You haven't studied history, have you? We used to have a banned dude named Hltonizer who was a Minianarchist whatever the F that was, and people would just band together and work cooperatively. Ya know there was another fella that had a similar idea. He claimed people could do that under a system. Called it communism, his name was Karl Marx. People working cooperatively together. Sometime, mosey out to Harvard, Mass and check out Bronson Alcott's (Louisa May's brother as I recall) little experiment. Trouble is unless you live in small groups in extended families (think clans or tribes and they have chiefs or headmen) it just doesn't work that way. You and Mr. Gold need to study some history, anthropology, and sociology. Homo sapiens just don't work that way, we are not wired that way. Sooner or later somebody bigger, badder, meaner and stronger is gonna take over, take your food, take your women and be the big, bad, badass unless you band together with a leader. You are going to have to fight and all combat formations require leadership. Me, I'll just wait until your little utopian cooperative paradise fails as an outlier living on the fringes and take what's left, cuz you boyz ain't gonna survive the cut unless you get real ruthless, real quick...and that's a fact. Like it or not...can't say I do, but most of you have never really been cold, hungry, or had to kill anything to eat. It's not a computer game and it's not romantic. It's going to be brutal, very brutal and you won't be able to trust very many, much less cooperate. You best friends might be willing to kill your kids to take your food, you know the reasonable ones, your fellow preppers, who didn't store enough food or never learned to how hunt properly or prepare game...nope you don't get it grasshoppers..sorry but truly you don't. But WTF, do I know,,,right?
Mark056, I sort of knew you were going to use the commie card, so I came prepared
You need to distinguish a group of people from a state or government. History is written by winners, you want to know something about history ? have 3 people give an account of a car accident, you'll probably get three different versions, and now you want us to take history into account as just facts ? common now..
If you want to be led, or to lead, just don't mix with the types of teaser452 or myslef if SHTF, we're probably the type who don't really need to take any orders, or give any orders, I do, however, thrive on cooperation with others, and getting a job done faster and better while helping and getting help. As a human, there's probably no other way to survive for the long run.
I'm not sure if you watched/read BRAVO-Two-Zero (the SAS deployment to Iraq, 1st Golf war), you'll see there, an elite force of soldiers, behave completely differently than what you see in Hollywood movies, no "badassess" no "best" none of that childish stuff that is being fed around here in the U.S, it's not GI Jane.. get what I mean ? Although there is a leader (it is a military unit after all), the lines are along "How about we do ..... does anyone disagree?" rather then "Okay, you do this and you do that, GO!" . When a group of highly capable men (i.e the SAS) runs together, each and everyone is a bonafied badass, all the badass nonsense is just left aside, there's no point to it.
Same would be with preppers, I believe. They are all there to survive and move on, they won't be waiting for anyone's orders about how to rations their beans and bullets. Yes, I'm sure that some preppers with basements full of food will shrink and cower if SHTF happens bigtime, but I'm referring to the general status of preppers, and what's more likely to happen than not.
While most human beings see the reason for leaders as must, I think you'll agree that most humans are also dumb as a doorknob, so, you want me to follow most humans' advice ?
IMO, and it's only my opinion, preppers are NOT the ones who want to be led, or lead, they are stocking up exactlly for that reason, so when SHTF they want no part of the general fiasco that's going to go down. And someone wants to show up on their doorstop and lead ? I say to them, wear a ceramic vest if you do.
If /when preppers will need to join forces it will on a mutual agreement ground, not leadership ground. In a massive SHTF scenario, when actual fighting needs to be done, most likely there will be a leader, and it's going to be the one that says (or pretends) to have military experience, but then, his military experience might be all made up, or can be summed by pushing papers from one stack to another, or failing to make sure no one from his fellow fighters is about to cross 5' from his muzzle before he shuts his weak eye and commits the other one to a scope that only "sees" 350' downfield.
do you think your family will gamble on your life with that morons' decisions ? would you let your son follow someone like that ? I won't.
But, fighting in a battlefield is one thing, and deciding who gets the eggs on Monday and who gets the milk on Thursday in a whole different story, no prepper will be "lead" on that matter, only way it's going to be is by mutual agreement.