Friday, October 17, 2008

Would we make it?

The book I'm reading these days takes place in medieval Europe. It's incredibly detailed and realistic in it's portrayal of life in these times. It's gruesome and almost scary, to read how terrible and hard life was back then.
And it made me think of an article I read not too long ago, written to make the readers think about how we would all survive if the facilities and installations we've got in place now would all collapse or disappear in the near future, without warning.
To make it simple, we would be screwed. Totally screwed.
Life without electricity, without cars or running water. No heat, no real shelter, no supermarket or stores.

Have you ever tried growing food in your backyard?? I mean, we've got excellent conditions and everything to succeed, available water, tools, little sprouts that are all ready to grow.
But we know fully well that we couldn't survive a whole year with what little vegetable grows in our gardens.

Now imagine having to start from nothing...seeds....and even then, can't buy seeds at the local gardening store. We'd have to collect water from the rain or nearest river. Our future would depend on the good will of rodents and bugs, of rain and sun.
And what about winter? Most of us don't even know how to preserve and can food.
Not even talking about meat, dairies and grains here.

We'd have some matches left to make fire, sure, maybe, but how long would they last before we would need to constantly keep watch of the precious fire to stay alive.

It makes me a little nervous an paranoid to see how we are like spoiled babies, totally dependent of what we are used to have so easily. Food is just TOO easy to have, we would be much less greedy and would eat only what we really needed if the eggs depended on our two or tree chickens and veggies were precious and rare.
If the bread we ate was made with our bare hands from the grains we've grown and flour we've grounded.
But we all live a comfortable life, at least lets appreciate it. We live like royalty, even deities.
I love that I don't have to be in survival mode all the time, and that my mind can be put to "useless" things like drawing and decorating and what movie I'd like to see next.
But there will always be that little spot at the back of my mind, when I buy bread and meat at the store, or eat and drink way too much, or lie lazily in front of the TV or go to the bathroom in the middle of a freezing winter night, that says...would I make it?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's why i'm a hunter!!! If something append,I will be ok to eat good meat!!!
You will be welcome!!!!