Friday, April 1, 2011

A Nation of Cowards



“You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.”
Mary Manin Morrissey

There was a time when most people in the United States looked to the future with hope willing to face its challenges with confidence in both themselves and each other. Where those brave people and the strength they once possessed that carried them through scores of disasters and crisis have gone is anyone's guess. Of course, exceptions to the tepid and shallow souls that abound now exist in many forms but all signs suggest they are isolated examples surrounded by the majority that either avoids the future by submerging themselves in idle and idiotic diversions or who eagerly await and prepare for some nebulous Doomsday.

Its one thing to plan and prepare for all sorts of bad times but to blatantly surrender while countless others suffer from war, disease, and famine is a form of cowardice that exceeds all others but it seems we have devolved to that point. Not surprisingly it is the rich that are leading the way in this unexplored avenue of decadence but such panic and fear is willingly purchased by less financially endowed Americans that started record buying of weapons the minute President Obama was elected.

This climate of fear is enhanced by shrill little men who ride the television and radio airways broadcasting every psychotic scenario of doom one minute then speak about "honor" and "love" right before they exclaims the benefits of buying gold and emergency food rations.

The biggest thing sacrificed in this insanity is not just the brighter future we want for our children, that was abandoned and left to rot decades ago, but our unity and belief in each other that we once held up to the world and dared them to approach. America is as good and balkanized as they long defunct Yugoslavia, the only thing holding the house of cards together is simple inertia. The minute the credit cards stop working and the shelves in Walmart go empty for whatever reason the pleasant and civilized suburbanites will be at each others throats.  But hey, if you can scrape up the money you too can leave out the Apocalypse in high style.

Going underground? Sales of spaces in U.S. doomsday bunker soar 1000% after Japan quake reawakens nuclear fallout fears 

Reservations for a doomsday bunker in the U.S. have rocketed since Japan's catastrophic earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.
The 137,000sq ft bunker - designed to house 950 people for a year and withstand a 50 megaton blast - is currently being built under the grasslands of Nebraska.
Vivos, the California-based company behind it, is taking $5,000 (£3,100) deposits, which will have to be topped up to $25,000 (£15,600) to secure a place.
It says applications have soared 1000 per cent in the wake of the disasters in Japan. And the bunkers will be kitted out with all the modern conveniences the American consumer has come to expect.
Once finished the complex will feature four levels of residential suites, a dental and medical center, kitchens, pet kennels, a bakery, a prayer room, a fully stocked wine cellar and even a prison to detain any misbehaving residents.
There will also be a 350ft tall lookout tower so residents can see what is going on around them - and if it's safe to emerge.
'People are afraid of the earth-changing events and ripple effects of the earthquake, which led to tsunamis, the nuclear meltdown, and which will lead to radiation and health concerns,' said Vivos CEO Robert Vicino.
Mr Vicino added: 'Where it ends, I don't know. Does it lead to economic collapse? A true economic collapse would lead to anarchy, which could lead to 90 per cent of the population being killed off.'
The company claims its bunkers are designed to withstand a range of catastrophic events, from nuclear terrorism to the gravitational havoc a rogue planet sweeping across the solar system could cause. 
Interest in doomsday bunkers has grown over recent years, but critics say developers are simply trying to cash in on public panic. Oleg Repchenko, the head of Russian analytical centre 'Indicators of Real Estate Market', told The Voice of Russia: 'These fears emerged in the US a long time ago back in the Cold War era.
'September 11, 2001 has seriously affected the psychology of common Americans and part of the population is afraid of disasters and terrorist attacks.
'Panicking is quite typical for Americans even when a disaster happens not on their territory but across the ocean in Japan. Once something terrifying happens it makes people think more about their future.'


Good night and good luck, seems like we all need it.

15 comments:

Nance said...

"biggest thing sacrificed in this insanity is not just the brighter future we want for our children... but our unity and belief in each other.

Maybe it was a child's innocent misunderstanding, but the last time I remember Americans truly believing in each other was the last year of WWII and the early fifties. Oh, and in December 2007, there was a good week for a lot of us. Some folks would mention October 2001, but I was too traumatized to feel good that month.

Gawd, I miss Americans.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

Trust and hope are gone and with good reason BB.

When I was a kid being a lawyer was impressive. Now we hate them. Can't trust the clergy. Cops in New Orleans shot a man and cold blood. Cops in Chicao tortured guys.

The world has gone mad. I won't be buying a room in the doomsday bunker. When it gets that bad I'd just soon get blown up and be done with it.

Windsmoke. said...

Once again the corporations are trying to panic the population with doomsday predictions to make an obscene amount of money for disasters that may never happen. I like this statement that the doomsday bunker could withstand the gravitational havoc of a rogue planet. I find this very hard to believe, where is the proof, if this did happen nothing would survive on this planet at all :-).

Ranch Chimp said...

Very TRUE Bum .... coward's indeed ... there are plenty of them, and I ove getting my paw's into them. However ... as I wrote in a recent posting concerning the species disregard for nature and the planet ... There is no species of life on the planet more deserving of extinction than our's ... good thing nature and the planet dont think, or in term's such and right and wrong, or else we wouldnt exist.

Enough said ....

Randal Graves said...

BB is only saying this because he already bought his bunker!

okjimm said...

try, "The Politics of Fear: How Republicans Use Money, Race, and the Media to Win" good read. Or another, "The Wrecking Crew"Thomas Frank.
I mean,,, fear sells and the republicans have got it figured out

Dave Dubya said...

This all makes me anticipate the "2012 scenario" madness that will surely offer some entertainment.

Marketing fear has always been good business.

Commander Zaius said...

Nance: Yeah, I miss real Americans as well.

My granddad was deaf in one ear from a childhood illness but the day after Pearl Harbor he was in line at the nearest recruiting station along with hundreds of others. His bad ear prevented him from joining the fight but he tried and was drafted a couple of times due to the inefficiencies of 1940's paperwork. Each time he was called in, off his job and away from his wife and infant child, he never complained.

Finally his medical situation was recorded enough that he was released and not bothered again.

Now I counter that with the limp-wristed response after 9/11. I was still in the National Guard but no long line of eager civilians formed up after the attacks and scores of times I heard "patriotic" civilians worry that their young sons or them might be drafted to fight.

Greedy Pig: Its a screwed up situation. The best answer I have is to try and fight the darkness but have a loaded weapons close by if the shit really does hit the fan.

Windsmoke: Absolutely! I have doubts that those bunkers will ever me built but such mindsets do have the problem of creating a sense of panic. Yeah, times are tough and dangerous but instead of pulling together forces are working to pull us further apart.

Ranch: I apologize, I will drift over to your site soon and read that post. But I have an idea that Mother Earth will cull us down in some fashion relatively soon, our numbers and way of life cannot be sustained.

Randal: My current Doomsday plans calls for loading the family up and heading down to Charleston. from there I will steal some harbor queen sailboat, don my captain Jack Sparrow hat, and make like a pirate looking for treasure and salty wenches.

Jim: Yeah, the republicans are good at fear, I just wish Obama would find that fire in his belly and come out fighting.

Dave: I actually enjoy a few of those 2012 shows on the History Channel. Its fun to watch the "experts" talk about all the predictions of how the world will end.

Leslie Parsley said...

I'm discouraged but I'm not giving up. As long as there are people like you and Nance and so many others, I will continue to believe in others - in their goodness, their hopes and dreams, their exceptionalism. Now if we could only get rid of the fear mongers and I think have a final solution for them.

Ranch Chimp said...

Mother nature will cull us down? We can bank on that.

Pixel Peeper said...

No bunker for me. I'd rather die a quick, immediate death than linger on for years.

Plus, I don't think there will be enough chocolate in those bunkers.

I'm with tnlib - the overall optimist in me is guarded, cautious, skeptic, but won't give up.

Cirze said...

I always turn to you for my daily dose of proper outrage.

You deliver, baby!

Great stuff.

S

This climate of fear is enhanced by shrill little men who ride the television and radio airways broadcasting every psychotic scenario of doom one minute then speak about "honor" and "love" right before they exclaims the benefits of buying gold and emergency food rations.

. . . Its one thing to plan and prepare for all sorts of bad times but to blatantly surrender while countless others suffer from war, disease, and famine is a form of cowardice that exceeds all others but it seems we have devolved to that point. Not surprisingly it is the rich that are leading the way

Commander Zaius said...

Tnlib: It is a curious time we live, will the urge for destruction and chaos overwhelm the drive to make a better future? You know as little as twenty years ago I would have said things will work out but I find myself wondering if I am putting my family at danger by not going into bunker mode.

Ranch: I see a pandemic in our future.

Pixel: Army MRE's have a great fake chocolate...for someone who has never ate the real stuff. I believe they could use the fake stuff as super glue.

Suzan: I need more beer and a Caribbean island.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

The race to the bottom in Republican circles has gotten so bad that Donald Trump actually had to be admonished by Glenn Beck the other day. Yeah, that's right. Mr. Beck accused the Donald of being "too conspiratorial".

Commander Zaius said...

Will: Now if that ain't one for the pot calling the kettle black I'm a spider monkey.