Pre-Collapse Preparations for Community Formation
While you might initially prioritize your solo prepping strategy, remain open to the idea of joining or creating a community should conditions allow.
Identify Potential Candidates Beforehand: Keep an eye on friends, family, neighbors, or like-minded acquaintances who demonstrate reliability, useful skills, or a cooperative mindset. Making casual connections now could facilitate community-building later.
Stockpile Extra Supplies: If possible, gather slightly more than you need personally. Small surplus items —extra seeds, spare medical kits, tools—could help form the basis of community resources and goodwill.
Keep a discreet list of people you’d consider inviting into a group if the time comes. Consider their character, not just their skill sets. Trustworthiness is as important as competence.
Transitioning from Solo to Community Life
Moving from a solitary existence to a group setting requires a shift in mindset. You’ll go from making every decision on your own to sharing decision-making power. Embracing cooperation might initially feel like sacrificing autonomy, but the collective benefits can far outweigh this perceived loss.
Start small by collaborating with just one or two people on a limited project—like building a shared rainwater collector. Evaluate how well you work together before expanding the group.
Setting the Foundation: Vision, Structure, and Culture
Before officially forming the community, invest time in clarifying the group’s vision and culture. Aim for alignment on core values—like fairness, cooperation, respect for individual autonomy—and practical approaches to resource management, security, and conflict resolution. By setting a solid foundation, you reduce future misunderstandings and disagreements.
Not everyone wants or needs a community. Some individuals remain fiercely independent, while others may not share your long-term vision. That’s okay. What matters is building a community of people who voluntarily come together, understand the mutual benefits, and commit to sustaining the group through challenges.
Scenarios and Triggers for Community Formation
Not every collapse scenario permits immediate community-building. Certain triggers might indicate the right time: Resource Abundance or Special Opportunities: If you discover a fertile piece of land or secure a consistent water supply, forming a community to capitalize on these resources could make sense.
Addressing Intractable Conflicts
Sometimes, despite best efforts, a solution proves elusive: External Mediation (If Possible): If you trust a neighboring community or a neutral outsider, inviting them to mediate can break deadlocks.
Key Criteria for Member Selection
Practical Skillsets: Identify what skills you need for survival and growth: Agriculture: Someone knowledgeable in gardening, seed saving, or livestock care.
Maintain a running “skills roster” with priority gaps highlighted. For example, if you lack medical skills, prioritize candidates who can fill that role.
Compatibility with Core Values and Mission: A skilled person who undermines community trust, fairness, or respect can be more harmful than a less skilled but cooperative individual. Assess their moral compass and willingness to abide by group norms.
Physical Health and Strength: While not everyone must be a peak athlete, a certain baseline of health ensures they can contribute to labor-intensive tasks. Chronic conditions or injuries aren’t deal-breakers if the person compensates with crucial skills, but be realistic about the strain on group resources.
Treat group size as a planning scenario
Twenty people is an example for exploring coordination, not a scientifically established ideal size. Count actual needs and capacities: children, older people, accessibility needs, caregiving, available time and useful skills. A group of the same size can have very different resources and obligations. Begin with a modest shared activity and learn how decisions, supplies and disagreements are handled before proposing shared living or major purchases. Record commitments and make participation voluntary. The practical foundation is a workable agreement among real people, not reaching a target head count and assuming the community will organize itself.