Xàbia Shrimper
Co-founder of ShrimperZone
We've started watching the 70s BBC drama series 'Survivors', a tale of a group of people who survived a plague that wiped out 95% of the world's population. (I vaguely remember watching it - or at least vaguely remember the title credits - when I was a kid.) Although the fashion doesn't stand the test of time (unless you're into flares, parkas and afghan coats), the concept of virus devstating much of the population is just as relevant 30 years later as it ever was; think of the concerns surrounding bird flu, SARS, etc.
Anyway, the topic of conversation during lunch today was whether one felt that they could cope if they formed part of the 5% who survived; in such a scenario the population of the UK would barely touch the 3 million mark, less than half that of London. Most were honest enough to believe that they wouldn't cope well; they are too used to what they have now - power at the flick of a switch, water at the turn of a tap, food on the shelves of local supermarkets, etc. All that would be gone; there would be no-one left to provide a nationwide grid of essential utilities, scavenging would provide food for a short while but what happens when it runs out? Modern man would have to re-learn all the basic skills to survive: growing food, providing shelter and heat, even re-learning how to make such basic things as candles, something we all take for granted; would you know how to make one?
So - and I know it's very boring - do you think you would cope and what would you miss most if everything disappeared overnight (aside from football!) and you were one of the 3 million in the UK who survived?
Anyway, the topic of conversation during lunch today was whether one felt that they could cope if they formed part of the 5% who survived; in such a scenario the population of the UK would barely touch the 3 million mark, less than half that of London. Most were honest enough to believe that they wouldn't cope well; they are too used to what they have now - power at the flick of a switch, water at the turn of a tap, food on the shelves of local supermarkets, etc. All that would be gone; there would be no-one left to provide a nationwide grid of essential utilities, scavenging would provide food for a short while but what happens when it runs out? Modern man would have to re-learn all the basic skills to survive: growing food, providing shelter and heat, even re-learning how to make such basic things as candles, something we all take for granted; would you know how to make one?
So - and I know it's very boring - do you think you would cope and what would you miss most if everything disappeared overnight (aside from football!) and you were one of the 3 million in the UK who survived?
