Surviving..... Old age

Hello all,

I was wondering about people's oppinion on surviving old age recently; we all plan for the future, for when SitX, but how do we prepare for the inevitable fact of getting old?

As I'm sure we all know as we become older we lose our speed, strength, reflexe's and the physical attributes that are necessary for survival. Athritis, poor eye sight and loss of physical strength all make your chances of survival lower.

It's all fine and dandy having a 35 lb BOB, but if you back can't carry the load then how do you deal with it?

I have always liked the survival mindset that your greatest survival tool is your mind and the knowledge contained within it. Physical equipment/tools then becomes a redundant problem as you have the knowledge to survive with the bare minimum, to live off the land.

Let me present another situation however, that in my oppinion is still a "survival situation"

Imagine your and elderly couple walking to the shops with your wife, your physically nowhere near your peak and unfortunately lack the ability to defend yourself adequately.

Walking to the shop a group of yobs proceeds to insult or attempt to attack your wife, imagine how it feels not being able to defend the person you love the most...? Due to old age...

I think the sentiment of this thread is quite obviously so without the need to further explain my point, the question is how do you survive old age?


[edit on 23/3/09 by Death_Kron]

Probably the way it's always been. The elderly have value for the knowledge they have when their strength is gone. They are the ones who are going to "remember" how to make mayo. They remember the old ways. Teaching I suppose. That's how they survive, the young help them survive while they teach. It's a matter of value in the pecking order regardless of sitX.

reply to post by seagrass


As an avid Boxing fan this question has come into play recently, what wins
Youth Vs Experience?? I have always thought personally that experience wins, but Boxing shows that sometimes if your physical attributes have declined that greatly then unfortunately performing at the top level isn't possible any more.

However I like the idea of the young helping the elderly, I'm just not so sure if that would happen in a true SitX scenario.

reply to post by Death_Kron


Age... well have you thought of including perhaps more of your family into your survival situation? My father is 54 this year, and I worry about him a little bit in terms of SitX - I hope to god I never see SitX, although I'm sure that I will. Well, it's a definite possibility.

Edit: As mentioned, definitely pairing up with younger people too - will help - as you'll both be able to learn from each other.

How is your health right now? Taking care of yourself now, and making sure you are in optimum health will increase your chances greatly (i think anyway) of being able to defend yourself. I won't ask your age, because it's none of my business - I believe age is just a number. Taking care of yourself, walking, running, exercising, changing your diet, etc.

One thing you might want to do, that might be advantageous to you - is taking a trip to your local range. Purchasing a handgun, and practicing until the cows come home. Speed and accuracy are things that need to be built up over time.


- Carrot




[edit on 3/23/2009 by CA_Orot]

Don't kid yourself. Who are you going to go to when you need to know how to kill a chicken, what to do next... Who knows how to take care of a cow? Who knows how to build with primitive tools? It depends on how much is gone really. How much knowledge is gone. There are people who don't know how to do the most basic of things with out power and the internet.
strength and health are important, but they can do many things in a community. Teaching and cooking and helping with the young while the strong go out and do what needs to be done. The indigenous cultures value their elderly for a reason.

reply to post by CA_Orot


I wasn't talking about my own personal situation specifically, its just something I've been thinking about recently and wanted to know peoples oppinions.

My health right now isn't brilliant, certainly not in comparison to what its been previous, but I'm generally not too bad.

Unfortunately, living in the UK it's not possible to purchase a handgun and practise. Maybe with a pellet gun but not a Berreta or Glock 17.

Looking back at the point I was trying to make, you might be a brilliant shot but if your eye sight has deteriorated that badly you can't find your target you still have a problem.

reply to post by seagrass


I agree my friend, of course the elder generation are going to have more knowledge and experience than the younger generation. However, its one thing knowing how to kill a chicken and another not being able to do so due to physical ailments related to old age.

That is an extreme example I'll admit, but you'll understand the point I'm trying to make.

Also, I really don't see the young and old grouping together in SitX and forming a community. Sadly, I see it being a every man for himself scenario...

I don't. You see it all the time in disasters. Some people are out for themselves definitely, but those kinds of people don't survive in the end either. There is a natural way in social groups.
You see most things can be learned by watching nature. There are animals who cooperate in groups. Each picks off the lice of the other. Then there are those animals who are selfish and don't pick off the others lice. Those animals get sick and die because of the selfish one. Then the selfish one is alone. Sometimes when that animal is selfish then the others will not pick off his lice and he dies. The best scenario in cooperative groups is to mutually pick off lice.
I have seen people come together in disasters and hard times. It is natural and we do it because we care and we need each other and we know it. As long as we don't need each other in a technological world, we are content. Lonely but content. Unfulfilled but content. It is in those times that the world seems right again in a weird way.
Each pitching in as a group to help. There is a cause again. A reason.
It would happen in SitX. People would come together.

reply to post by seagrass


Well we may need to agree to disagree on this aspect but in my oppinion people are greedy, selfish and generally only care about themselves. This is true when not in SitX, imagine what its going to be like the TSHTF?

I'm sure some people will group together but I'm of the oppinion that more won't than will, unfortunate and sad in a way but thats the way I see it going.

I doubt we will see a "SitX" anytime soon, no matter how many links to prison planet people put up. However, should something like that occur, then I hate to say it - but most of the older generations will likely perish. With a breakdown of society comes the breakdown in the infrastructure which supports them. Health Care, Nursing/Hospice, Delivery, Communication, etc.

The average human lifespan has nearly doubled in just the last 50 years, largely due to urbanization and technological/medical advancements. You wipe that out, and you wipe out what's been keeping them alive. However, the inverse scenario isn't exactly bright either. If I am wrong, and the older generations can survive rather well post "SitX", then we may see the burden of care increase at a tremendous rate - especially those that suffer from neurological conditions such as Alzheimer. We're already facing the potential of this scenario now, and there will be no hope of overcoming it should "SitX" somehow come to pass.

Originally posted by Death_Kron
reply to post by seagrass

 

Well we may need to agree to disagree on this aspect but in my oppinion people are greedy, selfish and generally only care about themselves. This is true when not in SitX, imagine what its going to be like the TSHTF?

I'm sure some people will group together but I'm of the oppinion that more won't than will, unfortunate and sad in a way but thats the way I see it going.

I don't disagree with you, I can't. I don't know either how it will or would go.
But I believe there will be groups who cooperate and groups who don't. And again there will be war. Always war between the different types. The different agendas. Hopefully where you are there will be groups who cooperate. I am hoping the same for me.