Toilet Paper Baron

Recently I've read several books about the demise of modern society. The first, The Road by Cormac McCarthy is probably the most famous of the two and we've discussed it here already, so the one I want to talk about today is





In this novel, modern American Society has collapsed as a result of an unpopular, un-winnable war, a bad economy and a series of bombings in major cities. The characters of the book are attempting to just stay alive in the returned-to-dark-ages landscape of upstate New York. There is no more electricity, telephones or law enforcement and the government is all but absent from their daily lives. Thugs and religious groups fight for territory and one pandemic after another sweeps the nation unchecked by medicine.


Let me tell you chickens, I don't want to be all "The SKY IS FALLING" but more than The Road, this version of the potential future seems all to scarily possible. What IF the world economy collapsed? What IF the oil producing nations all decided to hate us at the same time? What IF we were no longer able to run to Wal-Mart for a gallon of milk? How many of today's society would be able to return to a self sufficient way of life?


Could it get to this point, even? Aren't there meant to be stop-safes in our society that would prevent this sort of socio-economic melt down? If so, what are they?


We sit in our subdivisional houses watching digital cable thinking "oh, those poor African-bush people!" confident that this National Geographic life will never actually touch our own with no real assurances that it won't. It could, you know. A civil war with Mexico or dirty bombs in the major cities, a pandemic like the Plague, a discord with our oil suppliers and then what?


I don't know about your cupboards, but my collection of Slim-Fast shakes and half-stale Ritz crackers probably wouldn't help me ride out any sort of long term disaster. I better start hoarding Toilet Paper, too. That stuff will be worth it's weight in GOLD.