Need a decent BOL? Do we need someone like you here with us?

[Carrot Cruncher]

A bit off topic I know....

On "Start the Week" a couple of weeks ago a bloke was on who had been studying Hunter/gatherer societies (in the present day and through history) and he came to an interesting conclusion. He said that until the age of 20 a person was in the "red" regards their input to the group, from the age of 20 they gradually moved into the "black", reaching a peak in their mid-forties before gradually tailing off again until going back in the "red" in their mid-sities. At that point although they were consuming more calories than they collected for the group they still had a useful role in passing on their experience, looking after children etc

By the sounds of it a good mix of ages, with the right skills and personalities would probably be the way to go.

Another thing mentioned (more off topic ) was that the group size tended to be between 250-300 to prevent inbreeding.

Sorry for he interuption...carry on

[Chef]

Another thing mentioned (more off topic ) was that the group size tended to be between 250-300 to prevent inbreeding.

Sorry for he interuption...carry on

His name wasn't Charles Vaughan by any chance, had a mate called Greg Preston? Sorry couldn't resist.

Well living by a working harbour, if TSHTF and the best option to get away was by boat, I'd be going with the old gnarly boys in the 60-70+ y/o range they know a hell of alot more than all the yaughtsmen in their £500,000+ jobbies put together.

I reckon maybe fitness should matter more than age to a certain extent, and even then if I had an old woodsman like... Jack Hargreaves say, who needed pushing around in a wheelchair I'd be more than happy to do that in exchange for the knowledge he had. Great series btw, Out of Town.

C

[Attack Warning Red]

Currently watching the remake of 'Survivors' on DVD, which includes an 'idyllic' self-sufficient community that has become an almost fascistic slavery-based dictatorship...

I do wonder how democratic your community would be. Would you make decisions by majority vote? And would you hold a secret ballot to vote for your leaders?

Don't get me wrong, I think your idea is great, and I wish you the best of luck with it. But I'd be concerned with the human politics and power and how that works, in a large group of people.

[Chef]

Always a major problem in any group of people I think, you own the land and the house but A.N. Other is a born leader with an array of survival skills or naturally good at problem solving?

Would you be willing to take orders from someone else in your own house? I wouldn't but then as I said I don't really like people that much lol

I still think it's a good idea though and if you have the land & resources why not go for it, at the end of the day if TS doesn't HTF it's still your land & resources, that's probably another reason why I couldn't go for an idea like that. It'd never seem as if it were 'home' no matter how much work I done or effort I put in it'd always belong to someone else, there's always the threat of, "it's my house, you're not welcome anymore, get out", I'm not saying you're like that at all Jabba but can you see what I mean?

You sure have a lot to think about and work out, I don't envy you, well apart from an idyllic place miles from anywhere with a stream, woodlands, big house....... Meh I like my basement hovel right by the beach.

Currently re-watching for the nth time the original and most awesome Survivors. Alot of very good info in those 3 series.

C

[buttystella]

Go for it, one gets no- where without trying and if it fails think of the advantages you have gained by trying. I would keep a diary with detailed information of how things progressed, it could make good reading later. Sadly i am 62 and unable to do hard work otherwise i would have offered my services. Don't think that people who have skill sets that you think you need will be able to hack it in hard times . We all know the most important skill set which won't be evident until bad times are here resides in the mind. You say you are small and not aggressive but when the chips are down this may change. Good luck with your enterprise i really hope it works.

[bulldogeagle]

yes, good luck with your enterprise, wouldn't suit me as i am the original "Loner", but i wish you all the best.

[Jabba]

I think that's a very interesting question and one I've given some though to.

First off, I would imagine this group needs to be large enough to defend itself from small bands, but not so big we would need to repopulate on our own or suffer long term isolation. I would guess that somewhere between 15 and 30 people would probably be sufficient.

Politics is always a concern, but I do firmly believe in equality and in the event that I can find like-minded people who I trust, then I would have no problem sharing equal rights with others who lived here and giving up any rights of 'ownership'. If the SHTF then we all need each other more than we need the final say over any issue and having intelligent people to help moderate group decisions can be a really good thing.

I don't think you really need leaders in a group this size, but what you do need are good mediators and people who understand the need to be reasonable and can take charge of the jobs where they have the greatest expertise. One bad apple could cause a lot of issues, so democracy is the only way to deal with things fairly imo.

My comrade here is a 27 year old orphan who had no prospects or family in London. He worked at the same company and I offered him free room and board here in exchange for some hard work and good company. Obviously he is investing his time in this, so I then gave him a decent % of the property in my will and promised at least 30% of the gain in price if we ever decide to sell up and move on.

I would never tell him what he can and can't do here and he is master of his own fate - we're actually going now to pick up a puppy that he wants (I have 2 cats and don't really want a dog, but I would never stop him getting one just because it's 'my house').

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely . I hate cetralised power and I'm pretty convinced that both capitalism and communism might actually work quite well if you removed the corrupting influence of centralisation. I have no desire to be 'the man'; I don't deserve all that I have and would happily share it with my fellow man.

Hippy Love

[Chef]

Good answer, I reckon you'll do well with that kind of attitude toward things.

Be great to know how you get on in the coming months.

C

[TeeDee]

I don't think there is a lot of point getting hung up on Leadership styles at this point , leadership and leaders will forutunately /unfortunately change with the situation depending on what style of leadership is required to make the best choices in that situation.

It would be nice to sit down now and say 'right , this is how its going to work and whats going to happen' , but the situation is fluid and as of yet , unmaterialised.

I think the best way would be to find people 1st that you can work with and think may make suitable inclusions and then when the time is right to make an official invite discuss the 'grand plan and ethics'.

[TeeDee]

[Basically, what I really want is people with very specific kinds of skills (like electricians and plumbers or engineers) who're able to double-up as strong defenders.

Maybe a good idea to construct a list of the various skills/trades/knowledge bases your looking to recruit. Not a be all and end all list because people can learn and be trained and I think ( myself ) that <work> attitude is more important than <paper> aptitude.