Voracious Consumers!

As a diversion from the madness, we got into watching The Walking Dead a series that runs on AMC. We are watching it on DVD (no commercials) and are 4 episodes into it. It's kind of gory. Lots of blood, shooting and chasing. But it does seem pretty well-made and intelligent. To me it seems like some grand allegory.

I mean, there's these VORACIOUS CONSUMERS who are over-running the country. They are just plain hungry all the time. They are bloody, mindless, super-consumers. Remind you of anyone? I mean, did Putin just call the U.S. a parasite?!?

And then there's a small group of "survivors" who by luck and pluck are trying to make a new life. These are sort of an example of John Robb's proposed "resilient community." I guess these are the good common folks who are just trying to make it.

Suddenly all the things of advanced civilization have fallen by the wayside and these folks have to summon their courage and any skills they may happen to have, and use them to the best of their abilities (maybe that in itself is some kind of self-empowerment fantasy?!).

I'm reading it all as some collective dream or nightmare that our culture is having right now. Maybe by imagining the worst that could happen we deflate it, or forestall it, or maybe it's some kind collective premonition of what's coming.

It is sort of entertaining to watch people carry on in the face of the horror. Maybe that's a fantasy we all need to get our heads around!