Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Zero Sum Game

Nothing, nada, nil, zilch.

That is exactly how much progress we've managed to make. The council meeting yesterday only served to confirm the reality we're facing: we can't do anything to the people who left the compound over the weekend.

Oh, but I can tell you one new piece of news: they've unionized. I hate to put it that way, since I was always supportive of unions before the zombie apocalypse said a hungry hello and made them irrelevant.

And they've even got a name. They're referring to their group as the "Homesteaders" which sounds like a bad 1970's western to me. They picked that name because almost all of them were caught at the compound when the Richmond soldiers invaded and had to stay here during the occupation.

So, the homesteaders have reaffirmed their assertion that they simply won't let anyone hold them responsible for their exodus. That sucks, but isn't surprising. The good news is that as a group they are way more nervous about the rationing we'll have to do with our food, and have offered to send out teams of volunteers as hunting parties during their free hours. They've even taken on the herculean task of arranging to have other members of the group cover the shifts of the hunters should they be unable to return to the compound in time for work.

This sounds like progress, I know. But it isn't, really.

These folks have made these decisions unilaterally, without any input or communication with the other people in the compound. To me, it's just another sign that they see themselves as different. They see their group as special or better or something that the rest of the compound and the council are not. They don't seem to think that the rest of us can solve our problems, or that we haven't been working on solutions.

Oh, and did I mention they aren't even giving us a choice in regards to what they plan? While I appreciate the intent and the effort they're putting in, they only informed us of their plans to keep the walls guarded. They didn't want to repeat the mistake they made last week by not providing for the safety of our population. The zombies have been especially thick outside the walls in the last few days, though they have cleverly been staying just out of bowshot...

I dislike being dictated to. The idea that a group of people who did so much to endanger our people should be allowed to create and execute their own policies without even asking is frankly a bunch of bullshit. If they hadn't at least had the consideration to make sure the schedules were covered, I think the situation would be a lot worse.

Ultimately, we need them to do this. That's the truth. We need people willing to put in extra hours out in the field hunting if we're to have a snowball's chance of keeping our people from starving. I've always said that pragmatism wins out in the end, and this is about as pragmatic as it gets. Without the homesteader volunteers, I don't know that we could survive.

Granted, we didn't get a chance to ask the general population to try the same thing. Maybe there would have been enough people volunteering to make the difference. We'll never know, since the issue has been forced.

For now, it'll have to do.

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