Leadership and Anarchy in the Survival Group

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a comment from Anonymous, on Survival being a Team Sport and Requiring some Command Structure,………"I think it would be impossible to have any diverse group survive intact over the long term. If there were only one Alpha then maybe. If there are two Alpha's then there will be a fight for power sooner or later. The only exception I can imagine is a family unit with a long history a clan/tribe style leadership, something along the lines of what you see in many Middle Eastern countries. I think also if there were men and women and there were not clear and settled relationships between them all that this element alone would eventually cause a breakdown in the social structure. My feeling is family would work OK as long as there were no unusual personalities. Possibly even a few close friends too. But I just don't see an eclectic group of people working together for very long.

UrbanMan replies: You are right about two Alpha males potentially creating a hazardous situation for a Survival Group. The only ways to eliminate this is to select your Survival Group members carefully,…choose people who are going to be team members,…have an agreed upon chain of command or otherwise a decision making process. I have been a member of groups that consisted of nothing by Alpha males,..not to mention aggressive and well armed at that. What kept us from self destructing was a common objective (a mission and a plan) and an existing chain of command.

You will run into problems even with one Alpha Male – decision maker. If you have a survival group that consists of ad-hoc members that was put together by collapse circumstances rather than a Survival Plan, you still run the risk of people resenting the leader. I have seen it many times where the leader gets the brunt of the blame – this is natural. Even in the absence of critical thinking where the Survival Group members bear problems, but no solutions and have no idea on how they would react if placed in a leadership position.

I think the key is building your Survival Group, or the biggest part of it, before a collapse and before you start integrating strap hangers and stragglers. Having an agreed upon chain of command or decision making structure, but anyway you cut it, there will have to be a final decision authority. A chain of command will give the best chances for continuity of operations when key leaders are gone for whatever reason. Rules and consequences for breaking these rules need to be developed and enforced. Other wise the Survival Group is not a team, but a collection of individuals.

It has been my experience in military units and law enforcement organizations, that the best Alphas can work for other Alphas. It is usually the non-Alphas that create problems…..these are people that put them first and the Group second. Again, pre-selection of members, established rules and protocols are your counter measures for anarchy within the Survival Group.

Again,...Survival is a Team Sport

It seems that I have been doing nothing but talking to people this week about indicators of a coming collapse, e.g..gas and precious metal prices on the rise; higher prices in commodities, e.g..foods and clothing; terrible national debt and a lame duck congress not understanding the People’s demands to a halt in spending; Glenn Beck on Television telling people to stockpile food and buy gold; and a host of other doom and gloom reports.

It was surprising to discover that most of these people have put some thought into what would they do in a bonafide collapse. In each and every case I tried to get as much of their concept for Surviving a collapse as they would or could tell me. Some have thought about a collapse and not just only how that would suck, but what would they do. Others told me concepts to the effect that “I’ll pack up my family and move”.

Okay, fair enough – packing up and moving. But to where? How will you ensure you will have the vehicle and fuel in order to travel? Where are you doing to go? Is your location really better (safer) for your Survival chances than where you are now? What you going to do for food? For Security?

And with that question,….security,…..brings me to my point that Survival is going to be a team sport. Much more like football than badminton. By yourself and even with a small family, you are only going to simply survive.

I think the purpose for Survival preparation is to be prepared mentally, physically, equipment wise, with material, exploiting technology and planning wise, ....not only to only survive but to have some quality of life. Basically, to replicate a small community, albeit with a different prioritization on concerns.

Best case scenario is that you are able to put together a competent Survival group consisting of well matched members with all on the same sheet of music when it comes to goals and objectives, moral beliefs, maybe even religious beliefs. Of course, if you do this well before the storm you will be much better off.

You will undoubtedly at some point in a collapse survival situation be faced with the decision to integrate (or not) other people, who could be friends, neighbors, family or total strangers. Tough call to make. Even tougher if it is your neighbor who failed to return tools he borrowed. Seriously, what do you do if you are just 2 or three of you and then your brother in law and his wife plus four children wants to hole up with you? What if it the same brother in law who failed to prepare despite repeated conversations from you to him? What if it is your elderly neighbor who is extremely opposite your political spectrum and lets you know if all the time? How about guys from work who you have been talking to for over a year on their need to prepare?

Even though you need a team to survive, and if you don’t believe this then think about all the tasks you will have to do each day not to mention providing security for the group, you will have to be prepared for the inter team squabbles and jealousies, small disputes that if not corrected then and there they could become big disputes that could tear away the glue holding the group together.

This survival group therefore will require a method of governing. From simply a “Boss” to a council type arrangement. Have the rules and concept of operationalizing Survival decided and set ahead of time.

Urban Survival Planning – Absorbing People into the Survival Group

One of the tenants of Survival Planning that this Survival Writer believes Survival in a Total Collapse, be it in an Urban or Suburban Area or in a Remote or Rural Area will be near impossible in a very small group. I am very sure of my ability to survive wilderness conditions and even conditions where armed men are actively hunting me, but that is simply surviving like an animal – there would be no reasonable correlation to living.

To be able to maintain security, accomplish daily survival or life tasks such as fixing things, tending to vegetable crops, procuring foods and other things, cooking, and resting the Survival Group would need at least four adults who are competent and could be counted upon. The more in this Survival Group, the more survival tasks could be rotated and usually a better quality of life.

However, the more people in your Survival Group the more commodities and food will be consumed and the greater the chances there are of human conflict.

Choose wisely who you bring into your Survival Group. In the fictional Survival Novel, Patriots – A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse, the Survival Group plans well ahead of time ensuring that the Group has adequate supplies at the Safe Location (a farm in Southern Idaho). They go so far as to ensure all members of the Group buy the same type of camouflage uniforms and firearms to have compatibility.

Both in the Novels, Patriots and Lights Out, the Survival Groups well into the beginning of the Collapse begin a process to interview and otherwise vet (check out) new incoming potential Survival Group members to make sure they only allow people who can contribute in some form or fashion to the overall group survival effort.

If you haven't read those books, you really need to. Patriots is available through the Amazon carousel at the bottom of this page. Lights Out is available (free as a PDF download) through the link under Book Reviews.

So not only are you going to have to be careful who you clue into your Urban Survival Plan and Preparations, you need to make sure they can contribute and will not be a burden.

You will also need to plan for strap hangers showing up. What if a young mother comes to your door and begs for you to help her? What if you refuse and she then begs for you to take her 3 year old baby? Human nature is to be compassionate. Human nature is also to be jealous and greedy. Bringing in an untested and unknown someone into your small Survival Group could spell doom. Refusing to help someone could also damage your humanity quotient for lack of a better term.

Think and wargame various possible scenarios. For Jim, he would have to think about his ex-wife. What if she calls or shows up at the beginning of a collapse? What if she and her new boyfriend and baby show up at the Family Cabin? Who else has she told about it? All of a sudden the duration, that the food in Jim’s Survival Cache will last, is reduced in half. What happens if you have several adult single males in your group and your wife or girlfriend is the only female?

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Be prepared and that preparation starts with thinking about and Wargaming likely events and possible solutions.