Top Jobs in a Post Apocalyptic World
Posted by vonnagy on Jul 23 2009, in apocalypticpost, post apocalyptic jobs
So a disaster happens that wipes out most of mankind, what jobs are available for you – jobs that will not only help you survive in the midst of the misery but also make you a bit of coin the side. This list is purely subject, but I base this on jobs found on the American frontier, the Wild West. The resources I drew upon were from here and here.
This not exhaustive, it more about the type of jobs available after the
Craftsman – If you have a skill, use it or lose it (the latter referring to your life). Blacksmith, Gunsmith, Mechanic, Electrician, Carpenter, Engineer – your skills can not only make you a bit of dosh in the wastelands, but it can also help make your community thrive.
Doctor – the best doctors will the ones who can do it abit of everything. Specialists maybe one tricks ponies and may not last long in a post apocalyptic world. If your skills are only as good as the technology that you use to evaluate patients, then you are going to be about as useless as hat full o’ busted assholes.
Merchant – If you have access to goods (and way of keeping them safe) – you are on your way to profitting after the Apocalypes. The market economy ain’t gonna die in the wasteland, it’ll be perfected. Trading, bartering and sales skills will come in handy. Just make sure you keep a double barrelled shotgun close by.
Prostitute – Be it she-whore or man-whore, you can put your body to the test here. Mankinds oldest profession ain’t going nowhere. If you got the goods, you flog them off to the highest bidder. In some pioneer societies it there was a 9 to 1 ratio of men to women, so you could work those number to your favour.
Entertainer/Artist – People need hope in the Wasteland. If you can sing, play a banjo, tell a good story, wrestle midgets, or get into some street preaching. Throughout hard times, artists flourished and were respected, so even if you don’t make a lot of money – you are still worth something to the living if you can give them a reprieve from the burdens of life.
Farmer – People will need food. Cattle or crops, if you can grow or raise it, then you going to make yourself valuable to society. Of course you will need land for this, so you be short on good dirt. If you can get your land to work for you, I am sure you’d be a revered member of a Post Apocalyptic society.
Pillagers are anyone who can take from the living (or the dead) with minimal effort. This could be a theif, robber or a scavenger. They do not exchange any goods but rather take the rewards of other people’s effort. You can later trade with others (see merchant) but beware, your fate may be the same as those you’ve preyed upon.(scavenger image from here)Thats it for now, I’ll come back and put more thought into this post from time to time. I’ve also left any semblance of civil jobs (such politians, lawyers and tax agents) out of the picture. Hopefully these will be gone after the Apocalypse. See, the wasteland may not be such a bad place after all?
Mad Fishmonger
A brewer of beer and distiller of spirits will be affluent in a PA world.