Cargo cult
A year into the plague and I note a new wrinkle on an old concept – the modern Cargo Cult.
During World War Two, soldiers arrived on isolated Pacific islands and brought along tons of supplies from the industrial world. The islanders traded with the soldiers and grew to depend on the new goods. After the soldiers left, the islanders developed rituals to encourage the return of these apparent gifts from the gods.
This weekend, my neighborhood, like many others, was visited by porch pirates. They followed the fleets of delivery trucks from Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and USPS, snatching packages from front porches.
In troubled times with massive unemployment, these “free” goods fill a need, just as the manufactured clothes, medicines, tools, and canned foods provided unexpected benefits for the Pacific islanders.
As long as Amazon, Grub Hub, Etsy, and thousands of other companies desperate to stay in business are willing to write off these losses, the modern American economy will survive for a while thanks to the new gifts from the gods.
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