Resistance 27
By Tim Gamble
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The Trigger Event (n.) - a particularly bad national or international event which triggers a cascade of other bad events leading to collapse of modern civilization.
The trigger event is a staple of modern survivalist fiction, and fretted over on survivalist and political discussion boards, blogs, and websites. Conspiracy theorists (realists?) endlessly pontificate about their preferred event leading to societal collapse.
The trigger event may be just about anything. In Mark Godwin's Economic Collapse Chronicles, the trigger event is government running out of money (and credit) and being unable to load EBT cards. From there a cascading series of related events follows, leading to riots, looting, violence, and ultimately civil war.
In Goodwin's Cyber Armageddon series, the trigger event is a particularly bad cyberattack on the banking system. A cascading series of events follows, leading to a societal collapse.
In the Brushfire Plague series by R.P. Ruggiero, the trigger event is the outbreak of a global pandemic, a virulent plague, which leads to the rather quick downfall of civilization as we know it.
And the list goes on. Many, many possible trigger events are proposed. Sometimes these events are natural, organic in nature. Other times these events are planned by an evil, selfish elite.
In each case, the idea is some trigger event sets off a series of other really bad events, leading ultimately to a societal collapse. A period of violence, anarchy, and often war follows. After a relatively short period of time (a few months to a few years) the good guys win. Order is restored, with the Republic saved, commonsense reigning over all, and our Rights permanently preserved.
Pure Fantasy Not Supported By History
There is no guarantee of a trigger event. In fact, history shows just the opposite: when civilizations collapse, they collapse slowly, and not as the result of any one event.
There is no guarantee of a trigger event. In fact, history shows just the opposite: when civilizations collapse, they collapse slowly, and not as the result of any one event.
Take the collapse of the Roman Empire. for example. Historian N. S. Gill writes "The phrase "the Fall of Rome" suggests that some cataclysmic event ended the Roman Empire which had stretched from the British Isles to Egypt and Iraq. But at the end, there was no straining at the gates, no barbarian horde that dispatched the Roman Empire in one fell swoop.
Instead, the Roman Empire fell slowly as a result of challenges from within and without, and changing over the course of hundreds of years until its form was unrecognizable." -- (Gill, N. S., The Fall of Rome: How, When, and Why Did It Happen?, October 30, 2019.)
The Roman Empire took hundreds of years to fully collapse. It did not collapse in one sudden, fell swoop. Nor did it collapse due to one major event. Many generations of people had to live through the collapse. They experienced many bad events, no one of which ended it all. Even to this day historians argue over exactly when the Roman Empire fell, how long it took, and what actually caused it. But none suggest a sudden end, or any one trigger event.
The trigger event of survivalist fantasy has a certain appeal. It is simple and satisfying to point to a single causal event. And a sudden collapse means it is over with relatively quickly, like pulling a band-aid off. The pain is temporary, and then you move on. In survivalist fiction, by the end of the series there is usually a new beginning, or at least hope for a new beginning. But that isn't the lesson of history.
Instead, the Roman Empire fell slowly as a result of challenges from within and without, and changing over the course of hundreds of years until its form was unrecognizable." -- (Gill, N. S., The Fall of Rome: How, When, and Why Did It Happen?, October 30, 2019.)
The Roman Empire took hundreds of years to fully collapse. It did not collapse in one sudden, fell swoop. Nor did it collapse due to one major event. Many generations of people had to live through the collapse. They experienced many bad events, no one of which ended it all. Even to this day historians argue over exactly when the Roman Empire fell, how long it took, and what actually caused it. But none suggest a sudden end, or any one trigger event.
The trigger event of survivalist fantasy has a certain appeal. It is simple and satisfying to point to a single causal event. And a sudden collapse means it is over with relatively quickly, like pulling a band-aid off. The pain is temporary, and then you move on. In survivalist fiction, by the end of the series there is usually a new beginning, or at least hope for a new beginning. But that isn't the lesson of history.
Our Collapse Will Take Generations
No one wants to think about a lifetime of pain, generations of pain, in which most people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives with no hope of earthly relief. But, if we are following the Roman Collapse model, that is what we, our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren will face.
Sounds grim. But there is hope if we realize what we are facing, and we prepare ourselves our families, and our communities accordingly. Not for some single disastrous event which we will soon come out off, our society fully restored. Rather, we need to prepare for generations of dystopia.
No one wants to think about a lifetime of pain, generations of pain, in which most people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives with no hope of earthly relief. But, if we are following the Roman Collapse model, that is what we, our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren will face.
Sounds grim. But there is hope if we realize what we are facing, and we prepare ourselves our families, and our communities accordingly. Not for some single disastrous event which we will soon come out off, our society fully restored. Rather, we need to prepare for generations of dystopia.
This is why I talk about building alternative systems. Systems take time to build. Its not just "stock enough food until we get Trump re-elected, then everything will be okay." It won't be. Not for a very long time. Too much damage has already been done.
We are building these alternative systems not for our benefit, but for our children and grandchildren and the generations after them. We are creating islands of sanity and refuge in the chaotic seas of civilizational collapse, so that they will be safe. We are teaching them so that they will be the ones who will eventually save civilization.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," -- Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)
*** You can find Tim Gamble on social media! Follow at Gab (@TimGamble), Twitter (@TimGambleSpeaks), and TruthSocial (@TimGambleSpeaks)
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