Post-Collapse Migrations

[Glue Man]

As the title said, this is more of a problem that is likely to happen after all the initial problems. Many of them are going to change where people live as much as how.

 

For example, commuting isn't going to exist unless we get a replacement for oil. Assuming we still have society, a lot of people are going to have to move further into already crowded cities. (Alternatively, suburban areas start getting more, smaller workplaces. Unlikely though). No cars would also put a lot of stores out of business. That restaurant right off the highway? You're not walking there.

 

Many cities in the US are uninhabitable if electric and water stops running. We've turned a lot of the desert in the south and southwest into metropolitan areas. They'd need to find a new home, or risk dying after the bottled and canned goods are used up. And they might not even have cars to get out of there with.

 

On top of those problems, not everybody already living in a more fertile environment is going to be happy with a few thousand people moving in. The midwest probably has enough farmland for everybody (for substinace), but I can see land disputes happening easily. I'm on the optimistic side, and think new socities would form fairly quickly in the event of a collapse, but that also means we could have a former industrial farmer ruling the land he used to have a deed to and make serfs out of everybody.

 

I might be thinking too far ahead, but the mass migration of people will be a civilization problem of its own when the other problems start really hurting the world. I live near a lake, and near farmland, so I'm not too worried about myself. Being a serf would suck, though.

[BTGBullseye]

The thing is, the vast majority of cityfolk would probably end up ignoring the problems until it's way too late, resulting in mass death on a global scale. My guess is that the world's population at that point would be at or under 2 billion, which would allow for 'wild west' style living without issues. (global population first hit the 2B mark in 1927) Bear in mind that issues such as oil depletion will result in massive wars, so that's one of the major population depletion sources I'm using for my estimates. (over 50% of the world's population lives in cities that would be prime targets for military strikes)