"Where Would You Be IF 95% Of Population Died Off???" Topic

OK. Imagine that a plague or other catastrophe did away with 95% of the people on Earth and that you and your family are survivors . . .

Would you be among those who will gather together with other families and groups for resources and protection, or would you and your family live in an isolated location away from attempts at reinstating society?

Most importantly . . . why?

CC
PS. This other thread got me thinking about this spin-off:
TMP link

If 95% of the population were gone from some contagion, with all the infrastructure still intact, you would want to gather together as many survivors as possible. You would want anyone with useful knowledge or who could work hard. Unless the plauge involved zombification, then all bets are off.

We'd just start new. If we ran across someone we wold help them if they wanted it. We wouldn't make it an epic to transverse the country looking for others but maybe for supplies and equipment. I live in the country so I'd just keep farming and make our lives as comfortable and safe as possible helping those who may stumble across us.

Brian

I'd raid the crap out of the local grocery store and turn my house into a fortress. I would go around to all the neighbors houses collecting all of their guns and ammo into a big cache in my house.

If people came by I would try to help them and maybe figure out a way to form some sort of very limited cooperative agreement to run the local powerstations.

In PA if 95% of the population died I hope it would include the 90% of the population that is in the legislature here.

Wouldn't living in cities, with so many corpses, present a problem?

Also, what if the group that you put all your hopes for survival was driven by an individual instead of being a democracy?

CC

I would hope that with a small group, it would be lead by an individual or smaller group.

Living in cities presents enough problems anyway, that is why I don't live in them now. :)

I'd move downtown. A bit sick of being stuck in the middle of nowhere…

Houston would have 150,000 to 200,000 survivors.

Though 5% of the police force would survive as individuals, they would probably strive to take care of their own families first instead of trying to re-establish law and order.

Running into the city to get supplies, only to run into other armed looters, does not seem to make much sense to me. I would probably get out of town as quickly as possible and find an isolated location until things "coalesce" somewhat.

CC

The city I currently reside in would still have 10,000 people (assuming even distribution), with the county likely turning up a couple thousand more. The easily adjoining counties would be able to scare up about the same on average.

Does civilization survive? That's going to depend on luck. If the 200 people who knew how to operate the local hydro-electric plant, water distribution facilities, and other technic civilization necessities are ALL among the dead, the locals are kinda hosed. If the knowledge base to run the technic infrastructure remains, comfortable survival becomes far more likely.

And frankly, a 95% reduction globally, if fairly evenly distributed, still leaves a LOT of people across the globe. Assuming a starting population of 6 billion, that's still 300 million people left alive.

Assuming a biased distribution changes the picture considerably. Get all the urbanites and advanced civilization is done. Assume some geographic distribution that leaves a list of odd isolated communities untouched and you get that luck thing kicking in again with the capabilities of the surviving communities. Same with a "small" immune ethnic subgroup as survivors.

Don't trust the Triffids, not even for a Day.

Anyone know when the earth last held just 300 million souls?

I work with children they are little germ carriers! I would be one of the casualties.

Condotta: "Anyone know when the earth last held just 300 million souls?"

Here's one estimate:

link

CC

Condotta,

Here are others:

link

CC

I'm living in an island and I'd stay there. I'd settle near the coast and live from fishing mainly.

I'd join with a group. An individual family couldn't survive for long on its own, and mine certainly couldn't – I have few practical skills. I would guess the smallest group that would survive long term with anything more than pure subsistence.scavenging is going to be around a hundred souls. In those circumstances I'd be prepared to be led by a benevolent dictator, if it keeps me and mine comfortable; a larger group might need more organised direction.

A couple of thoughts:
A population of 3 million in the UK would be at medieval levels – and early medieval at that.
5% might survive the plague, more (especially in the cities) will fail to survive the aftermath. We simply wouldn't be organised enough to support even the low level of population left, especially if the 5% survival rate is evenly spread.
"get all the urbanites and advanced civilization is done" – to an extent, GypsyComet. Get all the farmers and humanity is done. I'd guess that the proportion of food producers to 'urbanites' will need to be a lot higher than it is today, at least in the UK and USA.

I'd find a nice abandoned farm (I have one in mind!) and hole up there. It's only the fact I can't afford to that stops me doing it now.

It may be genetic – my father lives in the country and rarely leaves his garden…

hmmmm…due to 'medical issues'…even if we survived a 'plague' for some bizarre reason…lack of access to current medical technology/medicines and fact my spouse and I are past 'child-bearing' years…what would be the 'point' in 'surviving' if indeed we were among the 'lucky ones?'

On the other tentacle, IF we did 'survive' the initial 'die-off'…I'd probably make one last trip into town to the local candy store and we'd see if 'Death by Chocolate' was available as an option for 'euthanasia'/self-termination?

The prospect of 'I am Legend' or 'Days of the Comet' or 'The Stand'…just doesn't 'appeal' to us. I would probably 'bury' my lead collection though…so that alien insectoid archeologists from Altair 7 could have something 'interesting' to find…when they preform 'historical digs' here in about 5000 centuries….

Almost long enough for them to see how well TWINKIES 'survive' in the the wrappers with MSG content and so on…*slish…slish*

I'd go for isolation with my family. Somewhere rural. Take over a farm. I know I can deal with providing (and killing) food given the right environment.

There would be livestock and grain stores possibly with crops in the fields.

You can always find generators on a farm and usually a bulk deisel store.

Farms also have plenty of STUFF for defences, usually firearms and plenty of buildings. It would be easy to fortify and there would be plenty of options for defence (should the masses start banging on the door).

Form a group, as mentioned above, 5% survivors in the UK still leaves 3 million people, which is a fairly hefty population by historical standards.

Now, IIRC in 'Survivors' the mortality rate was more like 99.9%, which didn't leave many people at all. In that case I'd find an old Volvo, get some buff cowboy boots and an SLR, rename myself 'Greg' and invent money using IOUs for petrol….

I have a good supply of metal that could be melted down for bullets,and possibly would be good in a barter system.Knowing the unpainted piles of lead that we all have,we'd probably be rich.

I'm moving out, living too close to a Nukular Plant for comfort, after I made a trip to the gun store and took every canned food Item I could find.

"Bury your lead collection"? No!!! What if other gamers survived? It might be the only currency left.

I'm an experienced first aid and occupational health guy. I'd hang out a shingle and become a doctor!

Where would I be? Why, "Bethel, Vermont", of course! No, I grew up in that little town of 2,000, and it does NOT look like some place in New Jersey!

Dead!! I would be one of the poor b-----d's that went guts up.

I'd move out to a farm with my family. Maybe go into town and try to help some people, but really to grab a bunch of fuel, generators, supplies, weapons, books and dvds :)

Oh, and the new Camaro.. gotta get one of those.

I would move to a community where land, water and housing were available. My dream is to herd sheep, goats and have a large garden. The only thing that stops me now is the initial cost of start up.

I know my limitations so I would be looking for leaders and people with skills that could make a community work. I would hope to find kind benevolent people but would consider attaching myself to a despot if there were no other options.

Another consideration are my children. I would be looking for a community that had a selection of potential mates.

On the bright side if the power plants went off line computer games would become a non issue and I could probably convince some people to take up war gaming.

All your questions should be answered when this comes out

link

I remember the original series as very good indeed.

I notice quite a few of you are expecting to take your loved ones with you .

It never happens to us does it.

I live in New Jersey suburban sprawl, so it depends on the circumstances. Of importance would be how quickly 95% of the population disappears. If overnight then there will be bodies and soon afterwards disease and contaminated water supplies everywhere. I think the only logical choice would be to flee to an isolated area. If more gradual, like a slow plague or infertility virus then that would allow time for the survivors to take care of that giving the choice of whether to remain or run for the hills.

If the 95% casualties are outside my community, then an infrastructure exists and I would find my place in it, to help keep things together.

If the 95% was equally distributed around the world then my current area would be chaos and anarchy. I'd migrate south to avoid freezing or starving in the winter. I'd seek a more secure, easily defended, sustainable residence for my family within a close enough proximity of other local survivors to trade with and assist them.

Otherwise, I would certainly seek isolation if when the apocalypse struck I was caught driving a bus load of college cheerleaders to Spring Break. But that will never happen.

"OK. Imagine that a plague or other catastrophe did away with 95% of the people on Earth and that you and your family are survivors . . ."

@Velbor

The original post states you and your family. I am realistic however and would not expect them all to survive despite my wishes. My plan would remain roughly the same with modifications (i.e. new wife or adopted children)

Well a 95% kill-off would really put a monkey wrench in my plans for world domination. I'd have to re-write almost my entire manifesto.

~OD

I suspect it wouldn't matter a great deal. The problem is that, with 95% of the population gone, it won't be long before the remaining 5% drops to near zero too because of the complexity of modern society. It isn't that we wouldn't have the knowledge to run the power plants, per se, but rather that we don't have the knowledge to build the tools to build the tools we need to run the power plants (that is NOT a typo).

While individuals might survive, eventually small groups would coalesce for protection as resources dwindled, as it became a situation of predator versus prey. After all, becoming a farmer isn't easy unless you've already been one (backyard gardens notwithstanding). And any place that had any kind of immediately available resources would be sacked by those would couldn't produce for themselves.

Society would disintegrate to feudal and even tribal levels and we'd be in a dark age that would last literally hundreds of years. Given how well educated the mass of humanity is about the basics of science, it could well be thousands of years before we learned enough to be medieval again.

Actually, 300 million is a lot closer to the long-term carrying capacity of the Earth's finite resources. It might not be that bad!

I live in the country and would stay here. I would band together with others here because, frankly, Maine is not an easy place to be without help. By spreading our risk, we dramatically increase our chances of survival, and even thriving.

My main considerations would be to control the best farmland, provide for a common defense, and harvest the renewable energy sources already installed around. We have lots of resources and windmills, solar, etc. I am a hunter and so are most of my frineds. I think that we could do it!

Hard to tell.

Actually, 300 million is a lot closer to the long-term carrying capacity of the Earth's finite resources. It might not be that bad!

Having just fought my way through the (small) city centre at lunchtime… when can we start? :)

LOL, I live in Indiana in a very small town. We don't even have a stop light anywhere, and a gas station is the only local place to buy food.

I'd say roughly 60% of the town… well the surrounding area is Amish. While not as "traditional as they used to be most have wells and generators. They work well in a group setting so I'd team up with them and set about keeping the food flowing for us.

I would collect a few weapons for personal protection, and find a "safe house" where everyone can flee to if something was to happen.

I'd loot empty houses for nonperishable food stuffs and supplies as well as items to help stave off the winter.

Once I felt secure in the basics of life here I would attempt to locate my family in Tennessee and bring them here.

One of the big hurdles will be getting hold of seeds that produce varieties that are not sterile. Most modern seeds are hybrids whoses seeds are not fertile. Start hoarding heirloom varieties if you want to eat in the future.

Well I work at a federal prison, complete with armory, vehicles, fuel reserves and a warehouse full of food. Makes sense to rally there with other employees and families and fort up to see what develops. Of course there are the 2-300 surviving prisoners to consider…..suck to be them if we all just left. Might make for an interesting near future scenario at that.

If we're being completely literal, I'd be on duty…I'm in the forces so I'd be guarding something or fixing something. My family would be housed behind the wire.

There would almost certainly be a national state of emergency called, marshall law would be declared and the government would try to take control of the available resources in order to assume command. Looters would be shot…so no going home in someone elses cararo unless there were no soldiers about.

There would be a nice collecting trip to nearby Fort Hood,I can assure you of that.

I'm going to Pictor's house. We've always got along well. I think our respective partners will get on, and all the cats will sort it out between themselves.

Both his and my painting business will be short of customers, so I imagine we'll game a lot and eat the looted food.

My family live the other end of the country, so it would be rather a long walk to get to them… Can I form a survivors' colony of friends and neighbours instead, please?

First thing would be to find an unguarded source of fuel, second thing would be to Mad Max up my car a bit, make it look mean.

But really. I would raid sporting goods stores for firearms and cold weather camping gear. Raid the Library for books on farming and other skills (chemistry, hunting and butchering etc…) that would be useful. Might be worth while hitting up a local radio/tv station while the power is still flowing to try and find out who is still alive.

Long term there is a great little town in Southern Colorado I wouldn't mind settling in. Most of the building are old, so have fireplaces as well as modern heating, there are only two ways in, both on the same road, so it could be defended if need be.

Let's see…. I already live in a rural, somewhat isolated area, so I wouldn't want to move. I live literally surronded by farms, most of them dairy, so the #1 priority would be taking care of those cows (they can't go a day without being milked!), since they are going to be our ticket to survival. I'll definitely need the help of any surviving neighbors (all 3-5 of them), as while I have a large family we suddenly going to inherit around 250 head of cattle…. We will also farm (plenty of open space around for that) of course, but I suspect our diet will be extremely cheese and butter heavy for the first couple of years!

My house already has two wood stoves, and we have ample sources of timber, so we are all set in terms of surviving the winter and cooking. I live in an area with several natural springs, so water shouldn't be a problem either. We have several firearms of the precussion cap and flintlock variety. This is good since we will be able to cast our own bullets, but I think I'll have to raid some abandoned houses for additional firepower. Gunpowder will, however, be irreplaceable in the short term, so making sure to get access to some proper hunting bows will also be a must.

Assuming even distribution of loses, my town and the two neighboring towns only have about 250 people left in them. This is good in the sense that there won't be a lot of competition for resources, but we'll definitely need to cooperate to a certain extent to survive. Luckily we also are a town that still conducts it's business in town meetings, so aren't totally lost if we don't have a leader. So I guess my answer to the original question would be to form a lose group comprised of all the survivors (spread out enough so that everyone has enough land to farm on), meet to resolve issues like we currently do, and generally just try to get by. We'd probably let the wider world sort itself out.

-Will

Assuming the die-off wasn't instantaneous (and a plague wouldn't be, of course), I'd be relocating to whatever "rally points" the government declared when they realized the collapse was coming. 5% of the US population is plenty to keep the infrastructure running in a state or two, so a total failure of society just isn't going to happen if the survivors cooperate and congregate.

Most of us would probably wind up in short-term reeducation classes to learn a few useful skills as fast as possible, and the survivor economy would probably be pretty unpleasant for a generation or so…but retreating to country farms with a collection of shotguns? No thank you. Those are the crazy people that the armed Resource Recovery Teams will be executing as traitors a few years after the catastrophe.

Hey CC, have you read "Earth Abides" by George R. Stewart? It's about what you're asking and one of my favourite novels

"with 95% of the population gone, it won't be long before the remaining 5% drops to near zero too because of the complexity of modern society."

Jizbrand, you've hit the nait on the head.

The premise of having so many survivors initially (5%) implies that things would not look so hopeless at first though, in truth, many would eventually starve or kill eachother off (particularly in the cities).

Also, though many think that civilization, law, order, etc., could endure with 5%, I think that such a high rate of survivors would present an even greater problem. All, if not most, would be scavenging and taking whatever they wanted, from whomever they could overpower.

CC

Hmmm. 5% in my locale leaves about 750-1000 people in the county. That should be enough to keep things running, as have the resources to support too.

Of course I have the advantage of being in a Coal and Ranching area . Timber and grain are close too.

Actually, I doubt that the other 5% will all die off. Sure, western Europe, North America and the rest of the industrialised world will probably be hosed, and uninhabited after a while, but all those subsistence farmers in the 3rd world will now have 20x as much farmland as they did last week, and they already know how to survive with next to nothing. I expect the next Renaissance will come out of Africa :)