Do What Works

Recently I was watching the Matrix trilogy and something popped into my head. There is a scene in The Matrix Revolution, where there is a battle to protect Zion. The humans are using these gunner robots to protect the docks.

It is obvious that these robots were partly inspired by the movie Aliens and their movements were inspired by the Maori warriors dance. To emphasis this Maori culture, many of the soldiers have face tattoos and the commander’s speech ‘’When it is your time to die, it is your time to die’’ adds to that caveat.

I really liked that scene, but something always bothered me: These people live in the ruins of a civilization in a post apocalyptic future. I’m sure there is enough scrap metal lying around to give these guys a cockpit.

Can you imagine how their survivability would have improved even with the addition of a metal plate in front of them to protect them from the evil robots? Maybe they would have lasted longer than a few minutes against the robot army if anyone gave 2 shits about their survivability.

Another similar situation in pop culture is The Game of Thrones. In that series, none of the main characters uses a shield, which makes no goddamn sense since most of these people are using arming swords that are meant to be used one-handed. In fact, in the medieval period, shields would have been the most common item on the battle field. Shields are cheap, they radically improve your survivability and what the hell did you expect to do with your off-hand?

Seriously, no wander why the characters in that series drop like flies. They are bad decision makers and they don’t know what the fuck they are doing. There is even a scene where all the good guys are surrounded by a wall of soldiers holding shields and spears.

You can almost hear them thinking:

And don’t get me stated on John Snow’s brigandine armor. A peasant of the dark ages wouldn’t have worn that peace of trash. Unless the metal plates are overlapping a sword will pierce between the plates, which makes the armor utterly useless…

Let’s bring this to the real world, shall we.

A lot of people I talk to believe that they are an island. The reject any form of group or association. They view being associated with a group of people as being collectivist or being a sheep. I will accept that individualism is one of the 3 main values in TFM’s political tricotomy. Individualism is great when you are in peace time and you have a free market. Being individualist is a great value when you want to be creative or you want to create a maximum of capital. However, dark times are coming and individualists do not fair too well in hard times.

Let me be blunt. You might be the smartest guy, have the best gear and the most training. If you are a loner, you are nothing more than a ammo pick (like TFM would say). You do not have 360° vision and you will have to sleep sometime.

Even if you form a community with a few relative and you have a few men defending your community, you are still not a threat. Bigger groups of men will come; they will kill you; they will grab your resources and your women.

Look, the name of the game is natural selection. Mother Nature is a cruel maiden. She is quite unforgiving.

Your principals might give you a warm fuzzy feeling in the afterlife; they are not going to save your life.

Those who survive and reproduce write history, those who don’t are footnotes in history. Smart people learn how to make compromises between their values and what they need to do; or else, you are no better than an ideologue rushing into battle without a shield…

Don’t do what feels good. Do what works.

Gato Villano