A coworker mentioned something about this series on the History Channel and he asked that I download them for him for a presentation at work. Since this scenario could be part of my work I thought it would be interesting to see if any of you have an opinion about it or have seen any of these shorts (Also, since Ginger has stopped blogging altogether). The first part is here and it may link to the rest. If not, it is on YouTube.
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Yes, I became a little soured on blogging when I try to start a post and am interrupted umpteen times by small children, or a messy house that need tending to. Well, the kids will always need something and the house doesn’t seem any cleaner, so maybe I will start again.
Well for sure it is a sensationalized worst case scenario. I don’t know how well Katrina can stand in as an example for the rest of the country. One glaring difference is that all the competent people had already evacuated NO, so they were left with the worst of the worst. That being said, LA probably would be as bad as they said, but other communities (like SLC and Denver) would probably do pretty well. I’m just glad I live near a water source and have a 3 month supply of food.
One thing they fail to account for is the fact that some organizations (like the Church) would continue to function on a small scale.
Katrina is a special example. (Competency had little to do with NO’s poorest of the poor not evacuating, they had no means to leave [The local gov’ts never planned on evacuating these folks even though they knew they existed]). The following day, towns not affected by the broken levees setup checkpoints with armed police that wouldn’t allow people on foot to come into their town.
Yes, this is a worse case scenario that is not far off what could happen in any major metropolitan area under these extreme circumstances. Your water source would soon be overloaded with others needing water too. The collective would have to decide how much is too much and where to draw the line. In part 5 I think, one of the professors says, “will you stop and pick up one person still in the ocean if it means you risk killing every one else on the full life boat, or will you paddle away?” We don’t have to make those decisions, because we haven’t had to face them, but it wouldn’t be too far fetched if we were thrust into a situation like this.
Also, we’re talking about a pandemic flu that affects 1/3 to 2/3 of the population. It won’t be just the worst of the worst, but a healthy mix and you’d be surprised how easily “normal” people slip into a primal state when their basic needs aren’t met. I believe the saying is, “our society is 9 meals away from anarchy”.