After Armageddon

[bojangle]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Armageddon

After Armageddon is a 2010 History Channel docudrama about the travails of survivors after a deadly global pandemic that first aired on December 21, 2010.

I saw this years ago. I am re-watching this right now. A separate thread reminded me of this fictional docudrama film featuring the scenario of a flu pandemic completely shutting down modern industrialized society, and a likely version of events to follow for any survivors. It features a paramedic, his wife, and his son who lived in LA during the outbreak. This stuff fascinates and scares me. I think the show did an excellent job of painting a realistic scenario, giving helpful advice for a long emergency that will never return to what we know as normal, and showing just how fast the veneer of society will break down when basic services that we take for granted stop. Some people simply don't want to watch, read, or think about these things. But I highly recommend watching this. IMO, the possibility absolutely exists that we might actually experience something like this in our lifetimes, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a flu pandemic that does it.

The entire show is on youtube below.


youtu.be/R8rYaPfFLgo

The show ends on a positive note toward a survival of society similar to that of the 1700s and 1800s. That would be a best case scenario. Other scenarios for the future of mankind are much worse.

 

[Xenophonii]

Speaking of pandemics, give "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston a read. Some truly scary stuff...

 

[antidote]

I don't plan on surviving societal collapse. Less to worry about, too.

 

[Schnellbandit]

It will be the generation that never experienced a time without a smartphone in their hands that will be the one to fail. They simply won't be equipped nor have the means within themselves to find a way to keep going without some box or dot telling them what to do, when and how to do it.

 

[afm199]

Fortunately my expiration date is close enough that stuff like this doesn't bother me like it used to.

 

[gt3x24x7]

Realistically, a bullet to one's own head would be the best way out. Someone or something WILL kill you. We're not billionaires or important government figures to have protection of the military. Be realistic for regular Joe and Jill citizens like us

 

[bruceflinch]

Fortunately my expiration date is close enough that stuff like this doesn't bother me like it used to.

Me Too, Sonny Boy! :afm199

 

[Abacinator]

Speaking of pandemics, give "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston a read. Some truly scary stuff...

I read it years ago. Great, if not quite a chilling book.

 

[Johndicezx9]

Fortunately my expiration date is close enough that stuff like this doesn't bother me like it used to.

Me Too, Sonny Boy! :afm199

:laughing yeah, I'm gettin' there...

 

[mlm]

Wait, you mean bullets and gold won''t save me?

 

[rsrider]

Other scenarios for the future of mankind are much worse.

Lke the one where Trump gets elected to a second term?

I've stated many times, even on this site, that it's more likely that a pandemic is the closer for humanity, than a nuclear war, but now there seems to be another arms race ramping up. The "modernization" of our nuclear arsenal......what could possibly go wrong?

 

[Map8]

Lke the one where Trump gets elected to a second term?

I've stated many times, even on this site, that it's more likely that a pandemic is the closer for humanity, than a nuclear war, but now there seems to be another arms race ramping up. The "modernization" of our nuclear arsenal......what could possibly go wrong?

Political commentary belongs in the Political forum. We have that forum for a reason.

 

[JesasaurusRex]

I'll check it out a bit later. If you're not willing to take other peoples lives/stuff i don't think you're going to make it. Nice guys will finish last (or first) imo.

 

[Erbuck]

Yes, after a discussion a while back with some friends of a doomsday scenario like this, we concluded that people may look back on this time as the golden age when antibiotics still worked.

On the other hand, the advances in anti-viral treatments may keep us ahead of the next potential plague. For the rich people, at least.

I'm not sure I would want to hang around for the decline of civilization either.

 

[Schnellbandit]

Unlike the slow erosion of civilzations in the past (relatively speaking) the next one will be so fast and hard imo that there won't be a lot of figuring things out. The speed of advancements also mean the speed of declines can be just as quick.

 

[redruM]

Wait, you mean bullets and gold won''t save me?

Nope. Better to be armed with a positive mind-set, green-inked paper bills and a crypto hardware wallet. :laughing

 

[Mike95060]

Wait, you mean bullets and gold won''t save me?

Only if you have most of them.

 

[Reli]

Realistically, a bullet to one's own head would be the best way out. Someone or something WILL kill you. We're not billionaires or important government figures to have protection of the military. Be realistic for regular Joe and Jill citizens like us

Exactly. There's no point "prepping" for a life that isn't worth living anymore.

 

[bojangle]

Speaking of pandemics, give "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston a read. Some truly scary stuff...

I'll look it up. I did once read a book called The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler which was a similar theme of societal collapse.

I don't plan on surviving societal collapse. Less to worry about, too.

The will to survive is pretty strong. Something might kill me, but I couldn't see taking my own life.

Fortunately my expiration date is close enough that stuff like this doesn't bother me like it used to.

I sure hope nothing like this happens in my lifetime. But still, that's a bit of a selfish outlook. It still bothers me that this could happen to my kids, or just the future of mankind.

I'll check it out a bit later. If you're not willing to take other peoples lives/stuff i don't think you're going to make it. Nice guys will finish last (or first) imo.

Oh, definitely. Plenty of predators will be out there who won't hesitate to kill you for whatever you have. Good people won't do that, but you'd have to be prepared to kill others in self defense. Everyone will be acquiring things they find left behind and on their travels. Everyone will take from the dead. You gotta survive.

Yes, after a discussion a while back with some friends of a doomsday scenario like this, we concluded that people may look back on this time as the golden age when antibiotics still worked.

On the other hand, the advances in anti-viral treatments may keep us ahead of the next potential plague. For the rich people, at least.

I'm not sure I would want to hang around for the decline of civilization either.

This is most definitely a golden age we live in. One that, as of right now, isn't sustainable either in the long run.

Exactly. There's no point "prepping" for a life that isn't worth living anymore.

I mostly agree. The show isn't about prepping, or peppers. It is, IMO, a likely scenario of whay would happen to survivors after the collapse of modern society. That could come from a flu pandemic, or it could come from something else. It is advisable to keep plenty of food and bottled water at home. Also advisable to be prepare, or be aware of whay you'd want to throw into a bug out bag. Beyond that, everything else is too unpredictable.

 

[CoorsLight]

Exactly. There's no point "prepping" for a life that isn't worth living anymore.

In this hypothetical day after, I'd posit that the people who survive to reestablish communities and civilization would be among the most important people who ever lived. Their lives may not be enjoyable, but they are most certainly worth living.