Perhaps you are feeling confident in your ability to survive a catastrophic event by putting to use your survival know-how and stores of food. You even learned valuable gardening skills that will ensure your long-term survival. Now, imagine what life will be like after the collapse for which you have diligently prepared. You will be surviving, but will you be thriving? You will be eating, but will you be contributing to the rebuilding of your region by way of trade, commerce, and productivity? You will be alive and relatively well, but will you be cementing a positive future after a collapse?

    There is a divergence of opinion as to what the world will look like after a disaster or collapse. Some survival experts see the population reverting back to a 19th century agrarian-based existence with blacksmithing, cobblers, and tanners making the biggest economic comeback. Others look to the examples of more recent collapses in Russia and Zimbabwe to see that the affected societies did not descend into a near-medieval subsistence but rather adapted their personal trades and subsistence to the heightened government oppression. No one knows exactly the situation society will be facing after a collapse, because that will depend entirely upon the impetus for the collapse itself. A slow and gradual economic decline will present its fair share of hardships but will look nothing like the aftermath of an EMP or nuclear detonation. The focal point for your own preparations will guide your vision of the post-collapse world.