The other morning, in need of a few groceries, I went alone very early
while the wife slept to a nearby Supermarket to make a few purchases.  While
making my way around the aisles selecting an article here and there a strong
impulse came over me of awe in the midst of such a representative structure 
f
the delicate balance of commerce and technology that placed me there at the
end of the human food chain for those of us "fortunate" (?) enough to have 
he
means of restocking the pantry (refrigerator and freezer in many instances).
I thought:
   How quickly it could all end as though in a flash of lightening.  A sudden
diminution in the availability of fuel, a breakdown (now capable of having
earth-wide proportions) in labor relations, even an unexpected shift in the
distance of the earth from the sun or other phenomena could have throngs of
people suddenly undergoing suffering and death.  How quickly and efficiently
could such agencies as the Red Cross and governmental bodies mobilize for 
uch
an event and how effective could they be if the force for breakdown proved to
be long enough and destructive enough?  Suppose the forces favoring
organization of the apparatus became so crippled that a civilized society
could only degenerate into mass death of the kind that we've seen occuring in
some of the "third world" countries due to political antagonisms.  
   In a world so dependent upon fuel and technology it is not difficult to
imagine, I think, a breakdown of enormous proportions that would strain the
collective intelligence of that technology to maintain equilibrium.  
rtifacts
might not be so local and so rapidly buried under accumulative debris and 
ife
might more quickly approach the "primative" than has been imagined.
   More later.
Sincerely, 
                                     Frank
                                                                              
                                                       
--- PPoint 2.05
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