All the Food is Gone
Kevin Felts 09.11.17
There is an old saying that has several different versions, and it goes something like this, “We are only three meals away from anarchy.” Author unknown.
Having to worry about food should be a thing of the past, right? We have ships, planes, computer systems, warehouses, everything we need to make sure food and services are available to the people who need it.
Well, something has gone wrong for St. Martin island, which was decimated by Hurricane Irma.
From the New York Times – Desperation Mounts in Caribbean Islands: ‘All the Food Is Gone’.
“All the food is gone now,” Jacques Charbonnier, a 63-year-old resident of St. Martin, said in an interview on Sunday. “People are fighting in the streets for what is left.” […]
Residents of St. Martin, and elsewhere in the region, spoke about a general disintegration of law and order as survivors struggled in the face of severe food and water shortages, and the absence of electricity and phone service.
We think society is structured in a way that there will always be services. We believe there will always be food, there will always be cell phone service, there will always be electricity–until there isn’t.
Human thought has a fallacy in that we expect things to go a certain way because they did so in the past. Just because someone has been able to eat everyday, does not mean they will be able to eat tomorrow. Sometimes, events out of our control take control of our lives, such as a hurricane, war, or natural disaster.
Even though we know such events can happen, we downplay the reality of the situation. People may say something like, “Oh, that will never happen here.” Or maybe, “The government will always be there to help.” That is, until it does happen and the government can not help.
Opinion
Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma should be a wakeup call for everyone. The destruction from Hurricane Harvey was so widespread, emergency services were overwhelmed. Then came along Hurricane Irma.
August 7, 2017, I went to Orange County Texas to do some volunteer work. Who was handing out food and water? It was the local community church groups who were cooking hot meals and handing out necessities, such as water, and diapers. The big organizations were nowhere to be seen.
When disaster strikes we need to be ready, not just for ourselves, but also for our community.
The other option is a breakdown in society, like what is happening on St. Martin island.
