# What would you do after surviving a 95% fatal pandemic? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239 "2012-03-19T16:32:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/61 "2012-03-20T18:14:49Z")
I’m goin’ to Disney World! I’d get in free. I wouldn’t be able to ride, but there wouldn’t be any lines to get in anywhere. And I could take all the souvenirs I wanted for free! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/62 "2012-03-20T18:22:53Z")
Even with a 95% die-off, my town would still have close to 3000 people left in it. Easy for that size a group to decamp to the local foothills, take over the housing and farms there and start securing a base of operations. Defensible, fertile farmland, _lots_ of chickens and turkeys in the neighborhood, copious apple and citrus orchards, springs and fresh water close by… Yeah, I can see civilization surviving and thriving in the thousands of pockets like that around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/63 "2012-03-20T18:29:51Z")
Keep in mind that 95% dieoff will not be even around the world. Some communities will be completely wiped out while others might be barely touched. I think heading to one of the lesser impacted communities to begin rebuilding society. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/64 "2012-03-20T18:38:00Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > We would have the same number of criminals post-apocalypse as we have now, but we would lack the police and judges and jails (and basic accountability/societal “glue”) to keep them in line. People would quickly band together and would figure out some way to deal with those who won’t play by the rules. You’re right though, no jails. We couldn’t afford to waste our labor on jailers and we couldn’t afford to let our laborers just sit around in a cell draining our resources. I suspect vigilance committees would be formed and punishments for infractions would include public humiliation, corporeal punishment, banishment and executions for the most serious crimes. > [@](#): > > You can’t assume that everyone who goes mad with loneliness and anger will simply self-destruct by suicide. Some of them are going to get violent. Seeing a happy mom with kids might drive someone who lost their kids into a jealous fit of rage. I suspect that such people are an extreme minority. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/65 "2012-03-20T19:24:14Z")
I might be able to find a job! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/66 "2012-03-20T20:53:38Z")
95% die-off would leave about 3M people in the U.K. That’s back to post-Black Death levels and we managed just fine. The population loss would likely be reversed in about a century, too: no pensions means large families. Assuming six surviving children per generation, you’ll only need 3 generations. ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/67 "2012-03-20T23:13:43Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > Most posters seem to have a pretty cynical view of humanity. After such a plague, civilization would wobble, but I think we would band together, breed like crazy, and get back on our feet within a generation. (snip) Yeah, I’m with you on that. My neighbors would just as soon fight with each other as help - until there’s a snowstorm, and then everyone’s laughing and sharing shovels. My (very unstudied) view is that humans seem to band together and treat each other better when the environment is making survival a challenge. The Bedouins had/have some of the very strongest traditions of hospitality. It’s the tribes that grew up in jungles that went for human sacrifice and cannibalism. Some struggle to survive might be a good thing for us. Honestly I’ve often thought it’d be fun to try to rebuild the world. I suspect a lot of farming-based communes would spring up, and it’d be more of a wild west kind of situation than a post-apocalyptic one. A 1% survival rate would be plenty to keep at least some electricity and fuel production going. I really think it’d look a lot like the world as we know it, just an awful lot less crowded. ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/68 "2012-03-21T00:02:22Z")
Knowing my luck, my fraking glasses would break right as I got comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/69 "2012-03-21T13:01:29Z")
I’d be no use for repopulating the planet, but I am quite handy for growing crops, and tending livestock etc for food use. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/70 "2012-03-21T13:08:15Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > What would you do after surviving a 95% fatal pandemic? Work on taking out the remaining 5% 😉 ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/71 "2012-03-21T13:24:24Z")
One note about “having plenty of stuff” because 95 percent are dead and gone. Houses and cars? Yep. All kinds of hardware and salvagable stuff to make new stuff or keep the stuff you are using running. Sure. Food, probably not so much. We go to the store and see mountains of canned and jarred food. But I would suspect that most stuff in stores has a turn over rate of about a week, maybe two. Might be a bit more, or perhaps even less than that. So, after ebola gets the 95 percent, your supply of food is going to last about 20 times that . If the turn over is a week, all that food that keeps well is only going to last 20 weeks. If the turn over is two weeks, it will last almost a year. If all those people that died have a weeks worth of food left at home that will buy you about another 4 months. If the store turn over is 2 weeks on average and dead folks have left another 2 weeks worth of food at home as well thats 4 times 20 or 80 weeks. So, it looks to me like “all that food” might get you through the first winter and if you are lucky the first two, which is nice, but folks still better get good at growing crops pretty fast. As far as living off already produced food you’d be a lot better off if more like 99 percent died right off the bat. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/72 "2012-03-21T13:35:46Z")
Canned foods last at least fivbe years. [http://preparingyourfamily.com/shelf-life-commercially-canned-foods/](http://preparingyourfamily.com/shelf-life-commercially-canned-foods/) Some last longer. Dried food can last damned near forever. If 95% of the people die, there’s going to be plenty of viable stored food for a lot of people that’ll keep. Hormel clsaims its food will keep indefinitely if the seal is unbroken. You can eat Spam 'til you die: [http://www.hormelfoods.com/faqs.aspx#can4](http://www.hormelfoods.com/faqs.aspx#can4) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/73 "2012-03-21T13:42:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Canned foods last at least fivbe years. > > [http://preparingyourfamily.com/shelf-life-commercially-canned-foods/](http://preparingyourfamily.com/shelf-life-commercially-canned-foods/) > > Some last longer. Dried food can last damned near forever. If 95% of the people die, there’s going to be plenty of viable stored food for a lot of people that’ll keep. That article clearly states that the five year figure is based on proper storage of the canned goods. I’d say it is a safe bet that with the power grid down and whatnot, that we can figure the cans are going to be exposed to fluctuating temperatures. In much of the country, they will be frozen in winter and hot in the summer. Start factoring in things like leaking roofs and things get even uglier. At the end of the first year, most of it won’t be fit to eat. Despite what the Fallout games have taught us, we won’t be digging cans of Pork n’ Beans out of the rubble and eating them for long. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/74 "2012-03-21T17:27:03Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > That article clearly states that the five year figure is based on proper storage of the canned goods. I’d say it is a safe bet that with the power grid down and whatnot, that we can figure the cans are going to be exposed to fluctuating temperatures. In much of the country, they will be frozen in winter and hot in the summer. Start factoring in things like leaking roofs and things get even uglier. At the end of the first year, most of it won’t be fit to eat. Despite what the Fallout games have taught us, we won’t be digging cans of Pork n’ Beans out of the rubble and eating them for long. If you dedicated yourself to migrating to a place with more temperate weather, you might prolong your food supply. Depending on the manner of apocalypse, it might be very difficult to travel, though. Most post-apocalyptic scenarios in movies have been shown to happen fairly suddenly, so the highways are clogged with broken & rusting vehicles. But if the highways were driveable, you could siphon gas as you went and have a pretty easy time of it. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/75 "2012-03-21T17:34:37Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > If you dedicated yourself to migrating to a place with more temperate weather, you might prolong your food supply. Depending on the manner of apocalypse, it might be very difficult to travel, though. Most post-apocalyptic scenarios in movies have been shown to happen fairly suddenly, so the highways are clogged with broken & rusting vehicles. But if the highways were driveable, you could siphon gas as you went and have a pretty easy time of it. Bicycle or horses for me, thanks. Both are stealthier and far easier for me to maintain than a car or motorcycle. If I ever ran into trouble on the road, unlike almost everything else, a horse could go off road through trees and brush fast enough to speed me to safety. Plus, chicks dig horses. Oh, and I can finally wear my Levi’s jean jacket again. You know, if this happened, I’m putting my efforts towards livestock. Horses and sheep, I reckon. Sheep wouldn’t need as much feed as cows, plus I could get a wool business going. I’m staying clear of pigs and chickens in a pandemic environment, though. In conclusion, mmm mutton. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/76 "2012-03-21T17:36:51Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > If you dedicated yourself to migrating to a place with more temperate weather, you might prolong your food supply. Depending on the manner of apocalypse, it might be very difficult to travel, though. Most post-apocalyptic scenarios in movies have been shown to happen fairly suddenly, so the highways are clogged with broken & rusting vehicles. But if the highways were driveable, you could siphon gas as you went and have a pretty easy time of it. Especially if you steal an idea from The Stand and travel by motorcycle. One would want to avoid the temptation to go with a chrome encrusted behemoth of a street cruiser, though. I’d say to go with a mid-size dirt bike or enduro. Then you can travel parallel to roads or in median strips with little difficulty while having the additional advantages of good gas mileage and a vehicle that you can muscle around or actually pick up if it falls off its kickstand. That last is more important than you may think. I’ve helped more than one guy out couldn’t pick up his big ol’ Harley alone when it fell over. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/77 "2012-03-21T19:55:43Z")
Hopefully it will happen after Fall - when I take my basic and advanced survival training. Hopefully my child survives, I think I could provide fairly well for us. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/78 "2012-03-21T22:05:07Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > That last is more important than you may think. I’ve helped more than one guy out couldn’t pick up his big ol’ Harley alone when it fell over. If you can’t lift the damn bike, you shouldn’t be riding it! And yeah, a loud heavy Harley would be massively impractical. I don’t know how to ride a motorcycle, but it does sound more practical than a car. More maneuverable and lower-profile, and such. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/79 "2012-03-21T23:20:04Z")
I’ve lived through a couple large scale natural disasters (major earthquake, 100 year flood), and even where no one was in actual danger (except the people who had already died), it was surprising how people changed. Most people became much friendlier and more cooperative. Sharing news and advice was big when we were almost completely cut off from the big world (in both cases, we had landline phone service but no power for some weeks, and there was no way to travel by car for awhile). Some people became bizarrely freaked out, however, and exhibited extreme and irrational behavior. I’m guessing that there would be plenty of those in the OP scenario. People who live even a little outside the industrial fabric of cities – who hunt for pleasure, backpack, eat out of their gardens, keep food animals, repair their own machines, cut their own firewood – will probably be more able to cope with the lack of services, emotionally. But it seemed to me that it was the sheer uncertainty that tipped people over the edge. Most modern humans deal with an extremely small level of uncertainty on a daily basis and I don’t know that so many would adapt. Would I? Only if I had my husband with me. Otherwise, no. Also a good protective dog would be helpful, and some dairy animals and hens. With those, we’d make it. I know how to grow food. But mainly it would be come down to sharing with others. That’s what has always been central to survival for human beings, and that wouldn’t change. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-after-surviving-a-95-fatal-pandemic/616239/80 "2012-03-21T23:35:35Z")
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