The Monster Within

A bit of a philosophical post before going on vacation. I firmly believe that every human being has the willingness to commit murder in their hearts. Scrub away the Saab, the Cardigan sweater, the espresso enemas and you essentially have a wild beast, held in check by a thin layer of morality and social customs. Granted, most social customs are an extension of morality, but not all. For example, is it a violation of morals to eat with your hands instead of silverware?

Obviously the social customs would be the first to go in a societal collapse. Things like polygamy and polyamory would rise in acceptance quickly. Especially if the female to male ratio is out of balance in either direction. I know for the Christian segment of my readership is not going to be too happy with me lumping marriage with "social customs." I just would like to point out that Christians have affairs, just like everybody else. Although that is a poor example, as breaking an Oath is a moral issue.

Back to my original point, as I try to avoind the slippery slope of religion, everyone is capable of murder. If you had a child who was sick with some horrible disease, and some corp offered you a cure if you killed a death-row inmate for his stem cells? If you were starving, and you saw a group of thugs kill someone for food, would you kill the thugs for the food?

I could go on and on with these thought exercises. What does that mean to us?

If the poop hits the fan in a bad way, then I fully expect to have to kill for my survival. Let's face it, I work in a densely populated urban environment, surrounded by a lot of people with questionable moral standards. How bad an incident has to be criminals take advantage of the reduced law enforcement presence? What did that study find? After 3 days the average human would steal to eat, after 7 they would kill.

I don't mean to dwell on such negative aspects of our preparedness. It is a situation I never want to face, I hope all the prepping we do is in vain. But if something really bad does happen, the woman in the pantsuit might try to kill you for the MRE you are eating. My plan is to avoid as much humanity as possible, so I won't be forced into such a situation. But I prepare for the situation, in case it presents itself.

I am currently reading "Dies the Fire" by S.M. Stirling. I'm only half way through and I think it's an excellent book, well written and entertaining. I will be buying the remainder of the series and passing them to friends once I am done. This is what got me to thinking. Any book that makes you use your noggin is a sound time investment.