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wingedbeastA phrase that's come up in my thinking and writing of this series is "pre-apocalyptic". That word describes this current, pre-apocalyptic society more than just in terms of a time-line relative to a potential future apocalypse. It also describes much of our mindset, as a people.
Much of our society, today, is shaped by people looking forward to the end of the world, by one means or another. We have post-apocalyptic fiction a-plenty, most of which, these days, is devoted to the more cozy kind of post-apocalyptic world, in which people survive and rebuild and live among the... zombies or the newly de-powered world or the not-fully-successful alien invasion.
World War Z (the book, not the movie), while being one of the best examples of a realistic human response to a zombie apocalypse, is also very idealistic about how things will end and who will be made to look foolish.
And, while most of the adherents of the major monotheistic faiths don't view their faiths as being about the end of the world, the extreme elements that long for that end do manage to get an undue amount of political power.
What's more, when it comes to matters of environmentalism, people in power have actually made the argument that it doesn't matter because God will start the apocalypse soon enough, anyway. Similarly speaking, end-times believers have also planned their financial futures with as much care.
What all of this means is that one of our strongest obstacles against making sure that our society can survive and thrive into the future is the expectation and desire that there not be a future.
If you exist in order to make use of these tips as tips, rather than semi-ironic amusements over the internet, then you are proof that, yes, there is a future, even if you don't expect it. I can predict, with a high degree of certainty, that some of of your remaining and rebuilding population won't get the point. They'll predict another end, for reals this time, with the last one just setting the scene.
Who knows? Depending on the nature of the apocalypse, it might just be the case. Or, at the very least, you won't be able to prove that it's not the case that the world won't really end this time... or the next time... or the time after that... or this latest time for sure! The end times will always be a non-falsifiable claim up until the time comes and goes without the end.
So, I can't, technically, give a complete, 100% guarantee that the world won't end. But, I can give you a complete, 100% guarantee that, if the world does end, that will take care of itself. If the world truly ends tomorrow, there's nothing to be done for it. At least, there's nothing to be done for it that can't also be done while planning for the world to continue.
That is your responsibility, always plan as though there will be a future. It might not be one with you, personally, in it. Disasters can and will happen and do need to be considered. But, the end of life on earth leaves nothing to be considered save how to make sure it doesn't happen.
Much of our society, today, is shaped by people looking forward to the end of the world, by one means or another. We have post-apocalyptic fiction a-plenty, most of which, these days, is devoted to the more cozy kind of post-apocalyptic world, in which people survive and rebuild and live among the... zombies or the newly de-powered world or the not-fully-successful alien invasion.
World War Z (the book, not the movie), while being one of the best examples of a realistic human response to a zombie apocalypse, is also very idealistic about how things will end and who will be made to look foolish.
And, while most of the adherents of the major monotheistic faiths don't view their faiths as being about the end of the world, the extreme elements that long for that end do manage to get an undue amount of political power.
What's more, when it comes to matters of environmentalism, people in power have actually made the argument that it doesn't matter because God will start the apocalypse soon enough, anyway. Similarly speaking, end-times believers have also planned their financial futures with as much care.
What all of this means is that one of our strongest obstacles against making sure that our society can survive and thrive into the future is the expectation and desire that there not be a future.
If you exist in order to make use of these tips as tips, rather than semi-ironic amusements over the internet, then you are proof that, yes, there is a future, even if you don't expect it. I can predict, with a high degree of certainty, that some of of your remaining and rebuilding population won't get the point. They'll predict another end, for reals this time, with the last one just setting the scene.
Who knows? Depending on the nature of the apocalypse, it might just be the case. Or, at the very least, you won't be able to prove that it's not the case that the world won't really end this time... or the next time... or the time after that... or this latest time for sure! The end times will always be a non-falsifiable claim up until the time comes and goes without the end.
So, I can't, technically, give a complete, 100% guarantee that the world won't end. But, I can give you a complete, 100% guarantee that, if the world does end, that will take care of itself. If the world truly ends tomorrow, there's nothing to be done for it. At least, there's nothing to be done for it that can't also be done while planning for the world to continue.
That is your responsibility, always plan as though there will be a future. It might not be one with you, personally, in it. Disasters can and will happen and do need to be considered. But, the end of life on earth leaves nothing to be considered save how to make sure it doesn't happen.
