Why A Zombie Apocalypse Is Not The Answer

Speech – Viewers of The Walking Dead (30-1 Blog Post 1, Spring 2017) 

I’m the first to admit it, I sometimes think about what an apocalypse could accomplish. I don’t mean that I want to see masses of death or destructive harm, but rather, I imagine a way to eliminate some of the institutional expectations that have grown along with populations the world over. Wouldn’t it just be easier to start again fresh, instead of trying to find ways to solve society’s seemingly unsolvable problems? The AMC series The Walking Dead appealed to me from the first – likeable characters, emotional investment, and fingernail-wrenching cliffhangers. A way to vicariously experience what it would be like to have our “normal” razed to the ground, to have an opportunity to start again and really get it right the next time. As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly apparent that the issues plaguing current society are amplified in a survival setting, not reduced. It becomes clear that one is not cheering for destruction, but instead, for the creation and maintenance of order. In other words, the zombie apocalypse will not solve mankind’s problems, and would instead leave survivors wishing for a return to the luxury of solving our existing problems in a less extreme setting.

An apocalypse is an “easy fix”; permission to destroy, most likely by accident (excepting the likely inadvertently destructive creators of the zombie virus strain), structures and institutions that seem to be failing a lot of the time. Developer-Director Frank Darabont brings this post-pandemic world alive, regularly reminding viewers how normal and not normal life has become in this recognizable future. Darabont’s TWD is so inspiring in its early seasons for this reason: humans working together to survive, drawn together by common values and working together to overcome circumstance and a sinister “other”. Zombies are understandably detestable targets. Humans that are now also free from the limitations of expectations, order, and niceties. But, as the show progresses, it becomes clear that the real enemy to the survival of humanity is not the zombies, but rather fellow humans, vying for a position of authority, and control over the remaining resources. At this point, other humans are the danger and the competition. Although unwieldy and at times seemingly ineffective, one can’t help but wish for the return of protective institutions and processes to prevent and limit the damage that humans can do to each other when unchecked; a calvary to call when things are at their worst.

We are the calvary. We are all that is coming,  and often that is only true if we have maintained supportive institutions to allow for broad and socially available supports. At some point in our lives, we humans will likely find ourselves in need of help. How wonderful to have family and friends who are willing and able to help. How wonderful to have the back up for when we are without, or the situation is beyond these important supports. Individuals cannot always be counted on, corporations have proven to be less than reliable in holding themselves accountable, and groups can be fickle and swayed. But institutions. Those suckers aren’t going anywhere, unless we take them apart on purpose, a few bricks at a time. There are those that are already being held together with spit and a prayer. For example, how many people do you know who attend some kind of moral lesson, religious practice, or spiritual space weekly? Who is developing morality? I would be hesitant to remove any institution that has guided people in valuable ways, yet I can see the arguments about control and abuse of power clearly.

The same could be said of education. It’s well known that the current school system, although undergoing smaller evolutions, was founded on the need to train workers for manufacturing jobs, and to develop literacy and numeracy proficiencies. School has become a popular institution to question in our current society. In order to produce Henry Ford’s Model T’s in the most efficient way, an assembly line was created and required workers who could take orders, and do repeated, sometimes mind-numbingly repetitive tasks. Companies hiring workers could now expect a certain level of compliance, due to the training their employees had received as pupils in classrooms. But the latter remains important – students need to be prepared for participation in the workforce, whatever that becomes for them in the coming years. They have choice beyond what has historically been widely available, and autonomy to better themselves, their lives, and the lives of their offspring, should they choose to procreate. And I would suggest that there are certain tasks in most jobs that the worker or employee might find mindless, repetitive, or taxing. How wonderful to have a literate majority, one that can read for themselves and participate in enormous global conversations. How wonderful to have a place to practice making mistakes, to learn how relationships and learning works, and to develop your choices as you plan for your future.

How luxurious to have these options. The time resources that are dedicated alone to our individual personal and professional development would never fly in The Walking Dead, especially (spoiler alert) in the later seasons when the groups are fighting more humans for survival and autonomy than zombies. The calvary hasn’t existed in this reality for years, and yet it’s at this point that I find myself wishing that someone was coming to get him, to properly rein in an uncontrollable, savage dictator that has taken power in the show. I have become attached to the characters I’ve been watching weekly for six years, and I don’t want them to have to be the ones to save humanity. They have no protection left, no layers to insulate them. I wonder if we are willing to effect slow change, so we can see the collateral damage, and not unwittingly run over a population I hope the brickwork hasn’t been laid into too deeply; there are supports we will miss once they are gone. It is the responsibility of those who see disaster coming to warn the others. Because the truth is, we want, need, and even prefer society’s institutions to be there.