person. I wanted to understand how things worked so I became a self educated historian who started his education with the birth of society, the first four river civilizations, about 15,000 years ago and moved forward from there. I have read the bible, the Koran, the Torah and Talmud, the Tao Te Ching and the Vedic Scrolls because I learned that you could not understand a society without understanding their relationship with god. I have read Plato and Aristotle so as to master critical thought. This so that I could truly comprehend what it was that I was attempting to learn. I made a pilgrimage to Jamestown in Virginia just so I could set foot on the ground that started all of this and really envision what it meant to start from nothing and found a nation. I have actually been to third world countries and seen what real poverty looks like. I have read about every major military conflict as well as the collapse of society in places like Russia, Argentina and Central America so I could see in a real world setting what happens when bad things happen. I have read up on natural disasters like Katrina, Emily, the quakes in Haiti and Chile as well as tornadoes in the mid west, flooding in Asia and the tsunami in Japan so I could see how communities that have lost it all still manage to come together and rebuild. I have educated myself on firearms, resource limited farming, medicine, communications and basic mechanics. I have a basic stock pile of food, water, medical supplies and then firearms. I have spent countless hour preparing for the worst while still hoping for the best. And yet, compared to a lot of the guys on this board I'm the newb.

On top of that I live smack dab right in one of the worst parts of Oakland. But what do I know of violence and conflict?

So I guess your right, I'm terrible niave. What do I know right?

But tell us again how with with your three bags of rice, your pistol and your "evil 308 black rifle" you plan to enslave the rest of us. I bow to you master, teach me your ways and I will follow humbly in your shadow.

[swat]

How about have this guy organize a survivalist group at 9228 Sunnyside Street? He might not get out of first meeting alive!!!

[Stormfeather]

Agreed.

I have an inherent problem with people over romanticizing a SHTF scenario, fueled by years of dystopian movies and video games... I am a basic prep'er with very basic skills (enough to get us by), but I avoid SHTF threads simply because they are so gun oriented. Guns, yes. But basic food, water and shelter - more important. Sustainability and access to first aid - these are the things that will keep you alive.

Infection, disease, exposure, parasites... all serious problems that a gun won't fix. Well, only if you turn the muzzle at yourself. Anybody ever consider that diarrhea can kill you? It does in 3rd world countries all the time.

People say we have become so advance... yes, for only that last 100 years. But for the last 10,000 years humans have lived in SHTF scenarios everyday, and people still live in SHTF in places like the Congo, like I mentioned before.

US history tells us that just under 150 years ago people were dying from infection... simple stuff like pneumonia that antibiotics cure today. Proper nutrition and clean water is first and foremost for survival - again, something a gun won't fix.

We also have to take into account FEMA and other government aid that would still be "attempting" to help people, and there are always philanthropic individuals who will step up and put others in front of themselves for the sake of charity and good will. People will attempt to organize, peacefully, but not without security. This has been illustrated numerous times before with 9/11, Katrina, etc. - people will always have a tribal "for the good of the whole" mentality, even in the worst of situations. There is no telling how long that would last, but it shows in current SHTF places in the world, like Africa.

I would be interested in a group that teaches hydroponics, water and alcohol distillation, naturally occurring edible plants and naturally occurring infection treatments and shelter prep. I want to know pediatric care and basic veterinary skills if I am to farm animals. I am not interested in joining a group that wants to dress up like MadMax and simulate tactical maneuvers with Airsoft guns - I did that when I was 8 yrs. old. Not only is it very geeky, but its very impractical. I don't need a "chain of command" because that means politics which destroys a tribal community. Personally, I have the guns thing down... now it's time to learn sustainability and living off the earth in a peaceful, yet secure, manner.

Like I said, if you really want to live in this kind of situation, move to Africa. If disease, infection, monsters (lions, hyenas, scary things), warlords and guerrilla soldiers don't get you, you win!

I actually agree with pretty much everything you say here with the exception of the chain of command. If you have a group of people, then you will normally have someone in charge of it wouldnt you? Even in a "tribal community" as you state, there is a chieftain, a tribal leader. Without one, I think your idea of a community pretty much degenerates down to a useless group. Its been this way for years, in every part of the world, why would you want to reinvent the wheel?

[Dion]

I actually agree with pretty much everything you say here with the exception of the chain of command. If you have a group of people, then you will normally have someone in charge of it wouldnt you? Even in a "tribal community" as you state, there is a chieftain, a tribal leader. Without one, I think your idea of a community pretty much degenerates down to a useless group. Its been this way for years, in every part of the world, why would you want to reinvent the wheel?

I should've been more clear. I would be all for some sort of community government, but not for a warlord-like chain of command.

Get young men with guns, no sense and impressionable, this type of stuff happens. Then they gang-rape women and chop people's limbs off with machetes.

[Stormfeather]

I should've been more clear. I would be all for some sort of community government, but not for a warlord-like chain of command.

Get young men with guns, no sense and impressionable, this type of stuff happens. Then they gang-rape women and chop people's limbs off with machetes.

I fully understand what you mean when you say that and I agree as well.