LILEKS (James) The Bleat

I spent most of my life living under the Nuclear Threat, the fears of horrid planetary death. Fear of Smallpox? Yes, I can pencil you in.

Does Monday work for you?

there's some political blathering in the middle of the column; feel free to skip it.

but at the end, which i've quoted here, there's some stuff that makes me think.

when i was a kid, i knew what was going to happen. i was going to die in a nuclear war. everyone was, really. it was just a matter of time. i wasn't particularly worried about it. the sky is blue, the sun comes up in the east, we're all going to die in a nuclear war; that's just the way things are.

when i got a little older, i worried a little that i wouldn't be killed immediately, that i'd end up having to kill myself because i wouldn't be able to get my prescription arthritis drugs. yes, i'd be able to break into the pharmacy in town, but there'd only be so much of a supply there, and i'd eventually run out. but still, it was the same. a nuclear war, and then i'd be dead.

so really, all this nattering about smallpox and anthrax isn't causing me to lose any sleep. it's just slipped into the spot where nuclear war used to be. i read about it, and learn about what, if anything, i will be able to do when it happens, and make plans for ten, fifteen, thirty years from now, because expecting it to happen and preparing for just in case it didn't is what worked out last time.