The Mist and the Upright Monkeys
So I just finished watching the movie “The Mist” (it was good, and the novella by Stephen King was awesome) and I open up the computer to read some feeds (I’m behind on my reading). On the Consumerist feed I see (not more than 3 minutes after I finished the movie) “Facing Foreclosure Some Owners Trash The House Before Leaving“.
The Mist involves, in part, the frailty and façade of our individual security. To paraphrase a line from the movie: as long as the machines and 911 are working, we’re civil; take them away, and the rules don’t apply. This reaction to a seemingly unbeatable threat is very real, and it’s proven even today when the relative security of a home is lost. Our base reactions are still with us, even with the beautiful Republic of the American society.
Another thing I noticed in the movie is the people have a decent amount of knives, but only a couple of guns (a shotgun in a truck, a pistol apologetically carried by a woman in her purse at the silly insistence of her husband). While the chance of an interdimensional rift being torn open in a military lab is… remote, our ability to deal with threats as individuals is always important, and it reminds me of why I support the individual right of the Second Amendment. The right to keep and bear arms (ALL weapons) is important, it’ll never be unimportant, and it should forever be left to the individual and not relegated to the the state to determine who can defend themselves and with what kind of weapon.
My observations on the human condition and civil rights are over; carry on.
