>But many people survive, and a society quickly develops post-war. But it is dominated not by those who were most individually prepared, but by those who contributed the most to their neighbors and communities.
This is exactly what all the "prepper" survival types don't seem to understand. In a nuclear apocalypse, your supply stores will be nothing but a resource cache for roaming bands of killers. And your supply of 50 guns with ammunition will just be an extra fun treat for them. The only way to survive is alliances, trade, and mutual defense. Life will revert to feudalism very quickly.
I don't think feudalism is the correct term here, that was a very specific system where hereditary lords provided military aid to a king in exchange for the land which the serfs belonging to the lords worked. That seems closer to what you imagine prepper survival types want with the gun nuts lording over everyone else.
I don't believe most preppers think or act the way you imagine. The gun crazy redneck with a bunker is a trope from movies and reality TV.
This is exactly what all the "prepper" survival types don't seem to understand. In a nuclear apocalypse, your supply stores will be nothing but a resource cache for roaming bands of killers. And your supply of 50 guns with ammunition will just be an extra fun treat for them. The only way to survive is alliances, trade, and mutual defense. Life will revert to feudalism very quickly.