OK, I went and read "World War Z" just because I thought it would be fun. What I found was an excellent analysis of pandemic. Zombie's are an allegory to pandemic (walking wounded, unable to care for themselves, requiring uninfected to feed them), etc.. So what is show from patient zero all the way through the end of the book is a series of events where containment is broken and contagion spreads. The ideas that zombies don't die and carry the contagion (unless you whack em in the head) shows a lot of the medical, social, welfare problems in the brutality of the solutions needed.
The examples of the soviets (purge) when dealing with the undead may seem ludicrous and fanciful but is based on what happened in Stalinist times when Army units refused to fight. Some times the issues are pretty hard to talk about in the real world but "World War Z" discusses them no-holds barred. It was a great book that you can't take to seriously but can read in a day that is filled with lots of "huh?" moments. I suggested it to a DHS/CDC specialist and I can't wait to hear what she says.
I read part of the book to my wife and we've decided we need to write an academic paper on what bad sci-fi stories can tell you about homeland security.
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