In the 17th Century, methinks, some ships from the Old Portuguese Empire traveled to Brazil. When the men disembarked, they were met by a tribe with its elders.
The king immediately offered the men food, shelter, and tribal women to sleep with. It was said, according to the chronicles I read it from, that the captain and the sailors lived in harmony with the natives. Eventually, the women gave birth to babies and had families. Everyone was pleased.
Then famine struck, or so I read. The elders told the sailors that there was nothing to eat. The children that were born from the sailors were killed and consumed.
Yes, cannibalism was the result. Once the young ones were consumed, the sailors were next. Zap to the end of the 19th Century. Everyone assumes electricity has always been around. No, it has not. Edison invented the light bulb. Tesla, who is now named after an ecar, had a wacky idea and figured out how to light the 1893 World’s Fair. This led to a deal with an industrialist named George Westinghouse and Tesla to build the first hydro-electric power plant in Niagara Falls in 1895.
Grocery stores would be ransacked in a few days. Every home, building, and travel route would be paralyzed. No toilet use; no gas to pump, and bank machines would be out. If one wanted fresh water, everyone would have to go to their nearest polluted waterway for sustenance. I know some people who had supplies from 2012 that have since gone bad and have been thrown out. We like to say our society is sophisticated, liberal, progressive, and civilized. We are not. It will be dog eat dog, cat eat cat, and pig eat pig. And then cannibalism would be the result. Right wing fanatics, or every wing nut, would climb out of the woodwork. Possibly, Revelations would be quoted by the starving masses. The scapegoats never change in times of unrest.
This never happened, but fights did break out at the subway station and the bus stop. When? In January of 1999, Toronto experienced a massive snow storm. The then Toronto Mayor, Mel Lastman, called the Canadian military to dig the big city out of the snow. Imagine being a member of the Canadian military in some remote location on the world map, bullets are flying over one’s head, the usual groups are killing each other, and it is awfully obvious that Henry Kissinger and his cohorts are yet propping up another puppet regime, taking orders from all the multinational corporations, who are exploiting that remote spot’s minerals, all to make all the bad guys rich and keep the global economy going….And then an urgent telephone call comes from Toronto, ordering all persons in uniform to return to Canada and dig Toronto out of the snow.
It happened. Yes, Toronto was the laughingstock of Canada. And it was funny too. Now if there is no power in the electrical worldwide grid system for over a year, or more. Don’t call on me to attend your private function. I can just visualize that conversation.
“Come to supper, Paul!”
“No,” I would say,” lots of crazies are out there. Forget it!”
“There will be a feast. Fit for a king!”
“No,” I would argue, “I’m afraid I could become the next meal!”
“Are you kidding us, cannibalism is the latest craze!” they would continue with no shame.
“No, I must respectfully decline,” I would beg. Seeing me silent, they would shake their head and condemn me. “You’re old fashioned,” they would rave, “You’re morale!”
For your information, I am warning everyone for the next little while to choose their arguments wisely. Trending cannibalism, are we?