In the event of a zombie-based apocalypse, it seems likely that existing governments would tend to fail - the problem they’d be facing would be akin to widespread violent revolt (zombies are violent and numerous) and a massive public health problem (everything from corpses rotting in the streets, and the diseases that come with that, to the shutdown of sanitation services as the workers stopped coming to work, to the potential of contagion from zombies making other people into zombies - I don’t know if Romero’s zombies do that, I know the ones in Resident Evil do.) These, and the inevitable economic collapse and end of respect for the rule of law (cops can’t be everywhere to protect you from the zombies, so you have to protect yourself), are problems that even an exceptionall robust and flexible government would be hard-pressed to survive. The Europeans survived the Black Plague, but I’d argue that governments were held to a much lower standard back then - they weren’t really expected to provide the level of safety for the average person that they are now. Besides, while they did have massive death, they didn’t have zombies. So, I contend that zombie apocalpyse will result in anarchy. Romero seems to agree with me, so I’ll leave this part of my argument as “proven”.
So, now I’m living la vida Hobbesian - how do I keep my life from being nasty, brutish, and short? My first priority, obviously, is protection, both from zombies and humans of ill intent. (The question “Are zombies still human?” can be left for another thread). Hobbes, and many (I’d say most, but I want to be on the safe side) political scientists would argue that the solution people traditionally have to the problem of providing protection from an anarchic, Hobbesian condition is to form states. States can accomplish things that individuals or groups of them simply cannot - for example, they can set up large-scale defensive projects, and organize a society in such a way that people can specialize in tasks for the good of the state. A few people cowering in a barn with shotguns is not a tenable security solution long-term. But let’s say we have many more people working together Then we can have some people be soldiers, others work on corpse-deconstruction, medics, military engineers, farmers, and so on.
Now we’re talking. If you have enough people working together in the ordered framework of a State, they can establish a society that remains stable even in the face of external threats - be they Mongols, neighboring powers, or the soul-less undead.
“But, Mr. Excellent,” I can hear you ask, “The government has failed by this point - and you’ve already explained, in your amazingly sexy way, why it was inevitable that it fall. How can you then propose the creation of a new state?” To that, I have two responses. One is that yes, the formation of a new state would be very difficult, perhaps impossible. But as history and zombie movies both show, States provide the best chance for long-term security - small bands of people do not. So impossible or not, we have to try.
The other answer, and the more optimistic one, is that the old states were not formed in the crucible of zombie infestation, and this one would be. There are all sorts of dire threats today’s nation-states have to face, and most of them deal with them with a high degree of sucess. They suceed because they have an infrastructure, from the setup of the buerocracy to the telephone systems, designed to deal with these threats. They are NOT designed to deal with the undead - but a post-zombie state would be, and I imagine the requirements for a zombie-proof state would become evident very quickly.
So, this is how I imagine a zombie-proof state would be set up. Government on a national scale is neither necessary nor desirable - all communities, with very few exceptions, have graveyards, and so zombies are a problem that are best dealt with on the local level. The ideal state, then, becomes a city-state, as self-sufficient as possible. Democracy would not be ideal here - especially in the early weeks and months of the new State, quick decision making will frequently be necessary - dictatorships are far better than democracies at that.
The new government could come to power in several ways. If the existing local government manages to survive, it could simply assume dictatorial power and set up the new city-state. “Seccession” from the Union wouldn’t be an issue, as I doubt the Union would still exist. If the local government falls, then pretty much anyone can fill the power vacuum - most people will be focusing on survival, and will rally to anyone who can help them achieve it. If you took control of the police station - either through an arrangement with the police, the police being killed by zombies, or you killing the police, then a few dozen of your people driving around town in squad cars shooting zombies could temporarily establish a safe zone, and give the new regime an appearance of legitimacy. After that, it’s just a matter of arranging a secure town meeting to set up the new system, assigning jobs - this post has already gone long enough, I think, no need to get into the real nitty-gritty.
The interesting thing is, if the city-state suceeded, residents of other less sucessful towns might very well wish to be under the protection of your state. A zombie apocalypse could concievably spark the formation of a pretty respectable pocket empire.
Hmm…where can I donate money to Umbrella Corporation?
