I was at dinner last night with 3 friends and one of them told us he was seriously interested in going out and buying a gun for protection. Another person at the table told us he had already done so, indeed, he keeps a knapsack with survival equipment in both cars, just in case "The shit hits the fan". The third person agreed with the premise, but didn’t say he planned to go out and buy a gun. I actually just bought a gun about 4 months ago. The only other person having similar sentiments is a woman I know who said she is buying a gun in case of another 9/11 type disaster.
I was a bit more interested in getting to the root of the problem, so I tried to figure out what were the contributing factors to the kind of paranoia that makes one want to arm oneself. 9/11 was one of them, but there was a greater sense among all at the table that the country was on such a sharp decline that some kind of upheaval was going to occur.
We talked about the possibility of oil production ceasing or being substantially cut, and the profound effect on society it would have. Someone remarked on Cheney being summoned to Saudi Arabia, mentioning that if they ever decided to fuck us it would make the oil crisis of the 70’s seem insignificant. I said that with what is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, and the Middle East in general the world seems to be walking a knife-edge, and given the level of frustration it is only a matter of time before major changes occur. Major changes could affect us in serious ways. I remember how, after 9/11, everyone was saying we should have expected something like this. Are we now in the same position? Everyone is talking about how we need to become less dependent on Middle East oil, yet nothing is being done about it.
We talked about a Bird-Flu scenario. Do you know what some of the preparations are for what they say "When, not if" will happen when bird-flu arrives? Here in New York, preparations are for casualties in the 30% range. Now that’s a worst case scenario, but damn! The societal implications are huge!
In speaking about the economy, everyone seemed to agree that it was a mess also, and that we could have a disaster at any time. A real depression would have global consequences in today’s multi-national corporate structure. We talked about how Wal-Mart and other big box corporations were destroying our Middle-Class. One person felt that we were setting ourselves up to become a third world nation, that the corporate devotion to profits was bankrupting the country in favor of cheap goods, at the expense of our citizens. The only thing we produce in this country anymore is high tech weapons, and I’m sure a lot of that is outsourced these days. What happens when our middle-class can no longer afford to drive the economy? Will the new Chinese middle-class take over? And what becomes of us?
Into the mix add:
A healthcare system about to collapse.
A government run by special interests.
Questionable housing markets.
Enviornmental concerns(mmm, that’s a big one)
An inept President who still has 2 years to fuck things up.
_______________ ...fill in the blanks.
So my question becomes...
Are we being overly paranoid?
Do others out there have the same paranoia?
Is anyone even concerned in the same way?