We live in a fear factory. There's a political machine and a corporate industry that seems dedicated to keeping us in a state of fear. I propose it's beneficial to the military industrial complex, and it's probably explains why we are such mad consumers. Maybe all of our stuff will save us?
These are some of the things we are supposed to fear: gays, socialized medicine, liberals, taxes, immigrants (legal or illegal), brown people, black people, really any people with too much pigment in their skin, islamic militants, crazed jihadis, do-gooders, you get the drift.
On the other hand, there are some really kind of scary things going on. For instance global warming, peak oil, the Military State, unfettered government surveillance, torture, indefinite detention.
As Americans we are now basically known for shopping, and blowing shit up. Not exactly a positive prescription for world dominance.
But this is the kind of shit that really scares me, because it seems so plausible. Our way of life, our mad quest to harvest every last resource has probably brought us to a tipping point. How about dead zones in the ocean? Areas of no oxygen, areas where everything dies? Probably a result of global warming. Now we're just discovering this stuff. We don't really understand the process, and it's probably real complicated and there are many culprits, and maybe it's all been set in motion and there ain't no going back?
It's gonna take a long time before we really even think about doing anything about it. I mean first we have to run through all those Al Gore jokes, and then, what will we do, and when? And is it plausible that by that time vast areas of our oceans will be dead? What happens when the watery planet becomes a planet of dead water?