Hypothetical question - Living off the land
- Thread starter Adi007
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WOW :yikes: what a question I'm gonna have to think about that.Do you mean in independant autonomous communities or a government nation wide controlled thing?
Geoff
:shock: :shock: :shock: :?:
Geoff
:shock: :shock: :shock: :?:
Hmmm, living off of the land is the key phrase here, so if all of the land were back to wild land with native plants and animals, both of which were abundant, your land might support one human to every 10 square km, or aprox. 25,000 people. If fishing is good, twice that amount maybe. Poor fishing, game and wild plant availability will greatly decrease the population, just as it would the wild creatures and boom times would increase the population. Add agriculture and the number goes up considerably and would only be affected by drought, but then you're right back to where you are today with a mega population and limited land mass to properly support them.
The sea is where life clings, due to climate and resources. (Good survival tip - to find civilisation, go downriver to the coast where it is most abundant)
With the UK having a long coast, and maritime climate, we'd support more people than other countries of the same size. Though forests today are in desperately short supply... could have serious implications.
With the UK having a long coast, and maritime climate, we'd support more people than other countries of the same size. Though forests today are in desperately short supply... could have serious implications.
Good question Adi - and in short I dont think we could support ourselves and more. We barly managed during the war.
Having said that I think a lot of our population would simply move elsewhere (no names no pack drill) and leave the rest of us to get on with it. That, plus a lot of natural wastage, the old, sick and young all dieing of possible starvation or illness due to lack of food would soon stabilize the population until we could support ourselves.
Bit extreme? Well nature calls it survival of the fittest - and in nature, when it comes to survival, theres no room for liberalism or being mr nice guy!
ack:
Having said that I think a lot of our population would simply move elsewhere (no names no pack drill) and leave the rest of us to get on with it. That, plus a lot of natural wastage, the old, sick and young all dieing of possible starvation or illness due to lack of food would soon stabilize the population until we could support ourselves.
Bit extreme? Well nature calls it survival of the fittest - and in nature, when it comes to survival, theres no room for liberalism or being mr nice guy!
ack:
Paganwolf
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
:hmmm: Who would I eat first :?:
:Thinkingo
I would think the wild food left in the UK would probably not even sustain London let alone the rest of the UK, since we got rid of wales we wouldnt need to worry about them
, we would all have to revert back to farmers and hunter gatherers to even stand a chance, id move to the coast as fish, shell fish and sea weeds are plentifull plenty of gready sea birds which are easy to catch ect, I agree with Gary all the free loaders would soon dissapear though, 28 days later springs to mind :yikes:
:Thinkingo
I would think the wild food left in the UK would probably not even sustain London let alone the rest of the UK, since we got rid of wales we wouldnt need to worry about them
, we would all have to revert back to farmers and hunter gatherers to even stand a chance, id move to the coast as fish, shell fish and sea weeds are plentifull plenty of gready sea birds which are easy to catch ect, I agree with Gary all the free loaders would soon dissapear though, 28 days later springs to mind :yikes:I think we'd all be stuffed, really. For a while they'd be a lot of very hungry, angry people about, and then given time, we'd have a slightly happier, less hungry bunch of people about.
I've know idea of the population of Great Britain but, perhaps maybe one sixth could be supported..that's a very uneducted and random guess mind you.
I'm not sure I'd want to live through a transition of that magnitude but if my children (that don't exist yet) ever do, I will have ensured (of course) that they are both fully aquainted with the 'Bushcraft Force' should they ever need to explode a dictatorship death star at twenty paces with their eyes closed...that's my boys.
I've know idea of the population of Great Britain but, perhaps maybe one sixth could be supported..that's a very uneducted and random guess mind you.
I'm not sure I'd want to live through a transition of that magnitude but if my children (that don't exist yet) ever do, I will have ensured (of course) that they are both fully aquainted with the 'Bushcraft Force' should they ever need to explode a dictatorship death star at twenty paces with their eyes closed...that's my boys.
M
Metala Cabinet
Guest
ADI.. do you mean living off the land as in the country carrys on as it is (which would probably be impossible) but simply with out improting anything.. and the population being supported by things that can be grown/made on this island of ours..
or do you mean each one of becomes self sufficent passive farmers with our own bit of land and just make sure we can fill our own bellys!?
sorry i know thats badly worded!
or do you mean each one of becomes self sufficent passive farmers with our own bit of land and just make sure we can fill our own bellys!?
sorry i know thats badly worded!
I guess I'm reluctant to put too many constraints on this but I guess what I'm getting at is a scenario where import/exports halt and the transit of items over long distances (ship/lorries/planes etc). In other words, your local grocery/supermarket empties and doesn't restock and the petrol pumps are dry.tomtom said:
Excellent ideas/suggestions/posts so far!
Interestingly enough, in my area in the 18th century there were somewhere in the region of 3500 people sustained by crofting and fishing. Last count there were 211 people left!
Sensible use of subsistance farming with local trading could probably support more people in some areas than you would think. Big cities would have to go though!
George
Sensible use of subsistance farming with local trading could probably support more people in some areas than you would think. Big cities would have to go though!
George
Just to follow on from my last post - I wonder how many people actually live in the countryside in the UK compared to the numbers in the cities? Out of them how many actually produce any food? And out of them how many actually produce enough food to sustain themselves and their families without other input?
George
George
ok to answer the question .........sorta
expect rioting looting and severe unrest in the first phase
those lucky enough to survive this first wave should be able to survive indefinitely simply by going back to basics
the ability to travel and live as quietly as possible and not draw attention to your whereabouts would be a distinct advantage
some kind of farming would be possible , especially sheep and small scale gardening of hardy vegetables........hence the turnip comment
i suspect populations would turn into small bands some of which would concentrate on continued looting and others which would try to form more stable communities and defend themselves against other groups
very like 28 days i'm afraid but without the angry disease
does this make me sound very cynical about modern society?
Tant
expect rioting looting and severe unrest in the first phase
those lucky enough to survive this first wave should be able to survive indefinitely simply by going back to basics
the ability to travel and live as quietly as possible and not draw attention to your whereabouts would be a distinct advantage
some kind of farming would be possible , especially sheep and small scale gardening of hardy vegetables........hence the turnip comment
i suspect populations would turn into small bands some of which would concentrate on continued looting and others which would try to form more stable communities and defend themselves against other groups
very like 28 days i'm afraid but without the angry disease
does this make me sound very cynical about modern society?
Tant
It's a very thought provoking question, I do not think that the country could sustain the amount of people we have currently.
The general lack of knowledge in the population on base skills (farming, hunting, manufacture of goods and management of these areas) would be a reason along with the quantity that is required.
If transportation of goods is hit probably so will all of the major services that are relied upon (water, food, medical and electricity).
Many of the younger generation haven't used the likes of coal fires (coal of course may not be freely available), they have read about things (old methods of farming and production of basic equipment) on the net, but this is not practice and the general skills that these entail are no longer there so winter would be a large factor because of the lack of commodities freely available.
I would say about a third of the country for people to get along happily for the reasons above alone (skills and commodities in the long run).
The general lack of knowledge in the population on base skills (farming, hunting, manufacture of goods and management of these areas) would be a reason along with the quantity that is required.
If transportation of goods is hit probably so will all of the major services that are relied upon (water, food, medical and electricity).
Many of the younger generation haven't used the likes of coal fires (coal of course may not be freely available), they have read about things (old methods of farming and production of basic equipment) on the net, but this is not practice and the general skills that these entail are no longer there so winter would be a large factor because of the lack of commodities freely available.
I would say about a third of the country for people to get along happily for the reasons above alone (skills and commodities in the long run).
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