The Zombie Analogy...

I just had some deeper insight on the Zombie analogy and how it relates to our society.

I talked a little bit in a previous post about how we are the zombies, but that explanation doesn't go far enough. In most popular zombie stories, the only victims are human. Zombies don't go after other species or other zombies - only live humans. On one level you can say that all of us are the zombies, eating up our resources without conscience and without stopping, but that theory doesn't play well with the popular Zombie Mythology. I think I'm able to break it down further...

I alluded earlier to my fear and anxiety about money, but I've been able to see that in a different way. Recently, there were a few days that the fear had me in a pretty tight grip. The odd thing I noticed, though, is that the whole experience is very much like being sick. The physical sensations are diferent, but no more pleasant. And, after a few days, I feel much better.

Then I realized that society views poverty and unemployment like some infectious disease, and those inflicted with it prey on the financially "healthy". In other words, people who are pumping money or "life" into the system are "Humans" and those who are taking money out of the system - through welfare, unemployment insurance, Social Security, etc, - are "Zombies". So, if you're producing, you're Alive. If you're not producing but not dead, you're a Zombie. Get it?

I think it makes sense. Nobody wants to become one of "them" - just a consumer with no direction and no purpose. We all want our lives to be productive and have meaning. We don't want to be reduced to soulless consumers.

But there's another twist: in my eye, the REAL zombie isn't the consumer at all - it's the System. Think about it. It's sucking the life out of all of us and doesn't return a damned thing of any significant value. It's the King Zombie. The best thing we can do is break free from it, then do away with it.

So, where does that leave me? I'd like to mention that I receive no government handouts of any kind. I refuse. One of the reasons I quit my job is to prove that I could make it on my own, and I intend to do exactly that. Like I said before, I'm about Freedom. There's no way you can be free if you're sucking on some government tit. I also understand that real progress takes time and has to be taken in baby-steps. But with each baby-step towards freedom that each one of us takes, a litle piece of the King Zombie goes down with it. Rock On.