Civilization destroying Plague is under way. You are still healthy. What to do?

[Checkman]

Yes I know it's a long title. To add insult to inury it isn't mine. Got it from the Internet Movie Database discussion forum for The Stand. Regardless of it's origins what would you do? Now of course there are always the smart alecks who state they would take a fast car and drive around, moon the statue of George Washington, blow up buildings etc. I suppose there is alwasy the possibility that at first one would do those things.

The world has ended (sort of) and there are no longer any rules.I imagine there are many who would give in to the anarchist hidden away inside so many of us. But what about afterwards? After the shock (or glee) has worn off and you've mourned for the dead, burned down a city, looted all the upper end stores,selected your favorite paintings from the Guggenheim etc.

This applies to those who don't decide to just committ suicide or experience really bad luck like those unfortunates in the chapter I call "No Great Loss".

I'm husband and father of two. I dare say that initially I wouldn't be very good company to be around. Not many would be fun. Even those who are single and have no kids would still lose family and friends. For this to apply to me I have to assume my family didn't make it. If I'm staying true to the logic of the plot of The Stand.I'm also going to assume this applies after Vegas has gone up in a mushroom cloud. For the purists among us.

Would you opt for the solitary life? Hook up with a group? Try to start your own? Which way would you take? I've always been something of a loner, but I'm also a history buff and I have come to realize certain things.. Throughout Human history people have had a better chance working together. Heck that's one of the basis for marriage when you get down to it. I'm a cop and before that I was a soldier. I've spent my entire adult life working for the system and trying to keep it togehter. I guess some one this website would call me a tool, a facist or a cog and they might be right, but civilization, with all it's faults, beats what happens where there is no structure with any sense of balance. See Bosnia, Sudan and Somalia for recent examples.

I guess I would join up with a group that was trying to do the right thing so to speak. And if it turned out not to be the case I hope that I would have the moral courage to speak out or at least to get the hell out of Dodge.

Anybody else care to contribute? This is a somewhat serious discussion thread.

[tempest]

I might have to give this some more thought. But reading several of Stephen King's books with similar themes, I have some ideas.

Who is in, and how the surviving community reacts would play a big part in what I choose to do. My real life has convinced me that surviving requires I only listen to my inner voice. I have tried to depend on authority and they have failed me miserably every time. Make my own decisions and I will survive. You will never see me "running with the herd" as they say. I think about my next move for today and the 5 years ahead.

I love people and being part of a community has always made me happy. However, if they compromise my existence or are ignorant then I might abandon them.

"Group Think" scares me to much to automatically 'cling' on to other survivors.

[dsurrett]

I would try to have a loose connection with a group of people while remaining in solitude much of the time. Hope Clark, a friend of mine, wrote a book called "The Shy Writer" which deals with how many or most writers (I'm an aspiring author) are loners by nature. I guess I want things on my own terms - "Leave me alone but be there if I need you."

[Haunted]

Wow---very serious. I will have to think on this one. Be back.

[LadyHitchhiker]

Well to be completely honest, if my cats hadn't died, I would be travelling southward with them in a cat carrier, to where it is warmer, because I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and it would be too cold for someone like me with hardly any survivor skills to make it up here, even though I hate the heat. I may end up staying at wal-mart for a while, since there would be tons of food for me, and plan where I would go. How do you know where to go when you think you're the only survivor?

Unless I happened to have repetitive visions to go to a certain city, and then I would be headed there.

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

I think I'd PM CorbinKale for his opinion.

Long days and pleasant nights

[PatInTheHat]

Take it one day, one hour, one minute at a time, and try and make 'em count...just like today.

[Merlsmom]

I might have to give this some more thought. But reading several of Stephen King's books with similar themes, I have some ideas.

Who is in, and how the surviving community reacts would play a big part in what I choose to do. My real life has convinced me that surviving requires I only listen to my inner voice. I have tried to depend on authority and they have failed me miserably every time. Make my own decisions and I will survive. You will never see me "running with the herd" as they say. I think about my next move for today and the 5 years ahead.

I love people and being part of a community has always made me happy. However, if they compromise my existence or are ignorant then I might abandon them.

"Group Think" scares me to much to automatically 'cling' on to other survivors.

I wholeheartedly agree! I don't think I could survive well all on my own but I'd be very careful in picking a group to hang with. I can see most people starting over in a way that would just bring society to it's knees once again as most don't have the ability to think outside the box.

P.S. How wonderful, however, to be free of that nasty bug, Materialism!

[CorbinKale]

You are correct that there must be some government. The Founders knew this well and tried to keep it limited to just what was necessary, but that is another discussion.

In the absence of laws and social structure, people will revert to tribes. Groups of like-minded individuals who realize that survival is easier with a measure of organization. The long-term survivors will be people who deal with the reality they find themselves in and not the world of illusion (world owes me/government will provide for me/police will protect me) that is currently peddled as 'truth'.

Most of these will be people who lived their lives with an eye to being prepared for emergencies. That will allow them to survive the initial 'kill-off'. Some of the initial survivors will shed their social inhibitions and go feral, raping, looting, destroying, etc. Those individuals will not last very long. A long-term survivor will see immediate value in terminating such waste and evil.

A soldier or cop who would carry out unconstitutional orders (like the Katrina cops and soldiers) will no longer have any reason to compromise their Oaths and integrity, as there is no pension to protect. Consequently, they would be a great asset to survivor groups with their experience and warrior skills.

If the 'plague' takes a long period of time, the government is very likely to panic and grope for control. Many of those cops and soldiers, obeying unlawful orders, will be killed by their fellow citizens, who refuse to be rounded up, or disarmed. In that event, those cops and soldiers who survive, will likely burn their uniforms and bury their badges, so as not to be subject to revenge by the rest of the survivors, they once terrorized.

Guaranteed, people will go nuts. Once there is no power(no lights/no water/no food/no law) in the cities, they will become death traps. I would not go into a city for at least 6 months after the initial die-off.

There is no way to know for certain exactly how it would play out, but no 'suspension of disbelief' is necessary to enjoy "The Stand". SK, being the master of human nature that he is, got this scenario right.

[Haunted]

I think I would make my way to my church to gain inner strength after such devastation and I would wait inside for others to come. Because I know they will if they are out there. And then we will go on from there exercising caution at every junction.