Sir:
I’ve just watched an original episode of [the 1960s television series] The Twilight Zone called “The Shelter” from 1961. It’s interesting to notice how some tenets of preparedness haven’t changed much in almost 50 years.
In the episode, a group of neighbors is gathered at a birthday party when a report of unidentified flying objects, alluded to as nuclear missiles, comes over the radio. As the guests depart for their homes to gather food, medicine and water, we learn that the protagonist, Dr. Stockton, has a recently completed fallout shelter in his basement. He secures his family in it but the neighbors, now in a panic, return and demand entry.
Unprepared themselves, they fall to infighting, attack the immigrant among them, and eventually batter down the shelter’s door. As they enter the breached room (which ironically would now protect none of them) an announcement on the radio reveals that the missiles are actually harmless satellites and the emergency is over.
Dazed, the neighbors all sheepishly apologize and discuss having a block party to get things “back to normal” again. Dr. Stockton says, “Normal? I don’t even know what normal is anymore.”
The messages are many and clear in this episode. First and foremost – be prepared. Second, keep strict OPSEC and keep your preparations to yourself. Third – a little charity stocked up in advance, and kept outside the shelter’s locked doors, might have kept the wolves at bay. Fourth – panic and fear are the mind killers, the most dangerous threat of all. It is well worth remembering what Rod Serling says in the episode’s final line, “For civilization to survive, the human race must remain civilized.”
As we enter 2010 and all the unknowns that the new year brings with it, we would all do well to reflect on that. - Sean in Malibu
