Forum Post: Survivor Island

I've been thinking about how the world is supposed to work, what is "natural" and what is inherent in human nature which most likely will never be changed, and what is learned. It got me to thinking about a world where there wasn't any money, or Superpacs, or Supreme Court justices, no campaign managers, or Twitter followings. I believe that I have common sense and am fairly pragmatic, but I see that some of my political beliefs were the result of my upbringing. I don't know how I would react to being in a new environment with people who self-identify as liberals or libertarians, communists, Buddhists or Muslim or Mormon with no rules, start from scratch and form a society. A place very much like Survivor on TV, except without any TV crew or help from the outside world. Put a group of say, 50 people, on this island with most constituencies represented (race, religion, rich/poor, sexual orientation, etc.) and see how it plays out. You have to worry about everything from food to shelter, taking care of the sick, trading various forms of work, sick and vacation days, policing, social policy, politics, etc. Personally, I think within a relatively short time you would have factions or alliances form much as they do in Survivor, mostly for protection. People would follow natural leaders, much as they do in real life. There would be certain people who shoulder much of the load for hunting and fishing, for example. others who might have medical skills would have a lot of value for being able to heal the sick. It would be interesting, no doubt, probably end up having some intratribal violence, sabotage, etc. Would everyone end up coming together and learn to share their talents, or would everyone end up dead? What would happen to the dead weight in the society, those that wouldn't contribute? Do tell.