A Story for Post-Y2K

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Some years ago I got to know an old miner in the Jicarilla Mountains of New Mexico. He told me about how 200 families moved into the Jicarillas during the Great Depression. Some lived in tents, but most eventually build small log cabins. The economy of this small community was based upon placer gold which the men laborously removed from the fanglomerate ore. Since it is rather dry there, they had to get water from melting snow or from windmills a couple of miles away. Their gold was traded for goods in the town of Carrizzo, NM. They built a one-room school. I also met a woman who went to school there, and she said that they actually had a pretty good life in those mountains.

Once, a forest ranger came into the district and informed the miners that they would have to tear down the cabins and would have to abide by all federal rules and regulations. The ranger never returned to his station and his body was never found. Eventually, the community dissolved when gold mining was outlawed at the start of WWII.

This story has some relevance to our current Y2K predicament in that it gives us insight into human behavior when placed into a chaotic situation.

1. A division of labor was established. Some people hauled water, others mined ore from deep in the fanglomerate, while others processed the ore, and at least one was a school teacher.

2. A rudimentary freight system emerged in which the few families with cars carried the gold to Carrizzo and returned with goods for the entire community.

3. A system of barter was created - gold for goods. No taxes were paid.

4. The story tells us that a tightly knit community will fight when faced with an outside threat.

5. The people of the Jicarillas started focusing upon their children and upon providing them with a better life in the future.

If TSHTF then it is likely that social structures will dissolve into local communities or neighborhoods which have many of the above charateristics. What do you all think? What kind of societal structures will we see in a Post-Y2K world?

-- Ken D. (bobo@nogo.com), November 14, 1998

Answers

Whatever we decide to create.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 15, 1998.

And furthermore, don't go into someone's digs and tell them to leave, your family will never know what happened to you.

-- bardou (Bardou@baloney.com), November 15, 1998.

Ken: If you haven't already read it, check out the book LUCIFER'S HAMMER by Niven and Pournelle (sp?) from your local library. I think you will find it interesting, based on what you posted.

-- Robert Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), November 15, 1998.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ