Countdown To Carmageddon
I don't watch "zombie" movies and I don't really get the big deal with them over the last couple years but a couple weeks ago I was flipping through the channels and started watching some show that looked to me to be about some sort of extreme camping with a small group of people. Maybe after a big war or something. Then I realized, it was that stupid "Walking Dead" show. I watched it awhile then got bored but it got me thinking about how close we are to living in a zombie apocalypse and how some places already are. I mean, Liberia is basically in an apocalyptic state. So is Somalia. Civil war, cannibalism, starvation, 10 year old kids cutting off people's limbs with machetes, gang rapes, burning down villages....
I wonder how long it would take for America to reach this state of apocalypse. I'm guessing stop the sale of gasoline and shut down the electricity for less than a month and the wheels come OFF. Most grocery stores only carry about 3-5 days stock and if you've ever seen how the shelves empty during a snowstorm warning, this isn't hard to believe. Living in the pacific northwest, we're told to have about three days of canned foods and water in case of an earthquake but i doubt many do. I'm sure if we went much more than a month, we could work out some kind of system with the food but during that third week it might get real dark. In rural areas there would probably be some small farms but I'm sure they would take care of friends, family and neighbors before giving away food to strangers for useless pieces of paper (money). Even if we turned to hunting down some of these deer that make it into the edges of the city, that's a pretty bleak idea. Most peopl can't manage to walk five miles much less track and hunt a wild animal. BUT...let's say you did. Let's say you're walking through the woods. You spot your deer. Take aim, shoot, hit. You manage to follow his blood trail and track him down...Now what? You've got a very limited time to dress that deer before it becomes a nest of bacteria, maggots and flies. No time to google it and watch a youtube instruction on a computer that's long since ran down it's battery. So, back to the start. God, I hate canned food.
And gasoline? Outside of Portland, OR. I know VERY few people who could manage more than a week or so without a motorized vehicle. This is a big thing with me. Always has been. Most people refuse to even discuss this. But, this country is becoming weaker and weaker with it's dependance on automobiles. Weaker in every way. Physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally....financially.
Most of us can't picture any farther back than our grandparents or any farther ahead than grandchildren but picturing just one more generation back and one more ahead, a much, much different world exists. During our great grandparents' time, surviving during a blackout, I'm sure was no problem. As it was no problem anytime before them. Who knows what it will be like two, three generations ahead from today but there's no way, NO way that it can or will continue with the current system or ideals in place.
Even if it were to continue, how do you think it's being fed? Oil. EVERYTHING is being fed by oil. Remember a few years ago with the BP oil spill and everyone pretended to boycott BP by posting on social media "boycott BP Oil!" But continued to support offshore drilling by buying gas from other companies doing the same thing, not changing driving habits, not giving consideration for those who are trying to make a change? yeah, remember that? Well, the oil is not only still spilling from that same spot but it's created a "fault line" that's leaking oil in different spots ever since. That oil that was hundreds or thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor, dozens of miles off shore was meant, by nature, to stay there. Fracking on the mainland isn't any better as it's polluting and ruining our water supply. Sacrificing the ocean, the water supply and wildlife is a small price for some. As it's been said by many, 'anything to keep prices down.' But what about the idea of feeding your gas tank with human bodies. Yeah, all the kids that are signing up for a war that they think is being fought to "protect our freedom" but in reality is all about oil. And apparently heroin. Afghanistan produces about 90% of the world's heroin and for some reason we have American soldiers protecting poppy fields that are owned and worked by Afghanistan farmers. But that's another rant for another time.
I can access my angry, cynical self and say sacrificing these rednecks who arm themselves with the flag, a bible and a gun and believe firmly this idea of "manifest destiny" and America's right to do as it wants because of our "superior" ideals. But...as an attempt to be a better human, I have to (at least try) and refuse to feed that part of my ego and mind.
Most of us will never even attempt to live "smaller." God knows a lot of my attempts were out of necessity and not out of goodness but different situations provide us with different perspectives. If they don't, then you're just wasting the experience. I really wonder how many of us initiate change from within anyway as opposed to initiating change due to pressure from outside forces.
You know when you see those satellite photos of the world at night and you can see how well lit different areas of the world are? Like up and down the East and West coasts of the U.S. is all lit up with a few random places in the middle of the country. Then you look at Africa and it's almost all dark except for a couple places nowhere near each other. Think if an asteroid hits the earth (don't laugh. It has before and chances are, it will again). Those dark areas will already be ahead of the game. Well, other than the civil war, cannibalism, starvation, 10 year old kids cutting off people's limbs with machetes, gang rapes, burning down villages....
The achievements and advancements of our civilization are only serving to make us weaker humans.
I wonder how long it would take for America to reach this state of apocalypse. I'm guessing stop the sale of gasoline and shut down the electricity for less than a month and the wheels come OFF. Most grocery stores only carry about 3-5 days stock and if you've ever seen how the shelves empty during a snowstorm warning, this isn't hard to believe. Living in the pacific northwest, we're told to have about three days of canned foods and water in case of an earthquake but i doubt many do. I'm sure if we went much more than a month, we could work out some kind of system with the food but during that third week it might get real dark. In rural areas there would probably be some small farms but I'm sure they would take care of friends, family and neighbors before giving away food to strangers for useless pieces of paper (money). Even if we turned to hunting down some of these deer that make it into the edges of the city, that's a pretty bleak idea. Most peopl can't manage to walk five miles much less track and hunt a wild animal. BUT...let's say you did. Let's say you're walking through the woods. You spot your deer. Take aim, shoot, hit. You manage to follow his blood trail and track him down...Now what? You've got a very limited time to dress that deer before it becomes a nest of bacteria, maggots and flies. No time to google it and watch a youtube instruction on a computer that's long since ran down it's battery. So, back to the start. God, I hate canned food.
And gasoline? Outside of Portland, OR. I know VERY few people who could manage more than a week or so without a motorized vehicle. This is a big thing with me. Always has been. Most people refuse to even discuss this. But, this country is becoming weaker and weaker with it's dependance on automobiles. Weaker in every way. Physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally....financially.
Most of us can't picture any farther back than our grandparents or any farther ahead than grandchildren but picturing just one more generation back and one more ahead, a much, much different world exists. During our great grandparents' time, surviving during a blackout, I'm sure was no problem. As it was no problem anytime before them. Who knows what it will be like two, three generations ahead from today but there's no way, NO way that it can or will continue with the current system or ideals in place.
Even if it were to continue, how do you think it's being fed? Oil. EVERYTHING is being fed by oil. Remember a few years ago with the BP oil spill and everyone pretended to boycott BP by posting on social media "boycott BP Oil!" But continued to support offshore drilling by buying gas from other companies doing the same thing, not changing driving habits, not giving consideration for those who are trying to make a change? yeah, remember that? Well, the oil is not only still spilling from that same spot but it's created a "fault line" that's leaking oil in different spots ever since. That oil that was hundreds or thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor, dozens of miles off shore was meant, by nature, to stay there. Fracking on the mainland isn't any better as it's polluting and ruining our water supply. Sacrificing the ocean, the water supply and wildlife is a small price for some. As it's been said by many, 'anything to keep prices down.' But what about the idea of feeding your gas tank with human bodies. Yeah, all the kids that are signing up for a war that they think is being fought to "protect our freedom" but in reality is all about oil. And apparently heroin. Afghanistan produces about 90% of the world's heroin and for some reason we have American soldiers protecting poppy fields that are owned and worked by Afghanistan farmers. But that's another rant for another time.
I can access my angry, cynical self and say sacrificing these rednecks who arm themselves with the flag, a bible and a gun and believe firmly this idea of "manifest destiny" and America's right to do as it wants because of our "superior" ideals. But...as an attempt to be a better human, I have to (at least try) and refuse to feed that part of my ego and mind.
Most of us will never even attempt to live "smaller." God knows a lot of my attempts were out of necessity and not out of goodness but different situations provide us with different perspectives. If they don't, then you're just wasting the experience. I really wonder how many of us initiate change from within anyway as opposed to initiating change due to pressure from outside forces.
You know when you see those satellite photos of the world at night and you can see how well lit different areas of the world are? Like up and down the East and West coasts of the U.S. is all lit up with a few random places in the middle of the country. Then you look at Africa and it's almost all dark except for a couple places nowhere near each other. Think if an asteroid hits the earth (don't laugh. It has before and chances are, it will again). Those dark areas will already be ahead of the game. Well, other than the civil war, cannibalism, starvation, 10 year old kids cutting off people's limbs with machetes, gang rapes, burning down villages....
The achievements and advancements of our civilization are only serving to make us weaker humans.
