In the power chapter, I suggested metal Aladdin lamps because they’re durable, but a dropped metal lamp’s fuel chamber doesn’t break like a glass one does, either. In the place chapter, I encouraged building from stone and concrete, because it doesn’t burn. Always put out candles before you leave a room where they are burning. Clear shrubbery and burnables (firewood, too) at least fifty feet away from homes, or replace it with low-burn water holding plants such as cactus or “ice plant”. The rules of simple fire management won’t change after Zen-slap. They will just become more critical for long-term survival. There’s no place for “casual” fire management.
For the long term, plan to have a backup location that is fire safe, in case wildfire ravages your area. Stone and concrete “dolmens”, discussed elsewhere, may have helped our ancestors survive conflagration risks as well as intense lightning storms. Mankind has resorted to caves during difficult times in the past; they may be awaiting our use at some time in the future, too. A fire intense enough to create a regional “firestorm” may also deprive the entire area of breathable oxygen. Options include storing a tank or two of oxygen (you’ll need either a scuba card or a physician’s order), or a smoke hood with filter like the Safe Escape Smoke Hood. The Safe Escape version provides about 30 minutes of filtered air, inside a sealed hood with a clear visor. At this writing, two hoods can be acquired for around $100. They must be replaced in five years, as the filters lose capacity.
Establishing and Maintaining Social Order
Maintaining a cohesive group is a challenge in good times, and may be even more challenging during chaotic ones. It takes a special ability to organize, motivate, and carry out all the duties and responsibilities of a group’s leadership. It is a rare person who can handle it all.
The American Declaration of Independence states clearly that those in authority rule expressly by “the consent of the governed.” That is, leaders aren’t in their position because they are better, smarter, or more entitled than anyone else. They are “the government” because the people they govern agree that they should run the show. If the governed, the “little people,” can show that the government is failing to carry out its duties or is overstepping its authority, they have the moral, lawful, and just responsibility to depose the old government and create a new one.
When your group forms, it is incumbent upon them to determine the type of governance under which they will live. Don’t assume that this will just sort itself out, because that kind of failure-to-plan often results in the strongest (most violent? Most psychopathic? Most charming?) person rising to the top.
Group Organization Plan
Every group organizes itself, whether it is done with a purposeful plan or by trial and error over time. Having a plan will make it that much easier for your group to function right out of the gate. My guess is that most groups will form around one or several adults who are concerned about the coming issues, and who are proactive in preparedness. They will be looked to for future guidance, a heavy responsibility.
Consider the organization of an existing highly functional stratified group, for a basic guide. The Raconteur Report has a very valuable brief 5-part tutorial that gives a great outline for organization and skills, online – another one to print out and store on paper:
http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2016/02/military-organization-for-dummies-pt-1.html
Rule Making
Modern society has policing and adjudicating systems, however faulty, in place. In a family, a respected figure usually is the final arbiter of decisions, typically an older trusted man. In a small community, decisions are often reached by group consent – town halls, voice votes, meetings to present and discuss plans, etc.
Roberts Rules of Order is a well-known and widely accepted method to hold and organize meetings with a balanced structure – called “Parliamentary Procedure.” Get a copy of the handbook as soon as possible (you can find it online), and having several paper copies on hand will be a real boon when you need it. There’s even a simplified “cheat sheet” version available online for about $3 – acquire several so they can be passed around at meetings.
Most people have a passing familiarity with Robert’s Rules, since it is the standard method by which most Boards, committees, and associations conduct business. Parliamentary Procedure allows each person to have a say on any given issue, by following a set of guidelines that theoretically everyone knows.
In order to make Parliamentary Procedure effective, a leadership assemblage must have the accepted and visible standing or authority to actually expect the consensus of the community. Westerners achieve this by the consent of the governed, the agreement by all involved that certain official duties can be carried out by specific persons who have been formally granted authority by the group by majority vote.
This status begins as a group draws up a Charter or Statement of Bylaws. Effectively, this Charter or set of Bylaws is similar to what a corporation or social group draws up at its founding. These are the reasons the group exists and the simple protocols for:
who will be in charge (Chairman? President? Facilitator? Board?),
the description of duties and limits of their authority,
the additional officers (Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Historian, Officer-at-Arms are common offices)
term limits and compensation, if any, should be indicated
method of installing new officers (by group vote? Appointment?)
method of removing officers who exceed authority or fail to perform to standard
obligations of group membership
times when official meetings are held, and how announcement of meeting date and time will be made
method for handling grievances (should they be submitted on paper or verbally? Decided by the entire Board, or one or two members, or by committee? By group vote?)
a means for amending the founding document, and how it will be accepted (vote of the group? Vote of the Board?)
Group meetings can be handled utilizing the meeting format of Robert’s Rules, effectively:
Meeting called to order by ranking officer or appointee.
Minutes of the last meeting are read and motion made by one member and seconded by another member to accept the minutes. If accepted, continue to next step
If rejected, discuss on how to correct the minutes, make amendments to the minutes, make a motion to accept amended minutes, second the motion, and vote. If accepted, continue to next step. If rejected, repeat this step.
Read treasurer’s report. Similar motion, second, and vote to accept as with the minutes.
Committee reports. Discuss. Motion/second/vote.
Complete any other old business.
Move on to any new business
Other discussion as warranted. Assign work, appoint new committees if needed.
Any other business
Close meeting by motion/second/vote.
Robert’s Rules is a procedural guideline, not a statement of mission, rights and responsibilities, or moral code. What I’ve noted here is a simplified guide – the actual Rules have procedures for handling contention, challenging another speaker, and so forth.
Most of the original legal code of Western Civilization derived from the Biblical Ten Commandments – that it is socially condemned to kill people or steal things, for example. The rights of the individual in Western Civilization were established in law a thousand years ago with the Magna Carta and enshrined in the 10 articles of the Bill of Rights – freedom of speech, religion, the duty to protect oneself utilizing lethal force if needed, privacy of oneself and one’s papers and possessions, and so forth. These are in-born rights of each human being, not “given” or “granted” by government. The Bill of Rights merely pointed out that these natural rights existed before government, and will exist after all governments are dissolved.
There isn’t much point in reinventing the wheel in our little groups, so these kinds of documents can provide a useful foundation
for future development. However, keep in mind that an egalitarian group may still find itself dealing with other groups who are more feudal in their thinking and behavior (with a strong-arm person leading who makes all decisions for the group and dishes out harsh penalties to those who disobey). It’s prudent to remember that without a universally-accepted Rule of Law, there isn’t any universal law –and act accordingly.
Trouble Makers
This is a hard category. These are the people who will not contribute, no matter what justification or rationalization they provide. Some are constitutionally unable to cooperate in a group; some are so self-involved they don’t consider others; some are innately destructive, malingerers, pot-stirrers, agitators, addictive personalities, disloyal, blamers. Some are mentally ill, some are born criminals, some are parasites. Some are quite charming, golden-tongued, fun to be around but always seem to generate problems. Some are our spouses, sisters or brothers, parents, or even children.
Takers and breakers will weaken and potentially destroy your community, but you already know this. You cannot turn these people out, because they will go to another group with your inside information, such as how much food you have stored and where, and barter that information for acceptance. Ideally, these people are kept separated from each other and marginalized, since they tend to congregate and magnify their negative influence. No important information should be imparted to them whatsoever. If they have been given important information at some point, every effort should be made to convince them that something else is the reality – that is, confuse them about the facts.
Ugly situation, but it will arise. Obviously, in any human gathering, there are people who are contributors and people who are problems, but in functional communities the safety and security of all is paramount. Even the “ordinary” quarrelsome and negative folk realize that, and will do the best they can in their awkward way. The biggest problem is when takers and breakers place their desires above the needs of the group, and imperil the group as a result.
In today’s society, the usual approach to troublemakers is to call the local authorities – police, sheriff, security, and so forth. Hopefully, then the troublemaker goes into the legal system, is appropriately fined or confined, and sees the error of their ways. Repeat offenders may return to their home base to re-offend, be re-incarcerated several times, and either reform, become a permanent jailhouse resident, or have an unfortunate accident.
In the coming times, the judicial system may continue to operate, at least in form if not function. Should troublemakers and breakers continue their unsavory activities in spite of repeated lawful attempts to make them stop, it is possible that the local populace will have to handle the situation another way. There needs to be a lawful and moral means to confine, “jail”, minor offenders, and permanently remove serious offenders. The time to think about these grim issues is now.
Those who make critical decisions of this type must be able to justify their decisions and actions with great clarity and wisdom, and should actually keep strict and accurate paper records of each step in the process should their decisions come under scrutiny later. It is best to consider options long before any such situation arises.
Setting Up Security
If you have military-level fit young men, with appropriate training and actual fighting experience, you may be able to set up patrols to explore the area around your group’s base should things devolve into a true SHTF scenario. Most families, groups, preppers, and retreats DO NOT. This can’t be finessed or sweet-talked: your group will likely NOT be able to field exploratory patrols of any kind, no matter how fancy or expensive your tactical equipment. These are not skills you can just pick up or learn on-the-job, online, or by reading about it.
Your best plan for survival long term is to establish a strong defensive position, and keep your people safe within it. Your group’s land has an established boundary along the property lines. You will only be able to hold that land as long as you can protect and secure the property lines.
Your security team will have routine duties of guarding the property from unwanted interlopers. This will be especially important for the first year or two of the Zen-slap phase, when other people are desperate and potentially dangerous.
That means developing a clear understanding of your vulnerabilities and strengths, both in the property and in your human assets as well. There’s no “one way” to do this, since your terrain, groups skills, equipment, and willingness is different than any other group’s qualities.
If you have experienced military combat members in your group, they may be able to contribute valuable ideas and skills to the planning and execution phases, as well.
There are multiple ways to set up and maintain a security team, and multiple sensible books on the skills a team will need, including military manuals. Here’s a good basic free one from the US Army:
Warrior Skills, Level 1
http://www.milsci.ucsb.edu/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.mili.d7/files/sitefiles/resources/STP%2021-1-SMCT,%20Warrior%20Skills,%20Level%201.pdf
I’m going to cover some general principles and basics here, which will assist your planning. Keep in mind that any security team must train continuously (you fight as you train), repeatedly explore possible ways that the group could be under threat, and find ways to respond quickly and efficiently when the unexpected happens.
Define Duties
Security is a broad field. There are many different aspects to keeping a place safe and maintaining security in a community. Think about the systems we have in place in the modern world: police officers, firemen, ambulances, emergency medical services, tow trucks, emergency linemen, crypto security for computer systems, security monitoring via camera systems, even call-anytime plumbers. As long as we have these services, we can utilize them to the fullest means possible.
During Zen-slap, there is likely to be a break in some or all of them. We’ve seen that happen time and again as it did during Hurricane Katrina. From the Awakening onward, though, the idea that we cannot depend on any security beyond that which we create ourselves must be hammered into our consciousness. While there is Law we have to work within it, but if the Rule of Law breaks down, we still need to have a security system that works for each of us.
In our groups, we will develop a clear understanding of what our security team will do, how they will carry it out, and when it is time to call the entire group or outside services for assistance. Write this down and maintain it as part of your group’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Develop this alongside your By-Laws or Governing Mission paperwork, and store together.
Points to include:
Define “security”: defensive, group oriented, when actions can be escalated if needed, primarily the province of a trained team but ultimately the entire group’s responsibility.
Security team: how many persons, ages, basic skills required, temperament (i.e., stable and able to respond situationally), training routines.
Compensation to security team members: will this be a primary duty of a sub-group? Or a requirement of all group members? What will they receive in return for service (extra food, currency, time off other duties, choice of tools/weapons, housing, etc.)?
Specific duties: monitor entrances, monitor fence lines, alert for weather/fire/intrusion, maintain security cameras, electric fencing, deter or detain or stop dangerous intruders, and so forth.
Group leaders, qualifications, skills, teaching duties.
Backup plans for sickness, injury, times when increased numbers of personnel are needed.
Mapping and Visualizing
Acquire maps of your land, surrounding property, and the region out to about 25 miles. Get topographic maps, those that show terrain; and overhead “satellite” type maps that show trees, houses, roads, rivers, ponds, and hills. Acquire multiple copies. You can print these out from Google Earth, and paste together enough to give you a large view of your area.
Mark one of the maps with neighbo
r’s names and details (for example: Joe (machinist) & wife Phyllis (teacher), children Rex (9) and Bob (7), possible guests including 4 male, 5 female adults). Indicate whether someone has been helpful to you (+++), cool but not hostile (++), or outright hostile (+). You’ll want to know which neighbors might be potential trading partners and which ones won’t.
Mark places where there are good fences, and where gates go through. Go off your land and inspect it as if you wanted to get in – look for weak spots, open areas, easy entrances and mark these areas in red. Look for spots on neighboring lands – high areas, trees, hillsides – from which your property could be watched. Have two or three other people do the same thing, and compare notes. Mark these spots on your maps.
If you are able to get a drone with a camera or GoPro type of product into the air – lofting up with a big kite on a long line will do in a pinch – use this to explore your property terrain in places that are too difficult to traverse on foot: cliffs, gullies, rivers. Get a really good look at your land. Mark anything interesting or unusual on your map.
Cold Times — How to Prepare for the Mini Ice Age Page 33