[Griff]

I was trying to get folks to acknowlege that much of what we fear is a function of our own thought processes being nudged one way or another by the media we choose to subject ourselves to, rather than a rational assessment of the threat.

Global Warming- We have not seen any new data to indicate that it is a threat but fatigue has set in, people are tired of pointing out the flaws in the arguments again and again especially when its just possible the global warming crowd may be right. (heh.. the Janus article called Katrina a climate event) Gore is releasing a new film to feed the paranoia, just in time for the Dems to make hay.

Peak Oil- We should eventually use up our oil reserves, unless the geologic processes for petroleum development are different than we assume. Is it a threat? No, it is an opportunity to move to fuels that are cleaner and don't involve releasing carbon that was stored (back to global warming). News magazines love to pimp this one, if we assume no one is working on the problem (opportunity), all kinds of magazine selling scenarios are possible. We should expect to see more government subsidies (ex: dead Marines) to protect oil companies who failed to become energy companies.

Police State- I am susceptable to this one because of my thought processes and what I read. We have two parties dedicated to the idea that individuals shouldn't make their own decisions and are incapable of protecting themselves. Will this nonsense ever really effect me? Probably not significantly, but this up-coming election cycle expect the Democrats to sell themselves as the antidote, if our system is self-correcting they will be successful. If our system really results in a ratchet effect we'll have to have a serious blow-out later.

Terrorism- Being all about fear, is the perfect tool for paranoia development. If we have a terrorist attack we need someone to save us. If we don't have an attack, we've been saved. The Republicans really need an attack right now because the "we've been saved" argument wears out faster.

Traditional Values Collapse- Who's values? Everyone has their own vision of this and is more or less suceptable to manipulation. Republicans find this one easier to manipulate but the Dems do a fair job themselves.

Who will win the next election? The outfit which exploits paranoia most effectively.