Hey Cosmicprep
As always, "it depends".
.......on all the factors at hand at the time ; not so much about what we think we want in terms of direction. That will expedite contrasting/conflicting notions .
Surthriving and having tweaked our particular niche of governance protocol would already be a great accomplishment. If that is really the case, then that begets a vantage point which brings a new collective wisdom which has been rare amongst humans who have chosen to live in high density as currently, or are thrown together by circumstances not chosen.
This process is the way the slate is wiped clean. It will not be wiped clean to the extent that old consciousness prevails , sucking hum unkind down the great hole.
It cannot prevail if there is critical mass of "new" consciousness of being part of the great Whole, and its ways.
It's not so much what we will do,.... as there may be severe limitations .... but HOW we do what we do, in concert with others of a creative intent..... who care to do checks and balances amongst each other.

Your handle says it all ..... : cosmicprep .........a truly noble aspiration!

Food for thought. The sixth stage of collapse.

http://cluborlov.blogspot.ca/2013/10/the-sixth-stage-of-collapse.html

I too think there is no "do over" , the time it takes to collapse to the extent you are talking about , and I am realizing that might only be decades to a century , will see horrendous desperate acts by mankind and those are happening increasingly all around us . I do believe it will see the earth rendered rather inhospitable compared to how we know it today . So in mass, we need to adapt faster than any civilization has ever evolved right at this very moment in time and that meme has to spread like wildfire . I think organic gardening/ small scale homesteading and a high raw diet needs to replace conventional diet, people need to shun overpopulation and over consumptive lifetyles and waste, people need to lead with creative , inventive repurposing and sustainable use , in a manner that generations cherish , respect and pass down their material assets in wisely built multigenerational homes set up to be independantly powered by sustainable alternatives. I simply don't see it happening in the first world on the neccessary scale and that thinking may exist perhaps slightly more in some of the less developed world, but they are rapidly adopting our lead here which is further ensuring our fate. To change that meme takes tremendous impact, we have to shun the grid to the point that the systems are disbanded in favour of small scale wind and solar etc and make a more humble lifestyle look like the sexiest most sumptious lifestyle ever. Government is kicking the can down the road in the mindset that they know. If we all simply went off grid they would have no reason to build more nuclear and small alternatives would be more empowered and used globally following our lead . If we stop eating corporate agri industry and imported production , even 90 percent of our diet, it would change those industries to meet our consumption in order to have trade profit. If our petroleum consumption dropped 90 percent and people saw that as a successful change for more happy healthy people who were fit and dropping off medicational dependancy by another 90 percent . If we stopped banking and investing for our retirement in paper investments and started investing in ourselves and our communities and all that happened as quickly as possible , you might actually have change . If we could treat each other with respect and abolish prisons and 90 percent of the military establishment world wide, and I don't see that happening unless we all change so quickly that their existance is not channeled to another level by demand for it, otherwise truthfully we have reached the point where there is no 'do over' for a civilization of humans . Some other life forms may evolve from cockroaches or something. I do not think the slate is going to be wiped clean in the manner you suggested, so we need to do whatever we are fantasizing as the better path, right now .

Have you ever read the Republic, by Plato? It's a book about a conversation of his where he basically builds a society from the ground up. Who does what. Every role, every job. He basically sums up, what I'm unsure of, as either a perfect citizen or a perfect cop, either way it's a great example of how you would go about creating a new social, political and economic system.

One thing that struck me in particular was this. "Then he who is to be a really good and noble guardian of the state is to unite within him or herself philosophy, spirit, swiftness and strength."

He goes into pages and pages of detail over what those four things mean but I'm going to translate exactly what they mean.

Philosophy- That is honed out of education of history, science, deductive reasoning based on fact, logic and debate. The love of learning.
Spirit- He also referred to this as "heart", and it is derived from practicing music, sculpture, painting and drawing, the original practices of the dawn of humans as we are today, for fire was just another tool we discovered, but it was by firelight that we made the first cave painting, separating man from animal. The arts is also what was thought to bring bravery and passion out in someone. I'm not too sure about bravery(I've seen lots of terrified artists) but passion I can understand.
Swiftness- That is the prelude to military training, what is basically described as cardiovascular and endurance training.
Strength- This was derived from gymnastics and weight lifting.

Whatever society or individuals remain after, art and education must play a pivotal role in reference to the values this society would hold dear. Otherwise it doesn't matter who is alive afterwords, it would be a remnant of a dark age, ruled by fear, devoid of science, moral aptitude, and culture.

We have it lucky in Canada. We have the largest useful land mass on the planet. We will have to form small communities to survive and trade will be one of the mainstays of life.

We have it lucky in Canada. We have the largest useful land mass on the planet. We will have to form small communities to survive and trade will be one of the mainstays of life.

If you have natural resources like oil, land growing crops, water and landmass , I wonder how long you are lucky with 315 million americans with the strongest military force worldwide knocking at your door , I suppose to trade, because they would never simply invade another country with their forces to manipulate the situation to their own advantage.

If you're not prepared. I hope you know yoga. They you can kiss your *** goodbye.

I think you should prepare for slow collapse instead, maybe rename the thread "IF shtf, then what"

We have it lucky in Canada. We have the largest useful land mass on the planet. We will have to form small communities to survive and trade will be one of the mainstays of life.

If you have natural resources like oil, land growing crops, water and landmass , I wonder how long you are lucky with 315 million americans with the strongest military force worldwide knocking at your door , I suppose to trade, because they would never simply invade another country with their forces to manipulate the situation to their own advantage.

The USA is in very bad shape. They can't pay their debts. If Canada is smart we'll look to China for more trade. As long as Harper is gone, we'll get a good deal.

Perhaps I was a bit too flippant in my opening line...I don't expect any whistle or even an announcement on the evening news to denote the 'official start' to SHTF. Rather it'll come as an individual realization, a "Holy S**t" moment, an epiphany, when it can no longer be denied. We are in the slide now, maybe a week, a couple years, or as much as a decade, but the beginning was some time ago. There is great danger in deciding too soon, that its here. Historically the "fringe element" (not my term, History's) in any social collapse has surfaced too soon and were eliminated by events. Wait and be sure...
How long will it last? Everyone has an opinion, but count on at least after the second winter (here in BC) and as long as several decades. Accompanying the break in society will be a great 'die-off'; forecasted to as much as 90% (or more) of the current world population. Once the dust settles from this and a new minor society created by the few survivors, which could take many years, then what?
A Dark Age, that could last a thousand years if we're not extinct by then. The duration depends on what the survivors find important in their lives. I'm advocating a deliberate program by preppers to do what they can to shorten this dark age. After the Roman Empire fell, the resulting Dark Age lasted (depending who you read) 700 years or more. The credit for the end of this age is given to fortified monastaries etc. who preserved the knowledge that provided the foundation for the Rennaisance.
You don't have to 'join a club', or whatever. All you have to do is think about this while prepping, and do what you can.

Canada has been on a mission for a few years to trade much more with China and I believe the reason it wants the oil line through to the west coast through British Columbia to a Kitimat port is to market oil overseas rather than send it to the US for refining and selling it cheaper to them . Saddly those tar sands are going to be exploited one way or another as long as it is feasible.
I see Quatar setting up multifaceted greemhouse/solar energy /desalinization systems quoting they are preparing now while there is still oil .

We have it lucky in Canada. We have the largest useful land mass on the planet. We will have to form small communities to survive and trade will be one of the mainstays of life.

If you have natural resources like oil, land growing crops, water and landmass , I wonder how long you are lucky with 315 million americans with the strongest military force worldwide knocking at your door , I suppose to trade, because they would never simply invade another country with their forces to manipulate the situation to their own advantage.

You might have 315 million people.. but if a true SHTF happens.. half will be dead fast if it happens in the winter.. how long will the northern states last (im talking the average city slicker) last with no heat.... Move to say central Alberta and enjoy -40 for a couple weeks in a row.. plus -20 for a month.. I see the south being over run when and if people start fleeing their homes... I hope i'm right..

I know how our winters feel too. At least we're getting a brief reprieve right now on the sub-zero temps.
But considering the "cold" temperatures, wonder how the forests or other burnable items will last ... as people start burning for warmth as well as for cooking.

Imagine how long the forests will last with far more preasure from increasing populations burning them, then add increasing temperatures and as the oceans acidify, increasingly acidic rain cycles and soil . Remember these are not all the diverse natural forests , some of these are tissue culture clones with very little genetic variation , little diversity to call upon to see what will be the best adapted genetics . I think we are seeing in bees, bats, marine life such as the starfish, that new bacteria and fungi infections are adapting faster than the hosts under changing conditions , overwhelming them, the beetles infecting trees are adapting with shorter breeding cycles increasing their populations .
Something else is playing on my mind as well, a farmer this summer told me his 7,000 acres of potatoes will simply stop growing tuber when the temperatures hit a heat level higher than they want to grow. Do other temperate climate plants do this ?