WHEN SHOULD YOU GIVE UP THE QUEST FOR SURVIVAL?

WE BELIEVE THE CUT-OFF POINTS ARE AS FOLLOWS HOWEVER, IT WILL VARY DEPENDING ON INDIVIDUAL BELIEFS AND VALUE SYSTEMS:


1. CATASTROPHIC THERMONUCLEAR EXCHANGE - If food and water supplies are irradiated and the only possible future is societal collapse, radiation sickness, nuclear winters and starvation. It is all very well going down in to a bunker however, the half-life of fissionable materials can be a long time so that when you re-emerge in to your 'Brave New World' it will probably be a horrible shock. There would be no Garden of Eden (see 'Threads' by the BBC and or read 'On The Beach').

2. EXTREME BIOHAZARD - A disease that kills off most of humanity including your significant others with the exception of if you were able to form a resilient community with other survivors with ethical and moral standards similar to your own (see 'Contagion', 'At Your Door' or 'Carriers' or read 'The Death Of Grass', 'The Stand' and 'Earth Abides').

3. TOXIC OVERLOAD OF THE BIOSPHERE - The point at which the toxins we continually pump in to the environment are so pervasive that crops fail, animal and plant species become extinct, food is inedible and entire habitats are saturated to destruction point (read about current devastating bee die-offs and 'Silent Spring' or 'Stark').

4. EXTREME ASTRONOMICAL EVENT - Similar to the event that wiped out the dinosaurs and with similar effects to catastrophic thermonuclear exchange e.g. asteroid, micro-black hole or extreme solar activity (see or read 'The Road' or see 'Deep Impact').

5. WORLD WAR WITH EXTREME DESTRUCTION – Dependent on destruction levels, loss of life and culture and post-war geopolitical situation e.g. if the Nazi's had won WWII would you want to live in a despotic and oppressive regime that went against everything you stood for? (see 'Fatherland' or read 'Fatherland' or 'The Man In The High Castle').

6. EXTREME METEOROLOGICAL EVENTS – If the world's weather and climate became horrendous e.g. extreme global warming, triggered ice age, rises in sea level, flooding, superstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, extreme desertification (see 'The Day After Tomorrow').

7. EXTREME GEOLOGICAL EVENTS - These would have a similar effect to Thermonuclear Exchange and Astronomical events e.g. a supervolcano. Earthquakes, tectonic shifts, possible magnetic polarity reversal and nuclear winters could make survival close to impossible (see '2012').

8. LOCAL POWER-BASE TOO ADVERSE TO YOUR PERSONAL ETHICS AND MORALS SYSTEM – If you were living in a despotic regime and were unable to escape from the geographical area (see various films about African dictatorships e.g. 'Hotel Rwanda' or 'Blood Diamond').

9. TESCO'S AND ASDA DON'T OPEN FOR 3 DAYS, McDONALD'S RUN OUT OF HAPPY MEALS, McFLURRY'S, FRIES, SEEDED BUNS AND GHERKIN SLICES AND KFC'S DEEP FAT FRIERS HAVE NO POWER – JUST SEEING IF YOU ARE AWAKE ;-).

Other wonderful reads about the ability of humanity to survive in adverse conditions are 'Non Stop' and 'Dark Universe.'

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING MORE CHEERFUL, HONEST...