Zombie Cliche Lookout: Responsibility
Crisis is supposed to bring people together, and a massive zombie outbreak certainly qualifies as a crisis. That’s the theory, anyway. As countless zombie stories have shown us, people have a nasty tendency to stay just as self-serving as they are during the best of times. Sometimes they get even worse. Night of the Living Dead is the perfect example of this. If only everyone in the house would have cooperated, they might have made it. Unfortunately, everyone had their own idea of the best way to survive, and no one was willing to compromise. The results? Everyone died.
But let’s assume for a moment that not everyone is like that. Surely there are people out there that would see the wisdom of working together in the midst of the zombie apocalypse. People like that will feel a sense of responsibility toward their fellow survivors, especially those they see as not being able to fend for themselves, like children, the elderly, and the wounded.
About this Episode:
In the last episode, I bemoaned my difficulty with Michael’s character falling over with every tiny vibration on the table. I don’t know what it is, maybe the collective good will from you guys, but this time around, Michael was on his best behavior.
Other News:
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Discussion Question: Compromising for the Good of the Group?
If you’re stuck with a group of strangers, some of whom have substantially different ideas on how to survive, what would you do to ensure the cooperation of the group? Would you go along with a bad idea just to make the team work? Would you try to use logic or emotion to convince people to see things your way?
These two are trying to hard. I wouldn’t trust ‘m if I were Stewart.
And they are trying to lure him into telling if he is alone or not.
I’d leave the polite and pleasant or the hard way…
Oh, I like your read on this. Very cool.
There are way to much “No”, “Don’t” or “Can’t” in their sentences for them to be honest.
I’d still try the polite pleasant way though (yeah outgunned and outnumbered doesn’t leave Stewart too many options…).
Oh wow, I like how you guys are breaking this down.
Typo alert, About This Episode: bemoans–>bemoaned 😀
I believe it’s the past tense you’re after here, not the plural of the word. 😉
Indeed I was. Fixed.
I personally can’t see much use for elderly, wounded, or disabled people, however, I can understand why the human nature of compassion would kick in and cause people to try to care for those people. I therefore believe the question is really how would you manage such a group? Obviously, if you need carers to look after people, they have to be trained not just to care for people who have a need, they have to be trained to knock them on the head when they die, in order to prevent them from turning into zombies and becoming a problem. That’s assuming that they closely follow zombiefication rules Dave’s zombies currently follow. 😀 If they follow different rules for zombie creation and behavioral patterns, there might be significantly different outcomes if they’re one of the above types of person that is in need of carers.
Another problem with this kind of situation is that obviously people like this will need to be in a separate camp, ideally. However, a lot of people aren’t going to like segregation much, so there’ll be questions such as how would one design an apocalyptic nursing home with features such as razor wire fencing to keep zombies and unwanted visitors out whilst maintaining a relatively peaceful aesthetic atmosphere?
That’ll be a really hard sell to people needing such facilities for their aging relatives! 😀
You make some very interesting points here, BV. Caring for the very infirm would be incredibly difficult, and extremely risky.
Difficult, risky… Sure. But yet basic. Ok I know I won’t last long in a ZA, but if I was, I wanna give my life a sense.
Come on I don’t wanna spend my all life surviving just to survive… For what? It won’t be a last man standing video game if it ever happens? What could be the winning prize anyway…
That reminds me the last chapter of TWD season 1 video games. The Savannah people rejecting sick/old/young person to create a strong self-dependent community. I understand what they did, but come on…1 life is 1 life, I just can’t imagine “life” and “useful” working together.
If you ask me I’d rather join Guillermo and Felipe nursing home in Atlanta (TWD TV season 1 Vatos). I’m not calling it humanity or compassion, I just hoped that our world, today, would me more like this. Caring for each others…
I told you I won’t last long in a ZA !:)
May I suggest a Discussion question you could use some day Dave?
“We all have played video games, seen TV shows/movies, read books/comics,… featuring zombies. If you have to pick a character from all of these to be your mentor/model, who would that be? Why?”
Sorry if this kind of question has already been asked…
Excellent rebuttal, Pi3rK!
Good question; I’ll add it to my list.
My thoughts exactly Pi3rK
If humanity looses all semblance of humanity then whats the point of its survival? Me living on my own in a cave until I finally die of natural causes is pointless. My survival means nothing other then I managed to stay alive.
If you google “Neanderthals caring for the sick” you will find MULTIPLE examples that archeologists have unearthed that prove that even these very primitive relatives of modern humans living in incredible harsh conditions cared for the sick and injured among them.
Interesting point, think it comes out of Nazi Doctrine to kill off the old, disabled and wounded. They can’t contribute so out they go. Two problems with that doctrine.
First is who decides who dies? What criteria are you going to use? What happens when people don’t see things the same way. “In The Flesh” season 1 (BBC zed show) made that a key point. Especially what happens when relatives don’t think the rules were applied fairly and everyone has weapons.
Second is you may need to rethink what is useless. Take “The Walking Dead” (TV version) Most of the people at the prison after Woodbury were useless. Yep young and strong and cute and useless. Who was the most important person there? The 70 year old, one legged farmer/vet. Of course being old and disabled you would have killed Herschel off.
I have a discussion question for Dave: Should people with deadly diseases that kill ordinary people come back as zombies? Like let’s say someone has a fatal inoperable cancer which will eventually kill them and it’s in their brain where surgery carries a high risk of patient death anyway. Should these kinds of people come back as zombies in a zombie apocalypse or is it too far fetched? Where do you draw the line, in other words, when it comes to realistically created zombies, fictional or otherwise?
Nice one!
Make my best effort to convince others that Im right then get over it. Ive been around enough to know that Im not infallible and that my ideas aren’t necessary always the best. In an extreme case, where the group seems to be set on a course of action that Im 100% convinced is going to end in disaster, then Ill calmly state my case and if I cant convince anyone otherwise, I will leave the group and strike out on my own. Now that I have typed that out it kinda reminds me of a there Ive seen in some action movies. One of the main characters goes along with what he is convinced is a really bad plan because he feels the group will need him when it all goes to hell.
I think that’s about how I’d handle things too, at least if I was being calm and smart.
Hm, random thought regarding these guys, they obviously haven’t seen Cheryl around or they’d probably have her with them, too! 😀 I wonder if she’s heard the shot, and is watching these two interrogating Stewart from another vantage point? 😀
It’d be kind of fun watching the tables get turned on them if they’re bad guys or had some kind of malicious intent! 😀
Good point. Good thing they don’t have guns pointed at Stewart; that would look even worse to potential lookers on.
When it comes to survival I guess every single person in the group will have his own perfect idea.
As there are many options for each situation, the problem is that one very bad decision leads to death… Go along with improvised leaders making bad decisions and that’s what you’ll get. Team work lasts as long as there is a team… Bad decisions in ZA = everybody dead.
That said brings the question of the decision system in your group : democracy? dictatorship? majority vote? unanimity vote? Everyman for himself? Improvising?
If you don’t agree with the decisions system, no way you can stay in the group.
That’s always a tough call. I doubt most people would consent to a dictatorship, but in most stories, that’s exactly what the group turns into.
Haha you’re so right !
“…And when we’re done here, feed them to the…” <– Most villains haven captured the good guy & not going to off the hero yet. Mr. Bond. Now go feed the laser headed sharks, scotty.
But first, let me outline my whole plan.
As to the discussion question, trying to get any large group to coordinate activities usually involves getting the leaders to work together for a common goal(s). Now if the leaders refuse to cooperate then well you have the current US Government.