Higgenbotham wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2016 4:55 pm
Given human nature, the variability of human desires, and need for scarce resources to fulfill those desires, the state of nature, as Hobbes calls this anarchic condition, must be a war of all against all.
Chapter 35 - The disintegrated world
All against all
When fuel shortages occurred in America in
1973, slogans such as ‘more gas now’ were daubed
on walls, and angry rioters burned petrol stations
and cars. During the French revolution, peasants
stormed the Bastille and the royal palace, though
shortly before they had been meekly tending their
fields and for all the world seemed as harmless as
can be. It is extraordinary how easily violence can
break out when problems arise and threaten
people’s normal conditions of existence.
Frustrations are vented by mindless
destructiveness. If there is no effective authority to
restore order, things can soon get out of hand and
people simply go on the rampage.2876
During the final stages of the descent, police
will be losing the battle against criminality and
civil revolt. People will have to start taking the
initiative to protect themselves, their families, and
their belongings. Properties will be more heavily
fortified and there will be a proliferation of gated
communities patrolled by private security guards.
Whole towns and villages may start to defend their
borders, perhaps with manned checkpoints across
the roads leading in and out. In the cities,
vigilantism is likely to emerge.2877 People will
acquire arms and take it on themselves to
administer the roughest forms of justice. They will
put barricades across the streets controlling entry
and exit to particular neighbourhoods. Boundaries
will begin to emerge everywhere and people will
become increasingly aware of their no-go areas.
As the dark age begins, all overarching
governmental structures will be swept away. The
world and every part of it will no longer be under
anyone’s control. In principle, this implies terrific
freedom. No one will be collecting any taxes, for
example. There will be no driving tests, no double
yellow lines, no speed cameras. Nor will there be
any licensing hours or drink-drive limits. No one
will be required to attend school or do jury service.
It will not be necessary to get planning permission
to knock the walls around in listed buildings, nor to
build a new home on the greenest of green fields.
People will be able to buy and sell whatever drugs
that they please.
Unfortunately, most of these new freedoms
will be purely theoretical. Lawlessness will also
mean a free hand for everybody who wants to rob
or assault others. The fact that there are no
licensing hours will not be much to celebrate when
the pub has no beer because all its supplies have
been hijacked en route. The non-availability of
petrol for similar reasons may make it difficult to
take advantage of the freedom to speed and park
where one likes. During the dark age any kind of
complex activity will become effectively
impossible. Even the drugs trade, ironically, may
be difficult to conduct in the absence of law and
order.
Given such anarchy, it may be possible to
conduct a limited form of barter with one’s
neighbours, assuming that they are not violent
bullies who just take what they want without
asking. However, money will no longer be usable.
Its acceptability depends upon the guarantee of a
political authority and there will not be any. Gold
and silver coins may be exchangeable, for their
intrinsic value, but no one will want to accumulate
too much of these. They will only make one a
target for bandits. In any case, one cannot wear, eat
or shelter under coins – and those will be people’s
main concerns. They will be likely to hide or bury
their hoards of valuables, preferring to live simply
and to keep themselves to themselves.
During the dark age, people will be able to go
wherever they like within the country, or indeed
within the world. They will be able to take what
they like, and behave however they like.
Nevertheless, they will need to be able to stand up
for themselves as they do so. Every kind of bandit
and ruffian will be ready to prey upon them or push
them about. This will be a dangerous time to be
alive. One can expect frequent disturbances and
vicious squabbles. Today, when neighbours argue
about the height of a hedge, they take each other to
court. In the dark age, the aggrieved party may
burn the hedge down. People may return to the
institution of the feud. There will be no sanctions
against murderers. For the victim’s family, the only
redress and the only deterrence will be killing in
retaliation.
In general, the dark age will mean a state of
chronic and general war. This will not be war
between massed armies. It will be micro war,
fought over local issues by tiny groups, using
individual weapons. In the parts of the world where
disintegration is proceeding fastest, traditional
armies are already encountering such renegade,
slippery opponents. The Pentagon is revising its
military modus operandi to cope with more small-
scale struggles as malcontents of all kinds take
advantage of the vulnerabilities of technological
civilisation.2878
The disputes of the dark age will be highly
convoluted and changeable. People will not
recognise the principle of a fair fight. Their war-
making will be vicious and unrestrained. Every
available weapon will be used, for it will be a
desperate matter of kill or be killed. The Geneva
conventions will be quite irrelevant in a world in
which all political structures have disappeared. The
future lies with guerrillas, i.e. with anonymous
part-time warriors, whose scruples are few and
whose tactics are fluid. This type of warfare makes
it easy for anyone to participate, and it rewards the
inventive.2879
On the other hand, these warriors will still
need to eat, and that will be difficult in a highly
disorganised world. They might prey on more
peaceable people, but there will be little surplus for
them to seize. They will also have to fight for
whatever they take, and if they meet any resistance
it may not be worth the effort. Hence, warfare
during the dark age is likely to be intermittent, the
warriors having to tend their farms or their fishing
nets between military expeditions. Conversely,
farmers and fishermen will have to take up arms to
defend themselves, with offence sometimes being
the best form of defence. In effect, everyone will be
a warrior.
A relative few will take it upon themselves to
harry the rest. Most will want to hide themselves
away, mind their own business and stay out of
trouble. Furthermore, the bandits will be used to a
hostile reception, as well as poor returns from an
impoverished population, and that is likely to
reduce their enthusiasm. If one is discreet and alert,
it should be possible to see out a quiet existence,
punctuated at irregular intervals perhaps by some
more unpleasant episodes. One will be free, but
fearful. Those people who prefer a predictable,
risk-free existence, in return for giving up their
self-respect and subordinating themselves to others,
will find the dark age difficult. Those who are
naturally proud, confident, and insubordinate may
find that dark age conditions offer more than they
take away.
Overall, the dark age will be a time of freedom
but it will be a rather drastic kind of freedom. The
opportunities will be totally equal for everyone,
meaning that what one makes out of life will be
entirely dependent on one’s own aptitudes and
abilities. The outcomes will be extremely unequal,
but not necessarily unfair, insofar as birth and
privilege will count for nothing.
The Phoenix Principle and the Coming Dark Age by Marc Widdowson, 2001
