Fear The Walking Dead: Compassion VS Pragmatism

The Compassionate Are Sometimes Blind To People’s Flaws

The one problem I’ve seen relatively consistently in the Walking Dead universe is that compassionate people are prone to taking in people they really shouldn’t. They desire to give people a chance; they may not notice (Or overlook) a person’s flaws.

The last season of Fear The Walking Dead saw this when Morgan and Alicia took in Dakota, only to realize too late that she was something of a sociopath. This mistake became painfully evident when she murdered John. Morgan and Alicia found themselves stuck with her, too dangerous to trust, too dangerous to let go, too set in her ways to change. Still, themselves being too good of people to deal with her in any kind of permanent way.

We’ve seen this in The Walking Dead, too, with Dante being taken in by Alexandria, only for the community to realize all too late that he was a spy for the Whisperers. They had used their compassion for weary survivors to slither past any suspicions they may have had.

It’s difficult in a zombie apocalypse to balance compassion and security. I know I’ve often advised not to judge people too harshly based on their appearance, while also warning people to be careful who they trust. This isn’t intended to be contradictory, though it may appear to be. This is me recognizing that people, even criminals, could be good people at heart. They either committed crimes under specific circumstances or even if devoted to criminality, recognizing that a zombie apocalypse is unique and dangerous that such proclivities must be put aside for the greater good. Conversely, it is also me acknowledging that there will be people who, mainly because of the unique and dangerous nature of the zombie apocalypse, see it as an opportunity to do whatever they want, especially if their more violent, greedy, selfish, and repugnant tendencies were ones they kept hidden before everything started.

Sadly, there is no easy answer. You need to learn how to read people, to know if a person’s lying, what they’re lying about, and why. If you can understand this, then, maybe, you can learn to weed out the people who would abuse your compassion and leave you with a group of people who will help you build something worthwhile in the apocalypse.

And that’s our Walking Dead Survival Rule Of The Week! How you conduct yourself in a zombie apocalypse is essential because it will determine how you interact with other people in your quest to survive. That can determine if you survive. If you want to learn how you should be in the apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can also get it at Amazon here, on iTunes here!