"They tried to adapt their environment instead of adapting to it."
Devolution (2020) by Max Brooks
[After the eruption of Mt. Rainier].
....Look where Greenloop is…was. They were officially safe, and they weren’t alone. I can’t tell you how many backwoods cabins and communities are aout there, mostly because they don’t want to be found. And most of them survived being cut off all winter, because they knew exactly what they were getting into. They either had the skills and supplies to hole up or the ability and gear to walk out. And a lot of them loved it. No. Seriously. They welcomed the challenge. They accepted the trade-offs. They weren’t anything like the folks at Greenloop.
Those poor bastards didn’t want a rural life. They expected an urban life in a rural setting. They tried to adapt their environment instead of adapting to it. And I really can sympathize. Who doesn’t want to break from the herd? I get why you’d want to keep the comforts of city life while leaving the city behind. Crowds, crime, filth, noise. Even in the burbs. So many rules, neighbors all up in your business. It’s kind of a catch-22, especially in the United States, a society that values freedom, when society, by nature, forces you to compromise that freedom. I get how the hyper-connectivity of Greenloop gave the illusion of zero compromise.
But that’s all it was, an illusion.
It’s great to live free of the other sheep until you hear the wolves howl.
Devolution (2020) by Max Brooks
