Where some dragons mated, they were scattered to begin with and, dying without progeny, eventually disappeared from the Earth. There were perhaps a few hundred delivered, and their reign, ending only in the last Millennia, lasted for thousands of years. The stories of dragons, all the more impressive as they were true, spread more widely than the dragons themselves. Did they breath fire? No. But when roaring, open mouthed, it felt like that to those within range. Hot breath and a big wind pipe.
http://zetatalk.com/xtime/x00.htm
ZetaTalk: Government Collapse
Note: written prior to July 15, 1995
Consider what constitutes the government of the United States, which we will use as an example, as it is indeed the strongest government, and the first and foremost democracy. This government, by and for the people, is founded by elections. Elections even in the best of times are difficult to pull off. Turnout is frequently low. Counts must be checked and rechecked for accuracy, and computers and the ready hands of volunteers assist in this process. And then there is the pre-election publication of candidates and their views, debates and other such enlightening affairs.
How would all this take place in a world having undergone a cataclysm such as we describe? The existence of electricity will be spotty. Communications will in the main return to what it was in the previous century, by letter or carrier. The concept of legislature even at the county level would be difficult to maintain, much less at the state or federal level. Add into this the fact that the geography will change. Some lands will disappear, others rise from the seas. The poles will align in different parts of the world. What is north? What is south? Maps previously drawn up will be useless. How can the polls be sure who is to vote when the survivors will wander, in search more of others living than anything else.
We are not describing a world where the established government is likely to continue as it was. We are describing a world where new forms of governing will emerge. The type will depend on the nature of the group of people. As we have detailed, there will be an increasing separation of Service-to-Other from Service-to-Self. Those groups oriented to Service-to-Other will not require the same controls that are required today. Rather than the problem of citizens stealing from each other, held in check only by the enforcement of law, these new communities will share. Consideration will be the rule, rather than the rule of law. For those groups oriented increasingly to Service-to-Self, no laws or corps of police would hold the self-serving actions in check. There, the rule of law is supplanted by the rule of the strong.
How will the governments take being so supplanted? Will they attempt to collect taxes, order cooperation, or demand allegiance? Some lone individuals will attempt to do so, perhaps in small bands, but where there is no food, and the citizenry is essentially homeless, these attempts will turn about on the so-called representatives of the people. Where is the government assistance? What does the government anticipate doing for its citizenry? Why, when the government was assuring the populace that they should not be alarmed by the approaching comet, should the populace now give any heed to the so called government? Any attempt to continue federal or state level government will in all likelihood be short lived. On the local level, there may be some continuance, according to the competence of the local government. Leadership will have to be earned.
ZetaTalk: Government
Note: written during the October 19, 2002 Live ZetaTalk IRC Session.
The Aftertime will find most of mankind in a dearth of government directives. Even small towns, governed by mayors well known on the city streets to all, and traveling bands governed by chieftains, will feel the lack. Insanity, depression, loss of life and confusion will remove the firm hand so familiar from governing. Families will look to their elders, the family man, the religious leader, and find them all staring, shaking their heads, and unable to speak. In these situations, leadership arises from the needy, natural leaders emerging. Often they are children, to whom most of life is startling and strange, the unfamiliar presented almost daily. To the child, this is more an adventure, an opportunity to act without constant parental admonitions. They will make suggestions, and be allowed to proceed, and often lead their dazed and depressed parents and elders about like rag dolls.
Beyond the children, who will be inventive and energetic in the main, women will assume command by doing daily chores. It is often said that men, who have single tasks in society, suffer when retiring, but women, who had the many tasks keeping the household going, are without retirement. Thus, women see what to do with their time, and proceed, and being useful live longer and in greater health. In like manner, after the shift, women will wash and clean, gather and cook a meal, and thus be looked upon as someone who can direct activities. When the depression clears, and survivors begin looking about them, determining if they should seek out a government rep or make a report, perhaps seek help from their government, a different conclusion will arise. Each initiating, others observing and offering to help, and sharing, has taken place. This is the Service-to-Other society of your future, and once established by survivor groups, should not be supplanted by ego driven directive by the power hungry. Tell them to sit back down and fall silent, as you did so much better before they found their tongue.
ZetaTalk: Internet
Note: written prior to July 15, 1995
The months before the cataclysms, satellite failure will be sporadic, but enough to impact technology as it support lifestyles today. Land lines will be reliable, but cell phones will not. This will be most disconcerting to the power brokers among the elite, who will find business floundering, stocks which have fallen almost to the ground unable to be salvaged, and the reliance of the military on communications creating choas among those expected to protect the elite. These groups will be screeching at each other, making shrill demands where no fix can be made. The little man, the common man, will fare better, especially if they are using short wave technology. They will rely on this increasingly, and it will be old hand and familiar by the time it is needed solely, for communication at a distance from the site.
Computer networks will remain in place following the cataclysms in accordance with their structure. Any electrical appliance protected from damage will operate after the cataclysms as before, provided a source of electricity is available. Networks are another matter, as there are many parts to the whole, and in the main any breakage will disable the whole - the weak link theory in action. Networks relying on wires run over the Earth cannot be expected to be operational. Likewise, networks operating by satellite bounce will find themselves with a problem when the satellites are torn from the skies. How then will computer networks operate? We would suggest that short wave radio networks established by dish, not relying on satellites, may be a solution. From high point to high point on Earth, such a network could operate after the cataclysms. And where the pole shift will affect land lines, which will be torn, and satellite bounce, as the satellites will be ripped from the skies - short wave radio communication bouncing off the Moon or the ionosphere will survive.