We survived without 911...well to put it another way some survived. Others who would have survived with 911, didn't survive without it...because they didn't get the help they needed in time.
My grandparents didn't have indoor toilets or plumbing until the late 1940's. They survived without it, but just because they survived without it, doesn't mean I want to go back to that standard of living.
What you want or don't want is irrelevant.
The question is, of the things you want, what can you pay for?
Apparently you'd give up indoor plumbing as long as we had a working 911 system to keep the deadheads employed. Just remember, in the coming months there will be plenty of government employees making the same case. You think teachers will give a hoot about a 911 system?