ON THIN ICE

Someone of great wisdom once told me that there was only a paper thin separation between human civility and outright anarchy. Most humans, as is there nature and in times of crisis, can be reduced in an instant to an ethical default state, when we take upon acting solely on our primal instincts as a survival tool and as a reaction to our powerlessness. It can happen at the hands of nature’s brutality, such as hurricane or earthquake, or as a result of man made terror, arising from human’s callous disregard for each other. The resulting conduct is similar regardless and it is during these episodes that we witness mankind in their exposed state of carnal frailty.

Examples of this phenomenon can be found on television nowadays as post apocalyptic survival show seems to be all the rage. “Revolution” and “The Walking Dead” are two popular dramas that both chronicle the lives and struggles of survivors following an epic world changing event. Characters in both shows behave in ways they would never have considered before disaster struck. It is easy to watch the episodes and empathize with the oft violent and vicious behaviors they exhibit because the viewer can see clearly that these people, in the position they are in, have priorities that directly affect their survival; weapons, food, water and shelter. Whoever has those has the power. When power becomes intoxicating, conflict and violence is usually not far behind.

Back here in the real world times are changing. Our country is cut in half ideologically and our leaders are now divisive and contemptuous rather then unifying and courageous. Secessionist movements are cropping up in several states as our recent election gave many the final indicator that our country is going down the drain at the hands of socialists. Disaster and doomsday preparation products and TV shows are increasing and gun sales have skyrocketed since the emperor assumed the throne. Shows demonstrating survival techniques in the wild have become commonplace. Our country is on the verge of a fiscal meltdown and Europe is an economic cesspool. Islamic fundamentalist are infiltrating cultures all over the world and have made strong inroads here and at the White House. Terrorist countries will have nuclear capabilities very soon and we are becoming less equipped to defend ourselves from those who wish to obliterate us. The picture is hard paint with a positive brush stoke.

There are those who evaluate these facts and events with concern and they look at the totality of the picture with a not so subtle alarm. It doesn’t take a great degree of insight to understand that trouble may be ahead. One only needs to watch the riots in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and Spain; the military conflict between Israel and the Muslim world; Hurricane Katrina and Sandy, The Whittier Narrows, Northridge and San Francisco Earthquakes; The eruption of Mount St. Helens or the Texas fire inferno; the World Trade Center attack. Bankrupt cities have butchered their law enforcement agencies and crime is running amok. Look at the bizarre, unexplainably violent behavior that surfaced in the shopping malls on Black Friday and its hard to deny that there is a savage living under our skins.  

My friends we have entered into an age where half the citizens of this country expect government to do everything. When catastrophe strikes, they are invariably the ones who will clamor the most for help. They care not that the feds seem to do everything it should not and fails to do everything it should. Look at the last several natural disasters. Government help is always late and never adequate. Let the others rely on them for their survival. We must at least develop a modicum of self sufficiency should our time come and we should keep in mind the glib courtesies of our “civil society” today is but a veneer that barely covers a depravity entrenched deep inside us. Once the parchment thin wall paper of moral obligation is stripped away, self interest, fear and despair awaits the best of us. The Rodney King riots teach that lesson well.

We would all like to think that in a situation in which the stark horrors of survival were thrust upon us that we would act selflessly and rise above the masses. I have had the opportunity during the course of my career to witness a wide variety of human reactions to crisis, horror, chaos and violence, including my own. I have learned that people can be entirely unpredictable and the heroes are not always who you think they will be. Be prepared.