20 October 20XX
My Dear Lucilius:
Our power has again
been spotty of later – although I admire whoever is on the other
end of the power lines for continuing to keep what power the do on.
They have done yeoman’s service in this regard, although to be
completely honest I not sure what the point is, other than to give
the window dressing to the concept that everything has not completely
collapsed.
Enforced in-house
living, due to the snow, has made for the re-inventorying of
everything – both because it is a useful exercise and, frankly,
keeps the mind occupied. I have gone through every room of the house
(all 3 of them!), checking against the list and inventorying against
the day that some of the items will have to be traded for something
else.
In digging through
my inventory of paper – junk mail, the local newspaper, and the
like – I came across an opinion piece we had discussed when it
came out (as I recall, anyway) about how once again we were literally
within years of reaching the point of non-sustainability, that one
with immediate and intrusive government action would life be able to
be maintained at some level (interesting, how only government action
is only, ever, the way to save the day).
I laughed to myself
– somewhat bitterly- as I re-read ot/
One wonders where
that opinion leader is now, or the hordes behind them that felt that
only government action could stave off the end. The end, or at least
an end, has come – ironically enough somewhat enabled by government
action. The very body that was supposed to save everything has
instead just enable the destruction of the same.
If they were in a
city, their circumstances are hard right now, if not awful. I can
imagine, even though I am not there: some hours of power, no food
beyond what may be distributed, and the sinking feeling that nothing
good is coming out of this situation. The very “government” that
was supposed to save things has become the instrument for ensuring
that (almost) everyone suffers equally. Despair, if not death, has
taken hold.
Not to say that all
of that is not true out here in the non-urban environment either.
Almost all of the same items potentially apply, with the exception of
the government ensuring we all suffer together. Government out here
was only ever able to manage things a little in the best of times;
now they have retreated to the core or to their own part of the
countryside to make their way.
I pulled that paper
aside to save to read again, perhaps in another year or so to amuse
myself again. Or to keep ready when whatever comes after happens and
people again believe that government is their only salvation.
Your Obedient
Servant, Seneca.
Ha. As you note, that's the problem now.
ReplyDeleteGood update, TB.
Thank you Linda. And yes, that is the problem now. And will continue to be the problem, right up until it is not.
ReplyDeleteGood chapter. Expecting the government to fix anything and everything seems to be the default response to all perceived problems. I'm guessing because this puts the responsibility on something else, rather than Self. But it requires turning a blind eye to the consequences, i.e. the price we all pay---our freedom---for letting the government "solve" our problems.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're planning to publish The Collapse in some form. It's interesting reading and good food for thought.
Leigh - This was certainly not what the Founders intended at all. If I were a better student of American History I could tell you when this happened, although I suspect it has been a slow shift since the early 20th Century and only ripened in the 1960's with Johnson's Great Society after that.
ReplyDeleteNot that the government is at all disinterested in this, of course: the government Wants to be the solution to all problems, because solutions equal money and power and control. Authoritarian institutions of any kind encourage dependence. They may say they want people to move to independence, but it only the limited sorts of independence that really have no impact.
Thanks for the kind words on the writing. I know The Martian started this way too - who knows?