You know the classic arcade game ... now a Hasbro home game as well ... the game where you wield a rubber mallet and try to keep up with the increasingly frenetic pace of whacking those pesky rodents as they pop up out of their holes. Fun for all ages for sure, but most of us end up reaching the limits of our ability to keep things in check.
The game is really not unlike real life for those who try to stay on top of the latest threats of the moment as brought to us by our favorite media outlets.
Within the last few years we've been jumping from emerging threat to emerging threat ... Y2K was a grand technological wake-up call that ended morphing into a snooze button. Then 9/11 jolted us from our slumber. For a while, terror fears and threats were popping up all over. The Axis of Evil entered into the common lexicon and Afghanistan and Iraq became focal points of our national wrath. WMDs in all forms became our boogeymen.
With time, frustration set in (or was it simply attention deficit flaws built into media production cycles?) and our collective attitudes started to degrade, even as other threats drew our attention ... for many, demanding further preparatory action to somehow make us feel safer.
The catastrophic tsunami in Asia caused coastline populations worldwide to rethink their positions. Major earthquakes from time to time reminded us that firm ground under our feet and foundations cannot be taken for granted. Hurricanes, to include Katrina, and their difficult aftermaths served as evidence of how vulnerable we are to nature and dependent on others to recover from disaster.
Talk of the risk of a pending global flu pandemic brought a whole new way of fearing the future, even as we looked to past pandemics to witness how devastating an invisible enemy can be.
Of course the elusive terror and global jihad specters continue to materialize, then disappear again through it all.
Nuclear proliferation, peak oil, and global climate change are other fearsome threats to modern reality, not to mention unexpected visitations from near earth objects touring the solar system.
The danger of economic collapse seems to be gaining popular traction these days. Then there is always the pet conspiracy theory prevalent within a given group or channel that promises to change our world as we know it.
Whack, whack, whack. Deep breath. Whackety whack whack. "Coming up next, a team of experts warn that the earth will implode into a shriveled-up, lifeless peach pit ... it's not a question of 'if' but 'when!' But first stay tuned for another message from our sponsors."
Let's not forget to take advantage of the break to grab a cold beverage and kiss our loved ones. There's always the next emerging nightmare to rest up for, and to have to try to keep in perspective.
Get Ready, Seriously ... www.safecastle.com
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