Mike Woolfson's artwork depicting how e-tolls are turning average South Africans into 'zombies' has been well received. Image courtesy Moneyweb.
Zombies are known for their complete lack of compassion. They don’t love or hate or care for anything other than their own desires.
But don’t lose sleep about the threat of a zombie invasion, dear reader – they’re here already. And I’m sorry to say: we are those zombies.
The virus known as “modern life” has assimilated us into a giant, undifferentiated horde, stumbling through life doing nothing more worthwhile than looking for brains. Which is perfectly natural – it’s human to desire that which we don’t have.
Don’t be fooled by the movies. We don’t move slowly. Ours is a fast-paced world and therefore we live rapid zombie lives.
The viruses of 21st century communications, transportation and technology have accelerated our daily routine to a smartphone-guided chase after wind.
Zombies represent how we are at our worst – a vaping, Facebooking mass watching Game of Thrones while supporting the Bulls and eating Hawaiian pizza.
Of course we don’t see our own zombie condition as clearly as on the big screen. Our flesh isn’t rotting. All our rotting is on the inside.
We have created an almost invincible foe in the form of superbugs and most of us don’t stop to consider the position we are in. We insist on antibiotics for colds and other viral infections. We don’t complete antibiotics courses.
We recommend doctors who prescribe antibiotics easily and give bad ratings to those who don’t. In the process, we build a world where our kids are robbed of the greatest medical defence against bacteriological infections.
All our ideas and beliefs come pre-packed in vanilla flavour from social media. It saves us from thinking for ourselves.
Otherwise reasonable, sane people, as well as the lovely Snapdragon, will tell you that zombies don’t exist.
There’s sufficient evidence of zombies. Go to any mall next weekend and you’ll see them in their natural habitat – hordes of zombies mindlessly chasing after mythological bargains during the annual Black Friday sales.
Rest assured, dear reader, there’s nothing fictional about zombies. They’re all around us. And brains? That’s a different matter.
Dirk Lotriet. Picture: Alaister Russell
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