Are We Entering The Zombie Apocalypse?
We all know that our world is growing cold. It's getting more and more difficult to find a warm smile, a compassionate gesture, or even eye contact. It's easy to blame the breakdown of community on the pace of the modern world, but I think there's more to it. It goes deeper than just distracted people with hectic schedules.
I believe we're turning into zombies. It is the apocalypse, after all. There are plagues, wars, and famines. We should have known zombies were next. Okay, zombies are not explicitly mentioned eschatologically speaking, but if you squint, they are kind of implied.
All this prompted me to search for locust recipes online while reflecting upon how we got into this situation. Americans have always had a great capacity for compassion. We've all heard the stories of a man jumping into a river to save a drowning stranger, a family who gives up their Christmas gifts to help a struggling neighbor, or a local business that donates a day's profits to help with the medical bills of a needy family.
It's our nature to react to other people's pain. We feel it deep inside us when we see someone else in crisis or peril. So, we also feel it when we see someone being humiliated.
We've had decades of reality TV that has infected every part of the culture. People are repeatedly demeaning themselves online and in the public square. Degradation wounds people. It hurts us to see this happen to our fellow man. It's overwhelming our compassion. Our systems are shutting down. We're becoming zombies.
After all, the first step toward eating your neighbor is to become apathetic toward him. Of course, we've each been affected to different degrees, but we all know we're not the people we used to be. Most of us have said at one time or another that things that used to shock us don't faze us anymore. The internal cues that drive us to take action are being dulled. We're slipping further and further away from our humanity.
We need a plan to defend ourselves against the zombie hoards. We can't send Kim Kardashian to Mars, at least not immediately. We could hunker down in a My Pillow fort, which would be comfortable but offer little to no protection. There's nowhere to hide. So, we're forced to face the problem head-on. Yes, when dealing with zombies, keeping our heads on is very important, but I digress.
We must treat this condition like the injury that it is. If we have a sprained ankle, we have to stay off it for a while and let it heal. All this screen time is making us dispassionate observers of life. We must be vigilant and let our souls heal. If we view something where someone is degrading themselves, we should watch something else. We can find alternative entertainment.
Perhaps we can take a class in papier-mâché. In light of the apocalypse, it will come in handy if the currency collapses. Or, we can practice various blank peasant stares in the mirror. Just because we have become subjugated doesn't mean we shouldn't look good doing it.
As we've discovered in the last several years, we need each other. Allowing ourselves to be numbed to each other's pain instead of bringing comfort is not the path to happiness. We must preserve our capacity for compassion and empathy. It's a better plan than roaming the earth eating people's brains.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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The title got me! But yes, completely agree. People are more closed off, impersonal, and selfish than ever. Mobile devices and social platforms have facilitated this. The Covid shutdown rules have promoted this. Our tendency to be self centered has risen to the top of our most common behaviors, and it’ll be here to say unless people with a voice set a new example. Bye bye Kardashians, hello Patrick Bet David. That’s the change I’d like to see.