One of the things in the novel is that they start weeding out, at one point, the people who are from the city (as in, they were born there) from the people who just happened to be in the city at the time of the blast. They also start to refuse any newcomers, to ensure the survival of the city they're in. It's really more of a town, because it's so small, but...ah well. Anyway, what ends up happening is that they weed these people out, but they let new people in ONLY if they have skills that can be used in the city. In this day and age of uber-technology, only practical skills will really be useful. EMP knocks out EVERYthing electronic, so literally they were back in the dark ages, as far as technology went.
This got me to thinking: man, I would definitely not be accepted into this town, with the skills I have now. Honestly? A LOT of people I know probably wouldn't be accepted into the town. I mean, sure, cooking is a practical skill, but in a town in such a place, they would be looking for military help, or for physical (read: large strong people) help, or stuff like that.
It was funny, I got a new job recently, and every day I sit at that desk, and I kind of marvel at the inanity of it all. I mean, it's at a bank, a foreign exchange bank, and the primary function of this bank is to trade currencies on the market (as in, buying and selling), so that our clients make money (and the bank then makes money ourselves) off of the difference. A lot (actually, nearly all) of this business is done over phones; the sales people cold call people to see if they do business overseas, or if they would consider it, and once they convince those people to say yes, they transfer those clients over to the 'traders', who deal with the clients for the rest of their business with the bank. My job, then, is to scout the competitors, and find out literally everything there is to know about them, and provide this information to my boss, the VP of Sales and Trading. It's just a little crazy, because EVERYthing this company does is based on tech that is literally watching graphs rise and fall, and watching currency value rise or fall, and watching CNBC (a business channel) all day. Sure, I find the corporate world somewhat interesting....but, what if the power went out? That entire business...would be screwed. There would be NOTHING to do, because everything is online. Further more, everyone there, all these 30-something, high-powered traders? They have no practical skills. All their skills are is negotiating and convincing, and they can extrapolate information based on arbitrary graphs that they have no control over. I can only imagine that these people also would not be let through the gate to this city to stay....I would think they're even MORE screwed than I am, because this, this is their career. I'm doing this for the summer...they're doing this for the REST OF THEIR LIVES.
Okay, maybe that's unfair. Maybe one of them hates it, and doesn't want to do what they do. I have to admit, though, from what I've seen so far, that seems very unlikely. Also, don't get me wrong; for the hourly pay I'm getting, I'm down to do this for the rest of the summer and then never ever ever ever do it again. After working here, and at my last two jobs, I can safely say that the business world is never going to be something I enjoy. It is simply too boring.
The job I DO want, something to do with writing, well, I can't say that's much better in terms of applicable skills to a situation such as the one described in 'One Second After'. I'll have way more fun with it UNTIL the world ends, though. I imagine that once that DOES happen, I'll just make sure my family's safe, and then venture off to find my friends. There'll be no way to contact anyone, so I think within the first day or so, I'd just get on my bike and hightail it downtown to find people like Carrie, Christianne, Ashley, etc etc, since they're the 'closest'...it's sad that my CLOSEST friends, location-wise (and friend-wise), are like 2 hours away by bike. Aurora and Richmond Hill? I have close friends there, too, but...that's so goddamn far away. Maybe after the downtown trip =P Oh well.
Anyway, that's the post for tonight. It's nearly 2am, and I have to get up for that aforementioned bank job. No, I'm not robbing a bank...though that would be cool. I also have to sort out so much crap with the Registrar tomorrow...ugh, course enrollment is the worst. Bedtime!
lol nice to know that Jenn and I shouldn't wait for your rescue in the event of the Apocalypse...
ReplyDeleteBut yes, "One Second After" is a powerful book, you all should read it (as Sho said, I have it so if you want to borrow it just let me know). It's a book that makes you think, but in a scary way as what is described in the book is a real potential threat to our way of life right now and the way the people in the book act and what they do to each other is not at all surprising when you really think about the situation they're in (hint: the Hobbesian account of human nature is heavily prevalent).
The novel really makes you think about what we value in our lives and the fragility of the society we have all become so accustomed to living in and take for granted. What would out lives be like without our cellphones, computers, phones, cars, electricity, running water? What would happen if all this were to be taken away all at once, from everyone at the same time, with no foreseeable point in the future at which life will resume some form of regularity?
I personally take a hands-off approach to it all. Such a situation is so horrible that there is no point in worrying about it (as doing so will drive you crazy and will require you to fundamentally alter your current attitudes about life and what could lie in your future). If it happens, it happens. I'm just trying to enjoy whatever time I've got left (although I am not really succeeding in that respect lol I should probably try harder).
Shoaib, you have to read "The Road" next. It's less interesting as a story when compared to "One Second After" BUT it's another book that'll make you think about all the themes you've touched on in your post (and in a lot of ways moreso as "The Road" takes place after many years of the apocalyptic event). It's also wildly depressing. Probably one the most depressing books ever (although I think the film is even more depressing, seeing everything happen on screen, all at once. We had like grey weather for like a week after I saw the movie so every time I looked outside I'd think about it. It stays with you).
In your last post you said that "I'm not wishing that aliens come to Earth in real life any time soon, and start shooting the place up. Goodness knows the world has enough problems without aliens blowing crap up all the time" so I have a little question for you lol. What's the lesser of two evils in your opinion? A mass, world-wide alien invasion (by a militarily and intellectually superior species but they want our resources so they're not like completely destroying everything, just us) or an "apocalyptic" event as described in "One Second After"?
The lesser of two evils is definitely, to me, the One Second After thing. Yes, lesser. It's because, you're facing other humans. They're going to try and kill you because they want what you have, in order to survive. Maaaaaybe you'll be able to reason with them, or beat them, or whatever, right? They only have the same experiences as you/me/everyone else does, because we're all human.
ReplyDeleteThe aliens, however? If they have the technology to fly to Earth through space with enough weaponry, troops and other things that are good enough to kill EVERYONE on the planet, I seriously doubt there will be less casualties in a war with them, than there would have been with a war among humans themselves. I also like to think that in the case of an alien invasion, humans will be more likely to band together in the face of possible extinction. Obviously there's going to be pockets of people that are trying to take advantage of the situation by doing horrible things to their fellow humans (and you see this in Falling Skies =P), but...when humans are being systematically wiped out, I'm going to bet that there are LESS people who do that, simply because more people are dead >_>
But, hopefully neither of those things happens any time soon. I discussed the alien thing with Carrie and Christianne a while ago, and I came to the decision that I would totally join the army if it came to that (I'd join the army if Canada needed soldiers, in a normal war, too), as in, against aliens...but they weren't too impressed lol.
That sounds like an awesome book! I'd love to borrow it sometime, if I could, Matteo. I absolutely LOVE apocalyptic premises. But... I watched The Road last year, and it was way, way, way too depressing. Like, I don't ever want to see it again. Oh, and understand, this was more of a "Viggo is sooo cute! I HAVE to watch this movie!" and then being faced with like, cannibalism for god's sake. That movie was waaaaay too intense for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's always fun to dwell on the "what ifs" of these ideas though. What if we did completely lose our technology saturated way of life? Like in all of these hypothetical situations, I have NO idea what I'd do, and dwelling on it /too/ seriously is just freaky.
And in regards to your job- yeah. Our society is completely based around technology now. It's crazy. I read a short story for my SF class- Vishnu at the Cat Circus, by Ian McDonald- that hypothesized the future of society, as we get more and more reliant on technology. Instead of proposing "the end of the world" as an event that comes about through some terrible catastrophe (aliens, for example), the author wrote about how, with more and more technological progress, we all just uploaded our consciousness into the "internet" (or what it had become) and ceased to be human. And there was nothing left on earth.
So which do you think is more likely? This EMP business, nuclear war or whatever, or our own, willful, and voluntary erasure of our own humanity?
Anyway, I liked this post! :)