The midwestern drought of 2012 and the ineffectiveness of modern day society

Grant J. Kidney — Living in Des Moines, Iowa, I have had a first hand experience of what has become one of the longest of droughts ever recorded in recent history.

Normally when I ride my bike along Des Moines’ trails, I’m able to see beautiful, flowing creeks. However, these creeks have since been totally dried up as evidenced in the footage below.

Reports have strongly indicated that Des Moines, Chicago, and other midwestern cities are now experiencing ‘peak water’, meaning that the demand for water has greatly surpassed its production levels. As crazy as it may seem, even the U.S. Army might soon be deployed for purposes of delivering emergency water to the areas most affected by the drought.

Midwestern agriculture has a taken the hardest of hits. Everything from wheat to corn to tomatoes have failed across the board as fields become sun-baked. Food prices, as would be expected, have risen exponentially thus adding significantly to the already existent budgetary strains of most American families.

No one is quite certain how long the drought may last, but some estimates predict that it may extend all the way into the month of August. Midwesterners would do well to have at least ten to twenty gallons of fresh water stored away just in case the drought becomes worse.

Read a startling USA Today article documenting the grim facts above.

The ineffectiveness of modern day ‘society’ in lieu of natural catastrophes

When it is thoroughly understood that all the world operates as a single, organic whole, a tremendous sense of social responsibility is realized. If severe drought were to affect one portion of the Earth, it ought to be considered a prime duty to rush to the problem and to solve it with the best of our skills, tools, and know-how, national barriers aside. The Fukushima nuclear crisis, for instance, and the lack of trans-national resolve on its part illustrates the ineffectiveness of our present day systems of governance.

The midwestern drought of 2012 demonstrates a startling reality- that our so called ‘modern’ society is ill-equipped at handling a significant crisis of this magnitude. With cities entering into bankruptcy across the U.S., crumbling infrastructure, and an increase in social unrest, one can bet their last dollar that a future drought on par with what is now being experienced in the midwest may result in a significant loss of life.

All it would take is a total shut down of the grid to displace millions and to spur gang-rule out on the streets.

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