The Disaster of Civilization

I was watching this morning new coverage of the disaster relief operations in Indonesia.  I was reminded of the tsunami and Katrina and other disasters of my lifetime;  and they all had one thing in common -- hundreds of thousands of people standing around waiting for someone to help them. 

Less than half a dozen generations ago you would never have seen such a thing.  Outside help, even from the regime one lived under, wasn't going to help you. You knew that and you got on with it as best you could.  You wouldn't just wait around, you'd hurry to create temporary shelter and find alternative soutrces of food and drink.  You might work together as a neighbourhood or you might work alone.  Either way, if you possibly could you would make things better for yourselves.

The disaster of modern consumer-capitalist social-democratic society is that we have bred whole populations that assume the nanny state will pick up the pieces, that someone else will take care of them, that someone else will fix the problem.  Without assistance, some of the people we see on our news screen will literally hang around waiting for aid until they die of starvation or thirst or injury or exposure.  They will do this heedlessly because they are brainwashed into believing that only the State can help them; that only the State has the ability to solve problems;  that somehow they aren't good enough to help themselves.

This is a sad testimony to what "civilization" has wrought.