Apocalyptic TV

I've been compulsively watching Jericho, a TV series that my dad lent to me. Even on the tiny TV, it's pretty good. As much as I hate TV, when I come back from work, it's nice to just blob out... and then I end up thinking "wow... TV.... genius invention." Not regular programming, so much, because I hate the commercials. But DVD series are really addictive.

Jericho depicts a small town in Kansas after a series of nuclear bombs wipes out most of the major cities in the US. I like the characters, and I pretty much like the story line, but it makes you think... The citizens of Jericho are forced to live, with no prior warning, with no power (after a while), a very limited supply of gas (limited to what they had at the time the bombs went off, so far), and a limited food supply. Pretty soon they come to rely almost completely on food from the farms surrounding the city. (This does present a logical problem because of the fallout, but it is explained in the case of the corn, which was in the husks, making it safe (hmmmm...)).

As far-fetched as parts of the plot-line seem, it does make me think about our preparedness for disaster. Many consider peak oil to be a coming disaster. Are you preparing? Are you prepared? Have you even thought about it?

Watching this show, I see that their being in a rural area is a help because 1) there are fewer people to feed and 2) they have livestock and farmland to provide food.

When I think about my own life, I see that living in a city is a great and sustainable choice as long as everything is functioning smoothly. If, for some reason, supplies were to stop coming in, there would be a big problem. I used to live in Houston and the stores would totally empty out of bottled water if a hurricane was anywhere near the Gulf of Mexico. And that was in Houston! We lived an hour from the coast.

It also makes me think about what I would be willing to do. For example, there is a scene in the show in which a man stumbles into town dying of radiation poisoning. One man refuses to help him without protective clothing. Two others pick him up and carry him to the hospital. Unless the person was a member of my own family, I think that I'd at least put on some gloves or something. Then, I started feeling selfish for thinking that... How far are you willing to go to help someone that you don't know? (The scene took place in a pharmacy, so I'm pretty sure there were some gloves on the shelf. It seems pretty dumb not to have at least put SOMETHING on). Will you do more for a family member than you would for a stranger?