Who Leads? How?

I happen to be a very well trained and experienced man in a lot of esoteric areas. Given a bad situation, whether it be a flat tire on the side of a busy interstate or global social meltdown, I am blessed with the skill sets to see me through. I could survive TEOTWAWKI all by myself…

…until I broke my femur and got an infection when I had to be moving; or came down with a bad fever when my attention was required for security purposes; or unless I wanted to live some kind of normal life and plant crops, tend to animals, read books, eat, sleep, etc – and danger lurked out there.

We were created as social creatures and to reach our maximum potential, we need to be with others. Lone wolves don’t like to hear this and they don’t agree with this but it is true nonetheless. If you are one, you can stop reading.

So eventually, we arrive at the decision, the idea, that we need, that we would like a group of like minded individuals to gather with in times of trouble. You know, people like us who see which way the wind is blowing, who can read the tea leaves, who have read all the way to the end of the Book. People who are proactive like we are.

So we start looking at and for those folks. And we run into a problem: they are like us. They are proactive; they are self-sufficient; they are self-starters; they are individuals. And they typically “don’t play well with others”. They are so used to taking steps on their own to provide for them and theirs that they all want to be in charge. They all know the best way to do things. They all know their way is the right way.

If you can even get these people in the same room or patch of wilderness they will do okay until it’s time to start making long term plans for “the group”. Because right off the bat we have to start coming up with rules, codes of behavior, standards, and yes – even punishments for those who don’t follow the aforementioned rules, codes, and standards.

We don’t like that. We don’t LIKE people telling us what to do or how to do it. We are fiercely independent. It is a part of who we are. And yet – we need each other.

A person on our forums brought up the question: how does a group (he was speaking of a group that gets together, moves to a place together and lives together – a community) decide who is in charge, how they rule, what happens when things “don’t work out” for individuals, families, etc.? In other words – how does the community government work?

Indeed.

This is not an easy question to answer. I know this though: to come into a group, to join a community, one has to give up things. One has to give up some of self, one has to be less selfish and more community/group-minded. How much, how that works, what that looks like is grist for the mill. It is something we all should start thinking about.

And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth. – Luke 22:24 – 27
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

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Prepared Americans for a Strong America