When SHTF who would be potential warlords and how do you avoid them?

When SHTF who would be potential warlords and how do you avoid them?

After reading the book called Dies the Fire by SM Stirling an idea came to me about potential warlords in SHTF scenarios. In the book SHTF in the world because all electricity shut off for some unknown reason, thus bringing humanity to stone age and it shows how a history professor was able to become a warlord and establish his fiefdom due to him getting the most food and having expert knowledge of medieval weaponry and lifestyle. He was able to gather up followers and bring order to his domain. Then he ordered his followers to attack farms and take all the food.

Question if SHTF who would really be potential warlords and would you join them or fight them.

Also how do you avoid them?

In what areas do potential warlords can hypothetically establish his/her fiefdom?

I believe that leaders of organized crime would end up being warlords. From personal experience, I have discovered that ( at least in Grand Rapids, MI) there is always a leader(General) of a "district". A "District usually includes 3-9 blocks, and anywhere from 10-100 lower level people. In most "districts" they follow the 5 with 5 rule, which is, 5 people with 5 guns in every house owned by the generals. with about 2 or 3 house owned per block, that's a lot of firepower. Now thats just the Black gangs. I'm not sure how the Mexican Mafia works, Or the Dutch Mafia. The Dutch Mafia, I do know, has Vasts amounts of money, G.W Bush had lunch with the Vanandles.(co-owner of Amway).
SO, to sum-up my response. Warlords will be between the 1% and gangsters.

People who already have followers.

Gangs.

Police.

Military.

Religion.

Those would be the large ones.

Others would break down with a similar Leader follower dynamic, chances are if they are leaders now, they will remain so after in some way.

People want someone to tell them what to do for the most part, and are capable of things far outside the "norm" to fit in and survive.

Frexmil2
I believe that leaders of organized crime would end up being warlords. From personal experience, I have discovered that ( at least in Grand Rapids, MI) there is always a leader(General) of a "district". A "District usually includes 3-9 blocks, and anywhere from 10-100 lower level people. In most "districts" they follow the 5 with 5 rule, which is, 5 people with 5 guns in every house owned by the generals. with about 2 or 3 house owned per block, that's a lot of firepower. Now thats just the Black gangs. I'm not sure how the Mexican Mafia works, Or the Dutch Mafia. The Dutch Mafia, I do know, has Vasts amounts of money, G.W Bush had lunch with the Vanandles.(co-owner of Amway).
SO, to sum-up my response. Warlords will be between the 1% and gangsters.

edit on 22-3-2014 by Frexmil2 because: Horrible Grammer

Exactly.


When there is no government/law enforcers to regulate and enforce and police, then it is always the most brutal and violent who spring up and take control.

In every urban city in the US....you would see various 'turfs', controlled by the gangs. recruitment will grow exponentially, and virtually every neighborhood will have its own extension. You will see CONSTANT fighting over turf, a constant push and pull, which is what ultimately determines the 'boundaries' from one gang to the next.

In more rural areas, you will see a few different possible scenarios.
1) gangs
2) groups of well armed individuals banding together
3) individual power amongst the armed. i.e. as long as you are armed, you protect your own

reply to post by starwarsisreal


What a conundrum...not sure how to answer that. Thanks for the thought provoking question though 👍

ETA
I do like Benrl's answer though except, for the being told what to do part. That wouldn't apply to me. So I guess, I better get to thinking huh?

Reverend AL.

Join them just long enough to leave a nasty surprise behind.

I then get to watch the fireball rise over the warlords hideout.

Depends on where you are and who's tooled up the most, maybe you would be the biggest fish in the pond, who knows. All I know is that if the SHTF in a really bad way the vast majority would be out for themselves and you could trust very few people. If you and your family are starving and you happen to come across an individual who has a hoard of food but won't share it with you, what would you do? This kind of scenario would be played out time and time again in a SHTF situation. If a powerful leader offered you food and protection in return for joining him and doing his bidding what would you do? This is medieval thinking.

reply to post by starwarsisreal


The scenario you describe is so psychedelic that I can't stand it. I admire your critical thinking skills.

When SHTF who would be potential warlords and how do you avoid them?

It's all so very tragic isn't it? Out of the frying pan into the fire. I sometimes wonder if another million years of evolution will get the animal out of us. Or is evolution a farce and we are being hijacked by left brained Martians?

Sadly, your question is fair and a likely scenario. Which of course goes to show we deserve to be quarantined and treated as slaves. Maybe its best to just live under an oppressive heel than to be bobbing between tribal warlords of the Divided States of America.

Me

Ted Nugent

Just look at the history of the establishment of the nation state. It's always the biggest gangsters who take control and established these countries. That's why governments of today are the biggest gangsters in society. So in a SHTF scenario, look to gangs and organised criminals. Think mafias and gangs. These groups could quite easily take over the role of previous local governments.

reply to post by starwarsisreal


Other members have already pointed out various potential warlords and their bands of mercenaries and I shall not muddy that mix any further.

However as to how one may avoid such potential dangers is to be mindful of where they would tend to congregate, such as the broken centers of civilization like cities and towns etc. and these tend to be in the valleys and by the ocean.

Therefor run to the hills!

I have a good way for you to find out what happens when the electricity goes out.

A guy named Jerome Bixby wrote one of the oddest short stories ever put to paper in America. Called "It's a good life" it was turned into a Twilight Zone episode however they really had to tone it down from the original story. Zombie lovers will get a thrill.

The story is in the public domain and can be downloaded for free-print it out and go read it and find out why the electricity went out.

As was already mentioned, local gangs and police would be a big part of the puzzle. I have not heard mention of local militias. They would grab a piece of the pie. Firepower would be a big factor in the first part of the scenario, but those that are resourceful enough will find ways to overcome that as ammo supplies run short and those that have little to no survival skills start to get desperate. Lakes and rivers would be fished out, stores looted and woods close to cites overrun by people who think they know what to do to survive. The leaders would be those that crave power and know how to gather and utilize resources. The gangs have structure and leadership, but their constant fighting would keep them from ever growing to a real threat outside of their immediate areas. Biker gangs would fare a little better, for a while. Eventually, a few charismatic and charming leaders will rally their people and start to "reclaim" the cities. New corrupt nations would begin.

You don't you kill them,avoiding them is a waste of time,how far will you run?

I figure just about any sociopath with enough swagger to gain even a small following has the ability to eventually become a warlord. You can never really tell who may eventually go down that path. Hell, it could be Bob who runs the cash register at the book store. Or Dave, the guy who sells goldfish.

Sure, gang leaders, cult leaders and even some politicians may seem like the usual suspects. But that is no guarantee they can keep a following when things fall apart around them.

The only SHTF scenario i see being played out is Nuclear War and i dont think i would want to live in a world like that, A World where you would watch your skin bubble and suffer a slow, agonising painful death..i'll just get smashed on some 49 proof and gub some paracetamol thank you very much.

benrl
People who already have followers.

Gangs.

Police.

Military.

Religion.

Those would be the large ones.

Others would break down with a similar Leader follower dynamic, chances are if they are leaders now, they will remain so after in some way.

People want someone to tell them what to do for the most part, and are capable of things far outside the "norm" to fit in and survive.

Must agree with this logic. In a time of crisis people will begin trying to unite with people that they already know and THINK they can trust.

I think Military and Police will be the primary as they have access to weapons caches. Gangs, maybe. Gangs are already driven by greed and competition. In a SHTF scenario (unless they pre-planned for it) there would be a lot of in fighting before unity would consolidate.

Religion will be an undercurrent of the above three. While people will unite there are so many Christians that don't get along or like other Christian-based faiths, add to that Jews, Muslims, and other faiths and you may find some factions splitting.

I believe a big purpose of our government/media has been to keep American's divided along racial, religious, and political lines. In SHTF political lines die. The only thing left is racial and religious. And since they've done a good job of keeping people bickering it will continue.

The winning Warlord will be the one that can unite people regardless of race/belief OR the one that capitalizes on the race/religious fighting to take out his competition.