Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Musings of a Post-Apocalyptic Nature (Among Other Things)

Long stretch of classes for me this week. Usually I have 3 classes "in a row" so to speak (one is a morning class that takes place the day after my evening class). This week I also have a 4th make-up class to being with. Ugh. At least the make-up class was for an *excellent* course and I enjoyed it, notwithstanding the 9am start.

In other news, the ex (from last year) has reinitiated contact. Chances are I'll go with her to see the new Hitchhiker's movie when it comes out at the end of April. I think I'm at least somewhat masochistic. A good friend of mine merely said I wasnt vindictive but I'm betting masochism plays into this as well. How can it not?

Though, for the record, I think I'm also a little sadistic. I don't know that it balances, probably masochism wins out. Still, the sadistic side rears its head occasionally to excellent effect.

As the title intimates, I had thoughts of a post-apocalyptic nature recently. I just finished watching (again) the movie Reign of Fire. There, we have Christian Bale & Matthew McConaughey in a dragon-infested, post-apocalyptic world. Plus, last night's Family Guy episode on Comedy Central was the Y2k one where Peter founds New Quahog after Y2k destroys life as they know it. Both had me thinking..

Were you to be in charge of organizing and setting up a new, post-apocalyptic society, how would you go about it? What would you do?

Me? I would establish a (my, possibly) leadership. Then you pick a direction, a goal. Chances are we'd need to get our hands on some guns for protection. We'd also need to establish some reasonable expectations of labor and progress along with some notions of punishment. Some form of control though one unlike or, at least, less policing intensive than what we have nowadays. I'd also make knowledge a strongly stressed subject. Library books, expertise, knowledgeable persons, those assets are the greatest of all. With knowledge, almost anything can be accomplished, even rebuilding and reconstruction. It'd be tricky, for sure. However, with a few guiding lights, it would be possible and at least moderately (at least temporarily) successful.

Other movies and television series spring to mind. Jeremiah (series). The Terminator movies (especially Terminator 3). Stephen King's The Langoliers (made-for-tv movie). Battlestar Galactica (series). Road Warrior & Mad Max. I know there are others but they're not coming to mind as yet.

Anyways, 'tis a fun gedanken experimenten.