Which norms do you think would still largely apply and what would be the first to go out the window? Are there principles you would personally still stick to despite not expecting the same from others? Do you think these rules would need to be enforced in groups or is “common decency” mostly inherent and universal? How about the difference between lone survivors and groups? Would an individual potentially be more dangerous due to nobody holding them accountable?
These are just examples of a different angles from which to consider this question. I’m curious about hearing your thoughts on what society would be like under what effectively is true anarchy.
I do believe that quite a lot of informal “rules” would carry over or form. People actually function pretty bad alone and would realistically have to co-operate with other people. In absence of any laws or governing bodies this would be a reputation based system.
If someone is known as a dangerous lunatic and/or someone who doesn’t keep their word, nobody would work with them.
Small fork is still for seafood, medium for salad, large for the entree.
Forks to the left of the plate, spoons and knives on the right.
Early on the biggest threat would be the zombies. Unlike modern society survival would require more working together and maybe honesty. I’m not sure any norms during this period would survive. People will try to hide their infection thinking they will be different. Definitely the norm of not killing sick people would go away.
After this period, restarting civilization will be the new challenge. I imagine this would be more similar to now with less technology and more struggles.
Fun question!
Unlike modern society survival would require more working together and maybe honesty
A significant number of people will throw other people to the zombies to save themselves in the short term, and it only takes one in a group to screw the whole group over. This would be sorted out fairly quickly as people won’t have patience with bad actors in a harsh environment. Putting people to death for crimes that put the group in danger is likely to be common since exile risks a malicious person coming back to sabotage the group.
Small bands of horrible people raiding other places would probably be a lot less common than in media though, because they would be putting themselves in harms way more often than those that hunker down. Risks of flat tires, running out of fuel, etc. means more walking and other means of travel that risk running into zombie hordes.
So yeah, the overwhelming trend will be cooperation with a huge emphasis on honesty.
The first rule to go out the window would definitely be respect for personal property. Survivors would still defend what’s theirs, of course, but in general, I don’t think anyone would judge you for looting.
I believe things like murder would still be largely frowned upon, but the definition of self-defense would probably become much looser. At a certain point, it would almost be expected that anyone who’s made it this far has likely killed someone along the way.
That said, as social animals, we’d still behave in many of the same ways we do now. We’d still be playing the same status games, and what others think of you would still matter. Being an outright asshole wouldn’t be a good long-term strategy - eventually, people would group up against you, or you’d just get your face hammered in while you sleep.
I also think different groups would develop their own variations on what is tolerated, with a stronger emphasis on live and let live between groups to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
Few if any. Long term isolation, lack of resources, growing paranoia and xenophobia, countless fake messiahs popping up everywhere etc means it would be very difficult to enforce or come into agreement on rules that could be followed on a larger scale without constant interference and sabotage.
Those insistent on peaceful cooperation would either be killed or enslaved by those without scruples.
And as proven in recent times, long term considerations and intelligent design are a fucking joke when it comes to the average person. So one shouldn’t expect survivors to understand and act with the bigger picture in mind.
No rules, no morals, no problem.
Cannibalism will probably still be taboo.
Hmm… I wonder. Probably so but it’s not obvious to me either. After most canned goods and other long lasting foods that one can acquire by looting have been udes up, getting food might not be so straightforward and hungry people will do desperate things. On the other hand - if you’re that desperate then you likely won’t last for that much longer even with cannibalism.
