What do you do in a Mad Max world? (survey)

The economic collapse turned out much worse than imagined. Price controls are extreme causing hardly any goods and services to be sold at all. Many things if you want them, you will have to use the black market. Gasoline is hard to get. Food is hard to get. Your children are hungry. You have had only a couple bowls of soup in the last week. You know a couple of people in your neighborhood who you noticed have quite a lot of food, but won't share any of it with you. Their security is quite lax, and their house cannot be seen from the road. You are armed, and they are not. You know when they will be gone for several days. The survey question is: would you try and take that food when they are gone without their permission?

I wouldn't be in that position to begin with (home garden, etc.), but for the sake of your question, If I did happen to be in that situation, I would go in and take *some* food. Enough to get us by until we found a more permanent solution.

a reply to: centarix

"Your children are hungry."

Answer: Yes.

(We are, of course, assuming there is not a better way, such as hunting/gathering.)

originally posted by: centarix
The economic collapse turned out much worse than imagined. Price controls are extreme causing hardly any goods and services to be sold at all. Many things if you want them, you will have to use the black market. Gasoline is hard to get. Food is hard to get. Your children are hungry. You have had only a couple bowls of soup in the last week. You know a couple of people in your neighborhood who you noticed have quite a lot of food, but won't share any of it with you. Their security is quite lax, and their house cannot be seen from the road. You are armed, and they are not. You know when they will be gone for several days. The survey question is: would you try and take that food when they are gone without their permission?

I would think my first hope would be to come together with this group. They have food, we have weapons. It's always a benefit to try to work together. However, if that was not possible, yeah, I'd take what my babies need in order to do all I can to ensure their survival.

For my children I would risk anything, however some kind of exchange; if as you say I am armed and they are not perhaps I could offer security for food?
There is always a mutually beneficial way to do things.

What do you do in a Mad Max world?

Get an 18 wheeler, weld metal sheeting to the front and drive it into the house.

Exit the truck, grab the food while the occupants are stunned, drive off and leave a thankyou note.

Come-on. This is the reality that the video game 'Carmaggedon 1 and 2' and the board games 'Battle Cars' and 'Car Wars' were made for.

Oh and lets not forget the classic 'Death Race 2000' and 'Death Race' films.

And that's where bandits come from in post-apocalyptic worlds. I'd bet all of them started out just trying to feed their families.

Then once they've slaughtered their first household of victims because they've got more food, it gets easier to slaughter the next...

Most likely be a raider Fallout style....phsyco's from Boarder Lands.

Smokers from Waterworld....that kinda thing till I get wasted by a guy with more guns and a better shot...




a reply to: centarix

First thing...stick some command detonate under the truck......huh!!!

After watching all these "Prepper" shows.

Ive come to the conclusion that im just gunna keep a lot of guns, and a lot of ammo, and expect to die any day.

Im gunna go take what everyone has, and what everyone has prepared.

When kids come into question, the plan might change.

Breakbad.

Trade "products " for survival.

originally posted by: centarix
You have had only a couple bowls of soup in the last week.

A couple of bowls of soup per week? Welcome to my world.

During hunger some people have eaten their own children for survival so how can we know how we'd react without ever experiencing absolute hunger. One thing for certain, you'd not want to be rich in the land of the poor, as you'd be constantly be ransacked by people that will do anything for survival.

I live in the countryside so plenty of food around here, I normally hunt my own rabbit anyway. There's fields full of sheep, cows and horses so id "borrow" half dozen of them each and start my own micro farm. I grow a lot of veg, id just have to dig over the other half of my garden and turn the whole thing to a veg garden because I doubt il be doing much sunbathing in an apocalypse
I'm very lucky where I live, we have about 20 houses in the village, we all have some amount of land for planting and raising animals which a lot do already, everyone knows everyone and we all help each other out when we need it anyway.
There's 2 ways in and out of the village by vehicle and one of them would be easy to block permanently so the village is easy to keep people out of. There's just 2 areas that would need patrolling to keep out the foot traffic but being farm land we are allowed shot guns unlike people living in towns in the uk, its much easier for a farmer to get a gun licence so I'm feeling pretty good about an apocalypse right now, my babies belly's full and my house is safe if not slightly boring without the internet which means I will have to talk to the wife at some point lol

a reply to: centarix


You try asking them nicely. its your fault too, for the you spend on arms and ammunition could've brought enough food.

a reply to: centarix

That doesnt make sense. There are NO services and society broke down.....yet I still live in in the suburbs?

They went on vacation and left their food?

I would not be there. My family wouldnt.

I would join a group that is not going to die, and they would not be home playing with TV antennas trying to wait for emergency broadcasts.

My ass would go native and find a cave dwelling community in Mexico. Plenty of isolated groups there that wouldnt even know if the world died.

I would help them grow frijoles and I would become their leader...lol. No, but I would be accepted and live on, my children would live on.

Then when roaming raiders show up, we kill them and take their guns.

They still need LOTS of ammo to take on a whole settlement. Good luck with that.

Not even the Mexican army can get rid of them. The entire Spanish army for centuries could not wipe them out in active brutal conquest.

My bet is with them. Forget militias and bunkers.

I would live like a savage, like I do now. I would live though!

a reply to: centarix
Yes, without feeling bad at all.

I wouldn't be in that situation in the first place, I'm an ant, not a grasshopper.

I would ride eternal, shiny and chrome.

In your scenario?

Kids gotta eat. They mean more to me than neighbors, but I'd work out a deal of some sort. There's always some way to work things out.

In my scenario?

A problem this big is easy to see coming if you have your eyes open. I would have prepared ahead of time. I had Depression era parents, one of whom, my Dad, was a reformed (in his words) farm boy, and my Mom was a Master at preservation. Canning. Freezing. Drying. If she couldn't do it, no one could. I learned a lot from both of 'em, and added my own knowledge to it.

My entire family are all capable of planting, harvesting, preserving, fishing, and hunting. Several of us are capable of defending the former, all of them, with me being the sole exception are former military, and/or LEO's.

Having seen the problem coming, we're either bunkered down to wait out the storm, or we've long gotten out of the way. The latter probably much more likely.

...and I'll have a kick-ass car, for outrunning any bandito's I can't outshoot...

Got my own fishiin poles , got traps, almost got enough supplies to where I can drive to a safer location away from society , enough tools packed into a small trailer I tow behind my jeep extra gas canisters in the trailer already, enough food and supplies to set up camp at a wilderness location kept secret , the wilderness campsite is also camouflaged so well you wouldn't even know we were there.