Comment on Belmont Club "The pits"

How can people react to disaster?
Particularly how can people react to an anticipated disaster?
We do have some cultural training in gallows humor. The Cold War did us some good in this. Bomb shelter drills, Dr Strangelove and campus End of the World parties ritualized and normalized our expectation of the apocalypse. Some will undoubtedly turn inward in Depression, like a dog seeking a corner to die in. Some will react with a show of bluster and egoism, trying to grab the best table in the empty dining room on the Titanic as the ship tilts. Others, and I suspect they will prove to be the healthiest, will focus on personal humanity. The adolescent slogan was, the world is about to end, let's have sex. Their instincts are not bad. Here is the kicker in my thesis, that reaction is not only healthy, it is the basis of Red State values. It would not surprise me if there turned out to be an increase in pet adoptions and marriages in the coming year. People will need security and acceptance and an assurance that,
"The fundamental things apply, as time goes by."



So, "Let's Face the Music, and Dance."