Many people love watching shows or movies set in some sort of post-apocalyptic universe,
and consider the lifestyle to be very glamorous.
However, the truth is that reality in a post-apocalyptic universe would certainly not be the fun and
games free-for-all that so many people imagine it to be.
The most fun parts of life you see in the post-apocalyptic movies would either be non-existent,
or just the happiest moments of what is otherwise a long, hard slog through life.
In today’s article, we will go over ways that life after the apocalypse might not be
as fun as many would like to believe.
10.
Horses Would Almost Certainly Be Eaten, Not Used As Mounts
In a lot of post-apocalyptic media, you see people using horses as mounts, but this is
really just all kinds of silly.
While it makes sense in a medieval fantasy universe, those who are already used to technology
and are starving are unlikely to be using a horse — something that requires so much
food to keep alive — as a mount when they could eat it instead.
Now, back in the day part of the reason they used horses for mounts was because they needed
something, but nowadays we have things like bikes.
And, when it comes to multi-gear bikes, we now have bikes that, with comparatively little
effort, could potentially take someone hundreds of miles.
In terms of the caloric costs in a society struggling to find food, it just wouldn’t
be logical for horses to be anything other than meat.
Bikes, and other similar transport, would quickly become the norm as fuel and food both
became scarce.
9.
Travel Would Become A Rarity, Only Done As Truly Needed
Now, while we would have mountain bikes for long travel, and they are relatively sturdy,
they offer very little in terms of protection from the elements, and the truth is that in
general, unless trying to migrate like in the old days for better land, there would
be little reason at all to do any real travel.
If people were living in an area where they even had a decent amount of resources it would
be extremely risky to move.
Even in an area with few resources, if there was just enough to survive, it would be hard
to save up enough for a long journey, especially if you aren’t sure other areas are in much
better shape.
Travel would almost certainly be cut to most people never going more than a few miles in
any direction, and we would all likely become very well acquainted — very quickly — with
all of our closest neighbors (and probably come to rely on each other, as we would need
to make do with the products and services around us).
Unfortunately, not only buying online, but even ordering products from afar would simply
cease to be, due to the fact that most travel would be greatly curtailed unless absolutely
necessary.
8.
Shampoo, Conditioner And Other Products Would Probably Not Be Available
In post-apocalyptic media, you see beautiful people who have often been out in the woods
for weeks, months, or even longer.
They do not have access to a beauty supply store, a beauty parlor, or even a Walgreens,
but they manage to look perfectly made up, like they just came out of makeup at a Hollywood
studio.
(Because… they have.)
And while it would likely be harder for us to connect with the main characters if they
looked grunged up and disgusting, the fact of the matter is that they probably kind of
would.
You can only wash your clothes so well in a stream without soap, and in most post-apocalyptic
situations, getting yourself and your clothes fully cleaned (if you are lucky) is about
as far as you are going to get.
Focusing on cosmetics is going to come later in the more prosperous villages, after a lot
of people have settled down, and even then it’d be unlikely to reach the level that
it once did any time soon (if ever).
Furthermore, no matter how advanced a village, those who spend most of their time out in
the woods are simply not going to look like Hollywood supermodels.
7.
The Remaining Anti-Vaxxers Would Have Potential To Do Incredible Damage
Today, anti-vaxxers are already doing serious damage, bringing diseases like measles roaring
back in developed countries like the United States.
However, in a society were there was much less regulation, and much less vaccine availability,
it would be much easier for anti-vaxxers to poison the well, or get away with mixing their
children with others when they have infectious diseases.
In fact, this was part of the reason disease used to spread so quickly.
Before organizations like the CDC, or constant mass communication and increased literacy,
not only were things like vaccinations rare, but medical ignorance in general was a big
problem.
Now, many today are learning medical ignorance by believing the wrong information they read
online, and even some in the medical field are being infected.
In a scenario where a lot of humans got cut off from each other, and a lot of laws broke
down, many fewer people would have vaccines available and a lot of others would feel less
pressure to get their kids vaccinated, or potentially fall to scientific ignorance.
The results could be dire, and wipe out a huge amount of a population that has already
lost infrastructure, communication, and knowledge due to other apocalyptic reasons.
6.
Pollution Would Be A Greater Problem Than Perhaps Ever Before
Right now pollution and climate change are a big problem, but in the event of some kind
of disaster, whether through climate change or something else, it could end up (at least
on a local scale) an even bigger immediate problem for the average community of survivors.
Regulation would mostly be up to local communities, and some would be better than others, but
nearby communities could pollute in their own ways that might affect their neighbors,
and aside from war, it could be very hard to get them to cooperate.
On top of that, most people would probably be more worried about survival at all costs
at first, so likely a lot of sacrifices in terms of pollution would be made.
Now, it could be argued that going back in time people would have had a similar problem
in any non-industrialized society without proper states and laws governing dumping waste
and other such things, but it could be an even bigger problem, because in many post-apocalyptic
societies, people would not have more than a patchwork of waste dumping cooperation with
their nearby neighbors.
But they would also have a situation where many people had a knowledge of industry that
those in the past didn’t.
So, many people would be piecing together industrial equipment, utilizing dangerous
chemicals, and using whatever they could to get by, with far less environmental safety
or knowledge.
In short, apart from the massive scale of industry we have now, the problem on a local
scale could end up far worse.
5.
We Would Have To Spend Time Talking To People Who Don’t Agree With Us
On the internet, we have gotten used to the high of always finding people who agree with
us, and always finding people who share our hobbies.
However, in a post-apocalyptic society, we would have to make do with people who are
local to us, and this would make it much harder to find that easy affirmation.
On the whole, you are going to have a lot more trouble finding people who simply pat
you on the back for every opinion you have.
And you are also going to find it a lot harder to find those who share your more esoteric
hobbies.
Online, you can always find at least a few oddballs who share your weirdest quirks and
interests, but if society and all of that mass communication breaks down, then you are
once again going to find yourself being that weird geeky person.
In truth there are many geeky interests that are still kind of niche, but people feel cool
and accepted because you can always find a few people to talk to about them.
But without the connectedness of the modern age, all of that is going to quickly go away.
4.
A Minor Injury Or Other Bruise Or Cut Could Easily Lead To Your Death
One of the first things that would go away is proper access to medical care, and even
often basic medical supplies.
This makes a very difficult situation for those glamorous survivors you see in a lot
of movies, who often look very rugged and scuffed up, like they have been through the
wringer.
The sad fact is that without proper medical care (which most survivors in post-apocalyptic
movies and TV shows don’t have), those bruised and scuffed up people will probably soon develop
a blood infection from their cuts and bruises, and then die a very miserable and easily avoidable
death.
And as for anything much worse than that, you better hope you are lucky and only end
up crippled for life in some form, instead of simply succumbing to your injuries.
Those who are crippled would also likely struggle to fit into society at all, and in harsher
groups with less resources, may not end up finding a place at all.
When you are trying to rebuild society, it can be difficult to justify spending too many
resources on the weak.
3.
People Would Start Having Massive Amounts Of Children Again, And They Would Die
In order to shore up human numbers, and also to ensure that at least a few survive, people
would likely start having massive amounts of children again like they used to.
Unfortunately, this would also lead us back to a time period when children were used greatly
for labor from a young age, and were often considered more of a resource than anything
else.
After all, if times are tough and food is hard to come by, then anyone who eats food
had better be helping produce it as well.
This means children would be more focused on work than getting an education, and parents
could expect, with less healthcare, that most of their children wouldn’t survive to adulthood
and may be afraid to get too attached in the first place.
This means children would grow up not feeling as much affection and attachment to their
parents, but this may be well and good enough, as their parents probably wouldn’t live
very long lives either.
Now, this doesn’t mean parent and child relationships would be loveless, but things
would definitely be much more grim.
2.
Raids Would Probably Be Common, And Life Would Be Violent And Unpleasant
In a post-apocalyptic society, raids would be something people would have to regularly
worry about.
Whether from individuals, mini-armies from entire small cities, or just little raiding
bands, any community or anyone who put down roots would have to constantly be worried
about what kind of people might simply try to run up and take what they have.
You would have to constantly be on alert, and with all the modern weapons still around,
you can almost never be too prepared for what your enemies might use in order to take everything
you have or even obliterate you from the face of the Earth.
Bigger communities with their own militias would probably fare better, but small farms
or families isolated from others would almost be sitting ducks, and probably constantly
find themselves under attack.
Unless you are willing to be part of a big cooperative with a lot of protection, the
more attention you attract with your nice buildings and beautiful lands, the more likely
someone is going to just straight up steal it from you.
1.
It May Sound Fun To Individuals, But They Would Have It The Very Worst Of All
Many young men like the idea of a future where we still have a lot of our knowledge, but
society has busted down and things are now going south.
It’s sort of a feeling of independence, like they can get their chance to live out
of all their wildest power fantasies, and with no rules at all to stop them as a cherry
on the sundae.
However, they would find a society full of patchwork new rules and communities, where
they would either follow those rules while around each community or find themselves quickly
unwelcome.
And if they tried to just raid and impose their will on others, they would often find
themselves against fierce resistance and hunted down.
If they ever needed medical or other help, most survivors would find themselves needing
assistance, and would either need to break down and be a part of society for a bit, or
would already be an enemy of society and find that no one really wants to help them (without
at least punishing them first).
The bigger, more organized societies would prosper, and those that were alone, except
for a few rare survival experts who didn’t mind staying away from others and living entirely
as hermits, would not live long, and would likely have an unpleasant existence in
the new, post-apocalyptic world.