How secure is civilization. Historically, countless cultures have risen to dominance over their small or sometimes not for small region. ANd many have just as suddenly disappeared. Why? What is different about our culture and civilization?
One of my favorite stories is Lord of the Flies. A group of young British boys from upper class families and an elite school is stranded on an isolated island through air crash landing. Within days they revert back to primitive life, rule of fear, killing severalof their peers without remorse. Think about blizzards, hurricanes, blackouts. The resulting lines and fights in grocery stores as foodstuffs are bought out. Or the riots and mobs and looting that occurs when authority breaks down. It does not take much . . . just the threat of a mild disruption.
The more advanced a culture gets, the more fragile the lifeline gets, the easier it is to destroy. Think of the sieges of ancient towns . . . six months, a year . . . Troy for ten years. How long would one of our large cities last? Two days? Daily shipments of necessities from outside would be cut off. Little inventory exists for the multitudes of people. Fights and authority breakdowns would quickly result. Like a JIT system when disrupted, the plant shuts down quickly. Any breakdown that disrupts the system for more than a week would cause major catastrophe.
We do not have to worry about destruction from the outside? We will do it to ourselves when shut off from the rest of the world.
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