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wingedbeastIn the pre-apocalyptic society from which I am writing this guide, part of the reason we are so pre-apocalyptic is that some of us long for violence. So many of us see the society around us not as something we build together, but as something that oppresses us. So many of us long to see it torn down and fully expect our neighbors to turn against us.
Even those of us who hold a self-image of holding to the highest standards of morality tend to imagine that the needs of the post-apocalypse are found in weapons and the ability to, through military means, isolate ourselves.
It boils down to a vision for the society after the apocalypse that can be summed up in the phrase "to the last alive go the spoils."
I've already given my thoughts as to how to deal with those with this attitude. But, the important point is that the underlying logic is wrong. The spoils, that is the material wealth and the ability to construct a society that is good, do not go to those who take the best tactical position in a cultural bloodbath.
To live in a society requires many people to do many things. You will want doctors, for instance. And, you will need to make sure that a single doctor isn't the only hope you have for medical attention, which means you need more people to learn medicine. At the same time, someone will need to grow crops and manage farms and other people will need to have that knowledge, too.
What's more, your society will need a litany of small sacrifices people make for each other. People get sick, accidents happen, things cause delays. People will need to cut each other some slack and be willing to take up some extra slack for each other... to mix the slack-based metaphors.
The deciding factors of who thrives, who merely survives, and who doesn't do either can involve a great deal of luck. But, one of them will be the ability, of a society, to take people who are alien to one another, who have differing beliefs from one another, and have them work together for mutual benefit.
It is not to those most willing to kill go to the spoils, but to those most willing to work together.
Even those of us who hold a self-image of holding to the highest standards of morality tend to imagine that the needs of the post-apocalypse are found in weapons and the ability to, through military means, isolate ourselves.
It boils down to a vision for the society after the apocalypse that can be summed up in the phrase "to the last alive go the spoils."
I've already given my thoughts as to how to deal with those with this attitude. But, the important point is that the underlying logic is wrong. The spoils, that is the material wealth and the ability to construct a society that is good, do not go to those who take the best tactical position in a cultural bloodbath.
To live in a society requires many people to do many things. You will want doctors, for instance. And, you will need to make sure that a single doctor isn't the only hope you have for medical attention, which means you need more people to learn medicine. At the same time, someone will need to grow crops and manage farms and other people will need to have that knowledge, too.
What's more, your society will need a litany of small sacrifices people make for each other. People get sick, accidents happen, things cause delays. People will need to cut each other some slack and be willing to take up some extra slack for each other... to mix the slack-based metaphors.
The deciding factors of who thrives, who merely survives, and who doesn't do either can involve a great deal of luck. But, one of them will be the ability, of a society, to take people who are alien to one another, who have differing beliefs from one another, and have them work together for mutual benefit.
It is not to those most willing to kill go to the spoils, but to those most willing to work together.
