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Lessons from Alas, Babylon 10/11/2026 2:43:19 PM
One of my five favorite “desert island” books is Pat Frank’s novel, published in 1959, “Alas, Babylon.” The plot centers around protagonist Randy Bragg as he and friends and family attempt to rebuild their lives and the town of Ft. Repose, Florida, post World War Three. It’s an eye-opening look at how people react during a major crisis as they attempt to survive a nuclear holocaust. I’ve probably read the book more than 100 times since I first found it when I was a teenager.
Two scenes always stand out to me: One is about the decision Randy makes when he comes across a wrecked vehicle and ponders whether or not he should stop. It’s pretty clear the occupants are dead. If he stops, he risks losing his own car to looters and possibly his own life. It’s a new world (think “Mad Max”) and no one would berate him for heading far away from what is clearly a losing situation. But his choice is to stop and get out to check for any signs of life, knowing there are none. He is determined to apply 20th Century consideration towards other human beings, even those deceased, in what has become a pre-civilized world. I’ve always thought it was the author’s way of providing hope to a terrified Cold War world that caring for one’s fellow human beings would continue, even in the worst circumstances imaginable.
The second scene always gives me that V-8 “smack on the head” feeling of “why don’t people see this?” Randy asks a retired Admiral for his thoughts as to how the world got to the place where a world war appeared to be the answer. The Admiral tells him he believes it started, much as the downfall of the Roman Empire, with politicians raising, then receiving, impossibly large sums of money in order to take office. The Admiral notes that a Senate race (in 1959-pre inflation ) costs more than it did to send Theodore Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet” in 1905-1909 around the world. This realization is so horrible and sad it nearly counters all the hope from Randy’s decision at the car wreck.
And the Admmiral's comments are still far too true. The financial sums spent on campaigns to put in folks in office has long been the norm. It’s one big grab for money and power and it’s a huge reason we find ourselves in the dystopian world of Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth and RFK Jr. and J.D. Vance and Mike Johnson and the majority members of the Supreme Court. A world of constant lies and stupidity and lack of conscience and the desire for more money than any one could spend in numerous lifetimes. A world where children are rendered as less than human. Children exist for them as sex objects or ignored collateral damage in a car watching a parent getting shot by storm troopers in masks or a school is bombed in Iran to prove…what? A world where billions…make that trillions…are spent on bombs and drones with the one job… murder… in un-authorized wars. A world where anyone who isn’t a white, “Christian” nationalist is suspect and preferably erased from existence. The list is endless.
Senators spend 10 million on average and Representatives at least a million to get into the halls of Congress. Salaries don’t, at first, seem ridiculous..approximately $175K per year, but work on the floor averages about 160 days a year in between days when people go running off to campaign for the next election. There are supposedly restrictions on outside remuneration but “there are ways.” Inside D.C., members of Congress fight and bluster and yell and create more committees and avoid actually listening to each other (and their constituents) then fly off to fundraisers to garner billions for their political party and play with the super rich.
There are remedies. The first Congress and framers of the Constitution were flawed (as are we all) but did do a pretty amazing job of foreseeing the best way to keep the country as a republic and not a brutal authoritarian colony ruled by a king. If only Congress and the courts would actually follow the rules. George Washington had some definite issues when it came to race but one of the noblest acts the man ever did was to refuse to maintain the Presidency after two terms. He was sharp enough to understand the idea of absolute power equaling absolute corruption. It’s a maxim we daily watch being played out by this entire administration in living color…and a ton of misery.
I hope like crazy that there’s a Blue Wave in November and that somehow Mike Johnson and his buddies don’t force a general strike in this country to seat new members. But I don’t kid myself that things will actually change until Congress itself takes a look at the rot, the money spent on elections and salaries, and the lack of accountability for anyone in power.
Maybe the new Congress can start with taking a look at the whole campaign process and asking why people are literally starving and homeless while millions are spent on television advertisements for 30 second blurbs that will be discarded and forgotten on November 4th. Maybe they can finally establish term limits. Maybe they can vow to adhere to rules (what a concept!!) and impeach the corrupt and the criminal, including members of the Supreme Court. Maybe they can ensure that a three-month disappearance by an ill Senator still being paid and unable to vote will never happen again. Maybe they can get a trial going and send a clearly demented man to a hospital (preferably in the infirmary of a federal prison) instead of overseeing (and wreaking havoc) on the lives of millions here and around the world. Maybe they can stop a madman from destroying the entire military.
Maybe a new Congress can decide that America will finally veer from the path taken by the Roman Empire 1500 years ago and choose humanity over profit and power.
With the daily horrors, the post-apocalyptic world of Ft. Repose, Florida, circa 1959, is looking pretty good.
