When it all finely hits the fan and the dust starts to settle, I believe we will be forced to make some difficult choices. As new groups start to form, and new leaders start to emerge, we will see the formation of more and more social groups for safety and protection as well cooperative farming and hunting. These groups will all select a leader and a social structure that fits their wants and needs. In today’s post, we are going to look at how these may work and what to avoid when setting yours up.
I see three major types of leaders showing up to lead these groups. These are: The Alpha Dog, The Politician, and the Natural leaders. Each one of these will have their own advantages and disadvantages so let’s take a look at them one at a time.
Let’s start with the Alpha Dog, as I believe we will see more of these than any other in the beginning. These are easily the most dangerous of the three. They will be structured with a single powerful individual at the top, surrounded by his underlings and everyone else will fall underneath them. In these type of structures, you will see very little compassion for those at the bottom of the chain. These will work much like the modern gangs we see in the cities today and will function much like them as well, with the exception that without the restraints of law and order, we will see much more cruelty within their groups. Slavery of all kinds will be common place among these types of groups. The members of these groups will tend to be very confrontational when encountered in the wild and for the most part should be avoided if possible. The Alpha Dog at the top will tend to be cruel and rule by fear. They will tend to be the largest and strongest of the group and use that to maintain their control over the others. While it may be tempting to make the largest and strongest among you the leader, just to try to avoid confrontation within the group, it will only be a matter of time before it all goes bad! Avoid this structure at all cost.
The next type of group leader that we will look at is what I call the Politician or the Preacher. These are usually very charismatic people, who tend to surround themselves with “followers” of one type or another. There followers will tend to believe that their leader is the only person that can help anyone survive and will be very protective of that individual. In many cases, their followers will lay down their lives for whatever cause their leader deems worthy. These are the most unpredictable types of leaders, as their true motive is to maintain control by manipulating those around them and is usually based on some grand scheme, or belief. While they may seem harmless, they will not share authority willingly and are not subject to normal reasoning and sometimes may seem downright fanatical in their beliefs and thought processes. When dealing with these types of groups, always be on guard and never fully trust them, as you can never fully know their true intentions. If their leaders tells them they need what you have or that you are a danger to their group, then you could be in for the fight of your life.
The last type of leader is the Natural leader. These are people who have an innate sense about how to get things done and seldom seek the job of leading, but tend to prefer to advise others on the best way to approach different issues. They are seldom the biggest or the strongest, but usually are quite intelligent. They are not afraid to take charge but prefer that a ruling council is chosen rather than anyone person. They respect others and never try to force their views, only offer them for consideration by others. These people are usually very confident in their abilities and are always willing to help others to learn something or to assist in some way. Humility is the mark of a true leader! These are the type of leaders you want and you should seek them out, as they are the best choice and allow for security and freedom in your group. If you don’t have a person like this in your group, then you may want to seek one out now, for when the time comes.
Just because society may have crumbled, it doesn’t mean that the principles that the founding fathers built our country on are wrong, it just means there is room for a little improvement, such as term limits. When you start building your group, be sure to think very carefully about who and how it will be lead, as the wrong decision on this matter, could easily cause the down fall of your group in a very short time. Well, I hope this post has given you something to think about and maybe even a little insight on what to expect after SHTF hits. Be smart, think ahead, and most importantly keep on prepping!
-The Sargent-
I looked up preppers in my state, some had land and wanted money and a lot of it to enter; one saying its his land, he is in charge. REAL scary – sounded more like a scam. So we just hanging with one long time neighbor who is a good old boy, give you the shirt off his back and knows how to survive willing to teach. We share a lot of ideas already. One good neighbor is worth a group of people talking behind each others back, like at work. Still I suppose you can only depend on yourself.
The first two type of leaders are the very reason I do not attend my VFW unit and have not signed up to join a local
Militia. I’d rather be a unknown resistance person.