20170923 Reference #1, Page 20, Paragraph 3
In this paragraph, Dr. Dartnell continues development of a nightmare scenario, and he cites the disorder that occurred in Louisiana in the USA after Hurricane Katrina, in 2005.
While I understand the potential for loss of the social contract under circumstances such as Katrina, I think that the social contract was already at the breaking point in New Orleans, in Louisiana, and throughout much of the Southern part of the United States at the time. In fact, that contract had been under stress since the founding of the nation, due to the conviction of a segment of the population that it had the right to own other human beings.
However, Dr. Dartnell's primary point was that the social contract could break down under conditions of severe stress upon a society, and I concede that Katrina certainly supports that observation.
However, in 2017, we do seem to be seeing a different flow of events, as hurricanes have bowled over communities in the island nations of the Caribbean and in the Southern US, including Houston, Texas and all of the State of Florida.
This year, the United States government seems to be better prepared. However, aside from that, there are a remarkable number of stories coming out of the affected regions of human kindness towards others.
I am tempted to think that the culture of a society is a factor in how the members of the society respond to massive stress.
During the period when these notes are recorded, a documentary series is in broadcast on the history of the Vietnam War, which I understand the Vietnamese call “The American War”. It is made clear throughout the series, that the people of North Vietnam were able to sustain their morale under what seems to me to have been terrible pressure, and a continuing disaster in any sense that one might use that term.
Because of these observations, I am tempted to conclude that even a massive disaster such as the one Dr. Dartnell described, might not necessarily lead to a loss of cohesion of the society, depending upon the culture that existed before the disaster. A combination of inspired leadership and inspired followership can prevent dissolution of a society under stress.
In the current issue of Analog Science Fact and Fiction (Vol CXXXVII Ns. 9 & 10)...
an author listed as “Craig DeLancey” created what I experience as a remarkable vision of a major disaster impacting two distinct societies, in his story “Orphans”.
Mr. DeLancey presents a human expedition approaching a planet in a state-of-the-art space ship, after a voyage of 100 years in cold sleep. Thus, the scenario Mr. DeLancey sets up seems reasonable to me, and I did not find any details of his concept that suggested magical thinking. In other words, this was a traditional Analog story.
The remarkable twist to the story is that Mr. DeLancey has imagined a challenge to the expedition which seems plausible, and he then follows the consequences of this challenge to reveal how it had previously affected the natives on the planet, and how it affected the crew of the vessel.
Despite what seems to be an almost overwhelming setback to the members of the expedition, Mr. DeLancey leaves the reader with a sense of optimism that there might be a positive outcome.
However, to Dr. Dartnell's point about the “social contract” …. this was presented as a highly disciplined crew of humans who were able to sustain their positive interactions despite the stress.
From this reference, I found a possible explanation for the remarkable resilience of the North Vietnamese people:
http://www.historyonthenet.com/authenti ... index.html
Begin Quotation:
Confucian philosophy and ethics adopted from the Chinese continued to emphasize the importance of family (which often had 3 or more generations under 1 roof) and community over the needs and wants of the individual.
End Quotation.
(th)