does anyone else seriously think shit will hit the fan in our lifetimes?

[Pandemic]

A world war would be a total disaster, because worldwide politics and economics are so deeply involved now. In WWI and WWII, we were much more self-sufficient than we are today. We (and the rest of the world) depend largely on other countries. Loyalties are divided. It would take a LONG time for someone to be able to actually mount a successful attack. The few countries that are crazy enough to do something like that, and not care about political or economic effects, are fairly alone in their efforts. Basically, North Korea and Iran... or some of the African or eastern European nations that are in a constant state of unrest... but they don't have the military strength to conquer their own lands, let alone mount an attack against a superpower or two.


Modern society (especially American society, and any other "Americanized" society along with us) is showing signs of decline. Historically, such frivolous things such as material posessions, wealth, and vanity have become considerable priorities in overall society, setting aside previous priorities such as spirituality, education (for the sake of knowledge, not financial success), and art. This change in priority is often the precursor to a social downfall.

The funny thing is, the very things that the terrorists and extremists accuse us of are the things that, historically, have led to the destruction of prominent societies.



It's about time to dust off the old violin. I want to be ready when the flames rise.

At this point, I think 3 things are highly likely.

1). Virus - with millions traveling per day, a virus or bacterial strain could cause havoc in less than a week.

2). Dirty bomb/ Terrorism - The collapse of the USSR misplaced a LOT of weapons grade uranium and plutonium. I can't imagine making a nuke is horribly difficult once you have those two components. If it is horribly difficult, you always have the 'dirty' option.

As far as I know, if a nuke goes off, the energy is used and the radiation is gone within weeks or months. If a dirty bomb goes off, well, Chernobyl happened 24 years ago and it's still a ghost town.

3). Major war - Here's the layout. North Korea attacks South. South, US, and NATO fight back. China, followed by Russia, enter and fight against the US and NATO. Boom - WW3.











That said, I can't imagine growing up in my Grand parent's or even parent's generation. G-parents dealt with WW1/2 while my parent delt with the cold war and the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction. Fuck.

[MikeW]

You think China and Russia would take N. Korea's side?

I dont think about this stuff in depth and ill admit there are times in my life or day when, if this scenario happened, id be "naked". Ive always wanted to own some sort of van, RV or mobile vehicle that, in case of shit hitting the fan, id at least be mobile.

[Shag Wagon]

But do you have medicine? Do you have filters? What if it's a dirty bomb (which is quite likely to happen)? What would happen when people started to starve, move into the woods, and start knocking at your door?

We think we're civilized but that's only because we're comfortable. Take that comfort away and we'd turn primal quicker than you can blink.

Well I was referring to the EMP (whatever the hell that is haha), then I could manage for myself. If its a dirty bomb or some kind of disease, im fucked. I dont ever go to the doctor because they are way overpriced/overpaid for what they do. Ill die and go to hell before I have to deal with some kind of plague or have to endure something similar to that.

[deevergote]

Global politics are much more complicated today than they were in the WW2 era... not that it will make things less likely, but it will complicate matters just that much more!

I'd like to think that human beings are smart enough not to wage a nuclear war. If all or most of the world's nuclear military powers unleash their arsenal, it will destroy the entire world. I don't care what a war is for, destroying EVERYTHING accomplishes nothing. Even those extremists that believe killing their opposition will get them eternity in paradise probably won't want their attack to result in the deaths of those that they consider innocents. Those that might be insane enough to actually do something like that will HOPEFULLY not be allowed to attain enough power to actually act on it (again, North Korea and Iran are the only two nearly crazy enough, and capable... but we're as ready for it as possible.)

I think the war we're involved in now is about as close to a true world war we're going to see anymore... although the possibility of having Russia (and all their sympathetic neighbors, which includes much of the former USSR) and China as enemies really is quite scary. Although, China may have a massive population, but they don't have an advanced military, at least not one to compare to our own. Though they're growing very quickly in terms of technology, so who knows how long it'll be before they're capable of equipping their 4+ billion people as soldiers...

[Pandemic]

You think China and Russia would take N. Korea's side?

I dont think about this stuff in depth and ill admit there are times in my life or day when, if this scenario happened, id be "naked". Ive always wanted to own some sort of van, RV or mobile vehicle that, in case of shit hitting the fan, id at least be mobile.

China is NK's biggest supporter. In the Korean war, Russia helped NK stock pile weapons. NK (and a few elite Russians) invaded South Korea. They almost took the country when the US entered. Then, with that shift in the ballance, South Korea and the US nearly took the North. Then China entered and that's where the 38th parallel was created.

So yeah, Russia and China would take NK's side no matter what they did. They don't want any country with US influence as their neighbor.

Look at Russia's temper tantrums with the US wanting to put Patriot missile systems in Poland. Patriots are interceptor missiles and have no offensive capability...

[deevergote]

Well I was referring to the EMP (whatever the hell that is haha), then I could manage for myself. If its a dirty bomb or some kind of disease, im fucked. I dont ever go to the doctor because they are way overpriced/overpaid for what they do. Ill die and go to hell before I have to deal with some kind of plague or have to endure something similar to that.

EMP = ElectroMagnetic Pulse. Basically, it knocks out anything electronic. It'd wreak havoc, especially in highly populated urban areas. Losing all electronics would be devastating to hospitals, it'd make the streets impossible to navigate in a matter of minutes (no signals, and no lights at night... not to mention any vehicle in the blast radius would be disabled), it'd result in all frozen and refrigerated foods to perish in a fairly short time... Emergency vehicles would be disabled. All computer networks would be down. All phone communication would be down. Riots and overall panic would be out of hand in a very short time.

[MikeW]

True.

Another point, and i myself fall into this category a bit, but i think people need to really be up to speed and knowledgeable of possible weapon attacks or scenarios and how to react in them. I think a rather large population of this country dont know every form of attack or what actions to take for each scenario. All we know is to run, flee, loot and hide out in bunkers.

[deevergote]

The most devastating effects of an attack on this country would not be directly related to the weapon used.

[Pandemic]

Well I was referring to the EMP (whatever the hell that is haha), then I could manage for myself. If its a dirty bomb or some kind of disease, im fucked. I dont ever go to the doctor because they are way overpriced/overpaid for what they do. Ill die and go to hell before I have to deal with some kind of plague or have to endure something similar to that.

EMP = Electro Magnetic Pulse. When a Nuke goes off it emits a magnetic pulse which frys circuits. The US developed it further and if an EMP were to go off, say, 1 mile over the US, the entire country's circuits would fry in less than a second.

Having a car w/o a computer would be GOLDEN if that were to happen.

I'm 100% sure the US has some EMP proof structors but for the most part the citizens would be fucked.

[MikeW]

The most devastating effects of an attack on this country would not be directly related to the weapon used.

No, the chaos that would ensue, is. The rioting, looting, pillaging, etc. There are some people in this country who just HINGE on that line. And the day Martial Law kicks in, theyre going ape poopey.

[Pandemic]

There are yearly(?) drills for EMS and first responders to such events. A few years ago the scenario was a terrorist attack and the whole of NEPA's first responders were somehow involved.

WE the people are little more than sheep. That's one of the reasons I want to join the military - training.

[Pandemic]

When New Orleans was declared a state of martial law, the Mayor? ordered a mandatory firearms confiscation. I don't know much about it but since then a lot of laws have been put in place to keep that from happeneing. Remember, when Detroit and LA had massive riots, the buildings that didn't burn had their owners on top with rifles. True story.

[Pandemic]

The most devastating effects of an attack on this country would not be directly related to the weapon used.

That's exactly right. Who would have thought that 4 commercial air liners could bring the US down for a week? Not me. I give the terrorists credit for thinking outside the box.

[Flatline]

the chances of having a DIRECT attack of any form on the U.S. is fairly unlikely. not saying its impossible, but i dont see it.

if anything serious happened, i hope its a small zombie outbreak. the world has had enough movies to have some clue as to handle that.

[deevergote]

Terorists may be misguided in their reasoning, but they are certainly not stupid. Well, I'm sure some are, but the ones that are a threat to us are not. Osama Bin Laden is (or was) an incredibly intelligent man (and I'm sure anyone working below him, probably by a couple of tiers, are also dangerously intelligent.)