I’m a bit of a Depression Baby. Not in the actual sense of having been born during the major economic upheaval that occurred beginning with the market crash of 1929, but in a secondary sense in that my parents were born in the early 1930’s & 1940’s. They grew up in the era of frugality. As children, they saw aunts and uncles who had gained wealth lose that wealth in a dramatic and rapid drop. The large fine house, the expensive baubles, the silver, the chandeliers, the household help…poof…gone. The proper & proud relatives, who had financial security in a time before social security, had their life savings wiped out in a matter of weeks. Their efforts to ensure security fell short in a time where there was no federal safety net. Let that sink in… If your reading this, chances are you have never known a time when assistance, federal, local, charitable, wasn’t available. Our collective memory is one of relative peace, even though we have seen The Iraq War, The Afghanistan conflict, and the strange posturing of North Korea. We didn’t see 50 million people around the world die from the flu in the winter of 1918. We didn’t see millions of soldiers die in full scale international conflict, twice. No, we grew up in a time where urbanization was on the rise, power and food were plentiful, and everyone that wanted it had access to education.
Collectively, our society likes comfort, almost in a wimpy way. But, it’s not our fault. In fact, I don’t believe there is any actual ‘fault’. We are mammals. We like to be comfortable. And warm. We don’t like to be uncomfortable and we certainly do NOT want to see our children be uncomfortable. Which is why our generation, and to an extent those born post 1950, would have a hard time living, let alone surviving, without electricity, running water, and prepackaged food in bags and plastic containers.
I’m not sure if I could survive too long myself and I know how to filter water, catch critters, and build a fire with flint. I L-O-V-E my bed. I really like to be warm. I like junk food and sweets. I’m really out of shape and to me, that’s comfy. In this world, none of the things I mention are hard to acquire. But, you want to know why I really like my bed, and warmth, and food, and did I mention warmth? Because I know there is impermanence in this world. I learned that lesson from my parents. We all have seen or read stories of heart strung anguish related to the impermanence of love, yet stories of the impermanence of food, water, shelter, security are not as popular.
Collectively, we tend to not hear that reality. Unless you happen to be a major fan of The Walking Dead and if that’s the case, you already have either looked at a cross – bow or have purchased one. But back on topic, is the probability of mass destruction very high? No. Nor was the probability that high of a major tsunami in Indonesia wiping over 200,000 humans off this Earth.
Probability is the estimation that an event will occur. Probability does not predict what has not occurred…yet.
So, like the goat sings in Hoodwinked, “Be prepared, be prepared. This lesson must be shared…”
A Different Kind of Normal 