Kitty Purr

I remember when my last cat, Sassy, was dying of feline leukemia. As I held her she was purring and that gave me a feeling that she was getting better. It gave HER a feeling that she was getting better too. I later learned that cats sometimes purr to comfort themselves when they are gravely ill.

Mother America
We are now faced with the global debt issue, global warming, water shortages, and the threat of nuclear terrorism. Oh, and did I mention peak oil?

I have to learn to accept that it's part of our evolution to only react to danger when it's directly in our face. Humans are not good at long-term planning, even though we put our offspring at great risk when we ignore looming threats.

What I'm seeing now in this country is cognitive dissonance, denial, delusions, and lots of religious escapism. I know that most Americans realize that there is something deeply wrong right now in our country, but most people would rather ignore it or rationalize it away.

We LIKE our way of life. We are comfortable. We don't want to think about or deal with the possibility of radical change.

The Scenario
No one intended to bankrupt America but years of deficit spending have caught up with us. When we get to the point where we can't pay our creditors I don't know what will happen, but I can guess that it will create a chilling effect throughout the world economy. Everything will just stop.

Social Security IS a Ponzi scheme. You are correct, Gov. Perry. Thanks for having the guts to say that. There are less and less workers supporting more and more retired people who are living longer. This system is unsustainable and will collapse with a giant thunder.

Medical Malfeasance
Everyone wants to stay alive as long as possible, and at the same time most people I see don't really take care of themselves. They don't even follow the two simple suggestions of eating right and exercising. Worse yet, the medical industry keeps coming out with more machines, drugs, and procedures to keep our ailing population alive longer. This results in a multi billion dollar industry devoted to eliminating physical discomfort and prolonging lifespans. It's a sector of the economy that must be carried on the shoulders of our taxes and commerce. It sucks the economy dry as desperate people deplete their savings and get a second mortgage on their homes so that they can stay alive longer. Medicaid, Medicare, and the prescription drug plan are all spiraling out of control and are UNSUSTAINABLE. My advice to all of you is - stay healthy!

Scenarios
Sooner or later terrorists will detonate a dirty bomb in the U.S. with the power of the Nagasaki atom bomb. The blast will instantly vaporize a square mile in a major city and could kill as many as a million people. The social, psychological, and economic impacts would be so devastating that the outcome is unthinkable.

Or, maybe severe water shortages and pollution will simply make us sick and frail, and we'll all move to places with abundant fresh water, until it's used up. We will suck dry Lake Superior, and we'll keep growing our population and we will desperately try to maintain "business as usual."

The End
Just bringing up these topics makes me "negative" and a "doomsayer." Even I hope that some unexpected development in technology or change in human behavior will save us at the last minute. I know the odds are against this, but I still cling to hope.

I must accept the limits of humankind and the evolutionary mechanisms that are built into us — the desire to extend life, the desire for comfort in the short term at the expense of the long term, and the inability to react to distant dangers. These are the attributes that will make us simply another casualty in the Sixth Great Extinction. The end of one of the most complex creatures to ever evolve in the Universe will actually be a good thing, for it will allow the millions of other species to thrive in a safer, cleaner environment.

I must say, the Goose is starting to get goosebumps.