I have been cogitating – always a dangerous thing to do. The subject is safety. In the past safety was a rare and precious commodity. For example, until the advent of the police force in England it was not safe to travel on the highways without armed guards & people could not walk the streets safely at night.

We take very lightly the privilege of driving kilometres without worrying about highwaymen, or being robbed by footpads. But we are very lucky that we can walk out of our houses without much thought for our safety.

In other parts of the world life is unsafe and everyone is vulnerable to attack. We owe these feelings of safety to such foundations as a civil society, a police force, standing army, and stable society & economy.

It seems that our world is changing. With the unfolding of the global financial crisis we might not be able to rely upon those foundations of safety in western society. Are we moving into a time where we will be unable to rely on a stable economy and society for our safety? Will we be able to afford a police force and standing army to guard our safety?

It is interesting to consider how we might manage in a post-western world?