After the Cataclysm


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Having just been forced to watch 2012 again I find myself in a quandary. You are on Boats with a bunch of rich people who couldn't dig a ditch or make a mud brick to save their lives and somehow you as one of the few 'workers' let on board the boats will be expected to do this for them...

Your response to a future founded in Slavery is?


I would figure out who thinks there the leader of said group, take that person out and declare myself dictator..them folks would learn work one way or the other


the de Golyer estate

This is the house of the guy whose former grounds now compose the Dallas Arboretum.

replica sod house

And this is a replica of the house with walls made of squares of lawn he was born in.

Just sayin.....

The Exchange

Spanky the Leprechaun wrote:

the de Golyer estate

This is the house of the guy whose former grounds now compose the Dallas Arboretum.

replica sod house

And this is a replica of the house with walls made of squares of lawn he was born in.

Just sayin.....

You suggesting that there might be some Saudi prince, British Royal, or Russian Billionaire (OK maybe the last guy) who can dig a ditch. OK so ditch digging is a priority for their followers - where else do you put the mass graves?


"You don't work, you don't eat"


There's morons in all walks of life, and geniuses.

And adequate......builders of stuff.

The Russian billionaire you mentioned, maybe the cream of the crop and all,.....and maybe his nephew will be like the rich kid nephew of a local politician who paid me $20 to help him with a history test redo (which he was given to take in the library at school, so I wasn't really helping him cheat) which was filled with questions that were common knowledge to me such as "name the US Presidents in office during the Vietnam War....." and made me laugh at the irony of it all.
Dude. Your uncle's a damn politician. You don't know this s$+%? Really? You were born made, all you need is to cultivate the knowledge and you're set.........

The Exchange

lordzack wrote:
"You don't work, you don't eat"

Unfortunately despotic thugs with guns think 'you work - we eat'. That's how we got to be Queen of England.


How are the rich people supposed to pay for thugs with guns after a cataclysm? Not to mention there are probably more workers anyway, who can just as easily operate firearms.

The Exchange

lordzack wrote:
How are the rich people supposed to pay for thugs with guns after a cataclysm? Not to mention there are probably more workers anyway, who can just as easily operate firearms.

They took them with them to maintain the order of the status quo.


How? Why did the thugs agree to this when the rich people's money is now practically worthless? What do the rich people have to offer? Worst case scenario, the thugs decide the rich people are superfluous and decide they're calling the shots.


Charm the thugs, blow away the politicos and fat cats, crush your enemies, see them driven before you, hear the lamentations of their women. Problem solved.

The Exchange

lordzack wrote:
How? Why did the thugs agree to this when the rich people's money is now practically worthless? What do the rich people have to offer? Worst case scenario, the thugs decide the rich people are superfluous and decide they're calling the shots.

Rich People could have just kept their money and not payed for construction of the Boats...but yes it would be an interesting tale covering the 2013 period of the story - the uprising and change in the authority of the state.

I'm surprised they didn't go with women as breeding slaves using sperm and egg freezers and a nice automated multi-deck farm capable of supporting a much smaller population.


yellowdingo wrote:
lordzack wrote:
How? Why did the thugs agree to this when the rich people's money is now practically worthless? What do the rich people have to offer? Worst case scenario, the thugs decide the rich people are superfluous and decide they're calling the shots.
Rich People could have just kept their money and not payed for construction of the Boats...

Ah, but they did ... and unless we the thugs / peons / mini-onions like the rich people, the aforementioned rich people are chum / bait / fertilizer waiting to happen. ^____^

The Exchange

So what are your thoughts on a 2013 sequel involving all these 'boat people' sailing off to Africa.


yellowdingo wrote:
So what are your thoughts on a 2013 sequel involving all these 'boat people' sailing off to Africa.

Interesting concept - how would one 'sell' the sequel as something worth watching?

There's a very large administration / armed contingent compared to the civilian population aboard the ships. I find it highly unlikely that the ships are not armed - such wasn't depicted, but pop-up or hidden weapon systems are easy enough to build in the sequel. CIWS and mortars or rockets are the most likely, along with some heavy hitters for dealing with rogue ships such as certain automatic 155mm artillery and perhaps a "prototype weapon system" that tickles the SFX guys' fancy.

The biggest challenge the overcrowded boats would have is supplying food. I'm throwing in a plot convenient "given" on the ships being able to provide potable water, shelter and keep clothing maintained for the initial population.

The other item of concern is materials supply, especially for electronics, synthetic fibers and ammunition.

I could see a Road Warrior vibe going on, with the 'boat people' having the advantage of mobile fortresses settled within fire support range of each other. The action of any sequel I'm guessing would have to revolve around scavenging for something Important - fuel for the choppers is going to go FAST if they fly them for very long. More important would be livestock critters for munching upon. Protein only from beans gets boring really, really fast. And fat cats look tasty if you can't find any livestock to eat if the culture doesn't hold itself together very well.

Other drama could come from hardliners in the "boat regime" butting heads with the "nice guys" establishing the new govornment; from Something Under the Sea nomming on tasty ships; Aberzombie's shambling hordes mobbing the farming perimeter outside of heavy weapons range but well within careless person chowpouncing range.


yellowdingo wrote:

Rich People could have just kept their money and not payed for construction of the Boats...but yes it would be an interesting tale covering the 2013 period of the story - the uprising and change in the authority of the state.

I'm surprised they didn't go with women as breeding slaves using sperm and egg freezers and a nice automated multi-deck farm capable of supporting a much smaller population.

Keeping the money would not the change the fact that in such a situation that money would be nothing more than worthless pieces of paper. Not to mention that rich people usually keep their money in banks that would cease to function in such a situation. Thus making the rich people cease to be rich. Even many of the assets that they would still possess are still going to be pretty useless. You can't bring a big, fancy mansion with you on a boat.

For that matter, I'm not sure they'd be able to maintain the advanced farming technology that would allow them to produce large amounts of food with little labor without the infrastructure destroyed in the cataclysm. That would leave them with requiring either a large amount of workers with a small amount of elites, who couldn't control that large a population without some kind of technological advantage in weapons, which would again not be feasible without the infrastructure to support it. For that matter even if the workers can't get a hold of modern weaponry, they should be able to fashion simple weapons, like spears that would kill a thug just as dead as a gun would, plus modern defense technology is optimized against modern weapons. Sure, a lot of people would be killed, but the smaller group is still likely to lose, given that they'd have limited ammo and no way to make more, plus if the workers manage to kill some thugs they can take their weapons to even out the odds.


The rich in this scenario would have to present worthwhile expertise post-apocalypse or they're going to wind up tilling soil with the insufficiently-washed masses. The soldiers and farmers have arguably the most valuable skills sets - only dentists, doctors, surgeons and some pharmacologists are going to be more valuable. Those who know how to weave cloth and deal with cotton / other textile materials are going to be highly valued as well, along with the near-extinct art of tailoring, cobbling and habadashering.

In short, the ships should have had a healthy population of crafters and "growers" in their core population before the influx of mostly farmers(?) Just before the waves hit. If they went too far in accomodating the current social alite to fund the project, that particular pocket of humanity will probably starve to death or get wiped out by pestilence.

Another "movie motivation" comes up: pharmaceuticals, or rather the lack therof. The die-off from certain chronic health conditions in this scenario is likely to be acute once the ships' stores are depleted. Penicillan, marijuana, opium and cocoa are going to be rather important crops in this scenario. Did the Benevolent Leaders plan for this? One can only hope.


Please. Someone has to supervise. Someone has to organize and manage the workers. Someone has to make the rules and decide how to enforce them.

It may not be the previously wealthy, but it's also not likely to be common workers. I do suspect the certain combination of ruthlessness, ambition and charisma that a lot of the self-made wealthy at least have will lead them to similar positions in the new order. It may wind up being closer to a feudal lord or a Sicilian godfather then a modern CEO or politician, but they'll adapt.


thejeff wrote:

Please. Someone has to supervise. Someone has to organize and manage the workers. Someone has to make the rules and decide how to enforce them.

It may not be the previously wealthy, but it's also not likely to be common workers. I do suspect the certain combination of ruthlessness, ambition and charisma that a lot of the self-made wealthy at least have will lead them to similar positions in the new order. It may wind up being closer to a feudal lord or a Sicilian godfather then a modern CEO or politician, but they'll adapt.

I'm thinking enough charisma to lead / skills to manage in the post apocalyptic environment counts as "worthwhile expertise". :)

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