Group Survival during Mutational Meltdown

Reference: http://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2016/04/we-are-worse-off-than-mouse-utopia.html

During the coming "mutational meltdown" and the coming collapse of civilization, for a healthy group to survive it will need to face both internal and external attacks, become autonomous from broader society, and have a worldview sufficiently motivating to overcome a long period of suffering.

Modern society is "uniquely" structured to succumb to mutational meltdown and fail fast, as outlined above and here:

1) No interest in preserving itself against internal or external attack. The most productive and intelligent members are actively denigrated and attacked, numerous policies actively handicap the productive workers while promoting the less productive, their labor is blunted, taxed, and wastefully "managed", while a massive influx of colonizers is welcomed, with the openly desired and stated goal of replacing or destroying the current backbone of our civilization.

2) Everything is highly correlated and linked on a worldwide basis, so that major disruptions to food and energy supplies, and even basics like clothing, will be felt globally. Large portions of the population, as in Africa, are dependent on world aid. Any major setback to the highly complex, technological system will result in major suffering, disease, and starvation worldwide.

3) First-world civilization has absolutely no motivating factor outside of basic hedonism and materialism (and the desire for self-destruction already mentioned). There is no cohesive culture or religion to hold society together and motivate people in the face of major hardships.

Traditional cohesive factors such as a strong uniting culture and ethnicity, with a clear and organized patriarchy are almost completely absent in broader Western Civilization. It is likely and necessary that these factors would emerge during severe hardships, but depending on the speed of collapse would be no guarantee for personal or group survival.

The answer, of course, is a strong and organizing religious faith, which was the basis of civilization for all of history and only abandoned recently. Not all modern religious organizations would survive, and especially those less powerful and loosely organized groups that require little in commitment of their members would fail overnight.

So our options are limited to those featuring:

1) A clear and organized chain of power (not a democracy) that will be obeyed by its members. Clearly a patriarchy is necessary, with the traditional model of divinely ordained Kingship.

2) A strong worldview that overcomes or even embraces discomfort, struggle, and suffering (Christianity has these messages) and a very clear and purposeful reason of existing now.

3) A very strong family structure, with an emphasis on protecting and raising children.

4) Autonomous structures for food, power, clothing, medicine, etc.

5) A way to survive despite heavy, strong, and sustained persecution utilizing modern technologies. Very possibly on a scale not seen before.

In all these factors considered, it appears Mormonism, especially early Mormonism, under the divine-Kingship structure (i.e. the Prophet organizing both religious and secular affairs) may be uniquely structured to survive these coming hardships. The system will likely have to revert back to a more isolated and independent model than currently exists - where many members are heavily involved in secular society, public schools, etc. - but the religion has done good about never forgetting its roots. They regularly recall the struggles of the early Mormon pilgrims, which the expectation that they are at least thankful or may have to experience it again, and have a carefully organized system for making sure members are financially independent, or at least not indebted, along with amble food stores to survive pro-longed hardship. Unlike the suicidal modern system, Mormonism has a clearly delineated and prioritized organizational structure where the needs of immediate family, children, and church members would come before broader society. While the organization is currently one of the most charitable around, these resources could quickly be diverted to prioritizing member survival and protection during a time of major hardship and failure in broader society. Even now Mormon Bishops on the local level have a unique power over their member's time and have extensive practice in organizing members for the above mentioned food storage operations, scouting, charitable operations, etc.

Secondarily, Catholics do have a long-history of survival through many of history's hardships. The problem being though that the whole church doesn't appear prepared, in the way that the Mormons are, for this coming catastrophe. It seems likely a very conservative, tightly-organized Catholic community would be in a good position for survival (e.g. similar to unique ethnic/Catholic immigrant communities that existed earlier in American history), where the Church's structured patriarchy could help selflessly organize members and create or renew a strong and binding culture. Monastics and others maintain the history of a organized life of work and prayer, seasonal feasts, etc. Those who join such communities, even the priesthood, tend to being of above-average intelligence as the study commitments are intellectually strenuous, and the discipline asks unique self-control and selflessness. These are all excellent factors for trusting one for a leadership role or class. Agrarian history and practices could be renewed, housing efforts organized, etc. Mentally the traditional Catholic liturgy puts a strong emphasis on bearing suffering. In many ways the Catholic traditional also preserves legal traditions, and to some degree the culture, of Rome. The main negative, as mentioned above, is these forms may not exist *now* as it does for the Mormon church. Perhaps to some degree one might look towards the Society of Saint Pius X, as even now it faces persecution from the broader Catholic church in its effort to preserve the traditional Roman/Latin liturgy in the face of Vatican II's modernization - has been uniquely opposed to modern moral and cultural changes - and has actually thrived and grown under this persecution.

(In this regard the Orthodox could also be a viable example, with its history of surviving persecution under Communism).

I'd say a third, and less clear option, might be some Southern churches. Some of the south still maintains a degree of cultural independence from broader society (and, again, persecution, mockery, etc.) and has a strong agrarian tradition, firearm and hunting skills, etc. On a smaller basis than the above two, smaller and closely organized communities would have the necessities for survival.